why is my cichid so evil?

M

mindaugas

Small Fish
#1
Mar 19, 2007
16
0
0
Denver
www.mindaugas.us
#1
I "rescued" several cichlids from work and after finding them homes, including the thousands of babies, I was left with one that my wife named Teddy. Teddy was adorable, a little convict cichlid, the runt of the whole batch. After watching the in-fighting between the convicts and pinks I figured picking the least agressive and putting him in young with some community fish would be ok. Well, it was a nice thought. A few weeks later Teddy isn't so cute anymore, well, he's cute, but he's evil. Pure other-fish-eating-evil.

I knew putting him in with friendly fish was a gamble. He's gone through 2 ghost cat fish, some molleys, and he's working on our african knife. The knife is big enough to handle himself, and the tank is a 29 gallon which is completely uncrowded now, thanks to Teddy :) Everyone is moving to a 35 gallon hex which has been cycling for a week and a half now. I like to be thorough. There are LOTS of hiding places, not only for Teddy the bully, but various bottom feeders we have. Some never-die algea eaters and a sqaud of loaches, not to mention the staple placo.

My question, is Teddy always going to be evil? Are convictcichlids normally this agressive? I thought the pinks were worse, judging from the fighting I witnessed. Am I going to be stuck putting only other same sized agressive fish in my tank now?
 

Last edited:
Dino

Dino

Large Fish
#3
Mar 3, 2007
521
0
0
90 degrees north
#3
It's not that he is evil.
It is that he is being placed in a situation that his genetics have not prepared him for.
In the wild, Teddy probably would have had a territory of several square feet all to him self on the floor of a river or lake.
We aquarist then take a fish that is geneticly programmed to see his territory as several square feet, and place him in a glass box with several other fish.
In the wild, these fish would be able to get away from Teddy by moving to a different location.
This is not possible in the glass boxes we keep them in, they have no where to go.
So, by the fish not moving away, Teddy sees them as a rival for his territory and tries to take the fish out.

BTW, welcome to myfishtank!

Hope this helps.

Dino
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#4
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
38
42
Colorado
#4
Good to see another MFTer from Denver! :)

Once a convict always a convict. They are never going to mix with a real community type tank. The only tank a lone convict might do OK in would be a cichlid community, more rough and tumble crowd...but with cichlids its usually a gamble even with other cichlids.
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#5
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
9
0
47
Florida
#5
Yup, he would be a decent candidate for more of a cichlid 'community' of sorts, but even then he would need to be put in a much larger tank than a 29 gal. And, as FroggyFox said, that is likely to be quite tumultuous as well! :eek:

Short of getting a substantially larger tank to house him with more suitable tankmates, the way I see it is you can either house Teddy alone, find him a mate, or get rid of him altogether.

Welcome to MFT!
BV
 

M

mindaugas

Small Fish
#6
Mar 19, 2007
16
0
0
Denver
www.mindaugas.us
#6
he's a convict cichlid, sorry, I edited the post. ya, I suppose he should be with ther cichlids, crazy guy. he leaves the bottom feeders alone. Yer absolutely right, very teterotrial and I remember reading that when I first got them. Thanks guys, this is good info. You htink he's too big for a 29? He's about 3 inches long, if that, I doubt he'll get much bigger, his parents didn't.
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#7
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
9
0
47
Florida
#7
He and a female breeding partner would be fine in a 29 gallon tank. Let's just be clear though that they would eat/kill the rest of the fish in with them---quite possibly including bottomfeeders. Oh...and also...he'll probably grow another 1-2 inches, anyway...possibly reaching 6 inches max.

BV
 

IDunnoWhy

IDunnoWhy

Superstar Fish
#8
Nov 16, 2006
1,058
2
38
53
Deerfield, WI
#8
mindaugas said:
You htink he's too big for a 29? He's about 3 inches long, if that, I doubt he'll get much bigger, his parents didn't.
Click to expand...
I may be wrong here, but if I'm not mistaken Convicts can get up to 6"

I would think you could do a pair in the 29g, But I imagine they'd kill everything else in with them.
 

M

mindaugas

Small Fish
#11
Mar 19, 2007
16
0
0
Denver
www.mindaugas.us
#11
6" ... jeez, just to think we've had him since he was just a tiny spec of an egg :)

here's a picture of the most evil Cichlid alive



sorry, I snapped it quickly with my camera phone this morning. I am moving him to a 35 gallon hex and I don't plan on adding any more fish. here is the full list of fish and aprox sizes:

5" African Knife
3.5" Cichlid (Teddy)
4" Algea eater
3" algea eater
6" placo (Paco)
3x 1" loaches (Loach Squad) these are the tiny eel-like loaches

oh, despite me wanting to watch him, Teddy will have a plethora of hiding places in the new tanks. the old one is barren since the new hex was being cycled with some of the decor from the old 29 gallon.
 

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M

mindaugas

Small Fish
#14
Mar 19, 2007
16
0
0
Denver
www.mindaugas.us
#14
Fuzz16 said:
why do you have an african knife in that small of a tank?

then ya...convicts are mean by nature. you should find him a new home before he kills everything you have
Click to expand...
I know it's the bare minimum but I didn't know anything then and the LFS told me it was ok.

thanks Cichlid-man, despite his evil nature we still love him. maybe I can make him a fish suit and he can help defeat commies or something ... well, maybe that's going to far :)
 

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