Strange alliances

In my tanks I often notice fish getting along with other fish you wouldn’t expect… today I was watching a dominant apisto and blue ram hanging out…. Everyone loves this piece of driftwood, the newer blue ram looks like he’s trying to claim a spot under it, but only from the other blue rams... problem is, everyone in the tank likes that spot as well, & he can’t do anything about the Cory’s or the pleco’s and he leaves alone the rummy’s and the pristella’s but I was surprised to see that it was ok for the apisto’s to hang too… it was suggested they would kill each other… any strange alliances in any of your tanks???

I saw the 2 of them just hanging side by side, but of course they wouldn’t do it when I had my phone… ( he's not chasing the orange Apisto away )

I think the Ram can't catch the Corys or the Rummys LOL. I have had weird alliances during the whole time I've kept fish- mostly due to ignorance. I kept Tiger Barbs with angelfish when I was young. Never had a problem. Imagine my surprise years later when I tried it again and didn't have the same result?

I kept a betta fish with a bunch of others. Didn't have a problem and the betta thrived. This was (embarrassingly) AFTER I had kept a betta with a bunch of other fish and all he did was hide and wither. I've never claimed to be a fast learner- I just get lucky or God is looking out for me- maybe both

Ultimately it demonstrates that most rules in the hobby have to be qualified with "most of the time..."

I think there's a ton that nobody knows about all this- which typically makes me think, "well, MAAAYYBEEE it'll work!"

This is a pretty old thread, but I noticed another strange alliance today… my new smaller diamond angel, being submissive today, has a new friend… I have 4 accidental Geo’s in the tank… the submissive Geo has started hanging with the new smaller angel… since the light came on this morning, they have not been more that a foot away from each other…

A lot of Cichlids will get along just fine until the hormones hit and they are transformed. A pushed around Geo and an equally beaten angel will go for the same safe spot, and not necessarily be looking for each other. If they're in the top third, not really far from a corner, they are there because they want out, and not because they want a friend. They've just been pushed to the same spot.

If they migrate to the surface in a corner, they are hanging on to their lives and will lose if not moved.

I also bear in mind the niche of a Cichlid. An Apistogramma is a hidden spawner, and a ram is an open spawner. In a decent sized tank, they aren't competition for each other. If the Geophagus were their size, as mouthbrooders, everyone would get along, more or less.

Dang… @GaryE … you just have to suck the “bromance” out of the aquarium
I guess being the new Angel, it’s at a normal place for an angel in the tank 1/3 down from the surface, and actually by a popular pot to pick a roots a lot of fish visit that pot, suspect water flow, moves food into the roots… and being the submissive Geo, it spends less time in the sand… he still sneaks down there occasionally, which results in a chase… at least it’s getting plenty to eat during feeding time,, and spends a good amount of time picking in the roots of that plant… the dominant angel has been leaving the new one alone, as long as it doesn’t go to the center of the tank ( the dominant angel’s turf )

I had a pearl gourami that would make a bubble nest and try to breed with my largest Angel. Kind of around the time I decided maybe gouramis and angels might not be the best tank mates.