Aggression between mated cichlids

[Steve2717]

A while ago my female green terror and male electric blue acara mated and I had about 40 hybrids. Since then my green terror has become more aggressive but more recently has mostly been targeting the electric blue acara to the point where he has to spend most of the time hiding. I thought when they mate it's for life, or is this what happens? Middle picture is the hybrids

 

[GaryE]

She's growing and he isn't, and she isn't impressed. They don't mate for life, and if one partner is seen as unfit by the other, it's gone. If it won't go, it's killed.
The pair seeks balance and and strong young, and if she sees him as a runt, they are no longer a pair. That's probably good as hybrids don't add to the hobby stock, but it gives you a problem to deal with. Odds are, the terror in the popular name for that fish will soon be earned.

 

[Steve2717]

She's growing and he isn't, and she isn't impressed. They don't mate for life, and if one partner is seen as unfit by the other, it's gone. If it won't go, it's killed.
The pair seeks balance and and strong young, and if she sees him as a runt, they are no longer a pair. That's probably good as hybrids don't add to the hobby stock, but it gives you a problem to deal with. Odds are, the terror in the popular name for that fish will soon be earned.

Yeah since she had the babies she'd been grumpy with everyone but mostly the blue acara including her own babies. Hoping she'll calm down. I've heard overstocking can help with aggression, what are your thoughts? Or am I best looking at rehoming...I see it as last resort

 

[Colin_T]

Green terrors are called that because they are angry fish when mature. She won't change and having lots of fish in the tank will usually lead to lots of bodies. The best thing to do is give her lots of room or get rid of her.

The hybrid offspring should be euthanised or kept in a tank at your house and left to live out their lives. They should not be put onto the market because people will cross them with blue acaras or green terrors and mess up the bloodlines of the pure fish.

If you rehome the offspring, make sure they go to people who won't breed them and who understand they are hybrids that should not be bred. They also need to keep the fish until they die so they don't put them on the market.

 

[GaryE]

Overstocking is a trick that works with east African Cichlids from Lake Malawi. When you say "Cichlids", that's what a lot of inexperienced fishkeepers think of. They don't realize yet how diverse the Cichlids group is, and that leads to mistakes.

South American Cichlids like those two hate overcrowding. A green terror earned its name by methodically killing fish that annoy it. They are beauties, but not social ones. If you crowd them, you may get a few months of spread around aggression, but the fish will be stressed, and in time, murders will become regular until the tank is stocked the way she wants it. Most likely, that would be with no other fish.

Please be sure you label the offspring as hybrids if you share them. They are potentially destructive to any species based breeding projects, and could contribute to the loss of species within the hobby. In my tanks, if accidental pairings like that happen, I don't save the fry.

I like the looks of green terrors, but I have never kept any because they need their own tank with no company. The industry loves them because they breed like bad politicians and are beauties. They are dirt cheap to stores and they can mark them up through the roof. But they are hard fish to keep, resources-wise.

 

[Magnum Man]

Maybe the hybrid fish will look like green terrors, but have the passive nature of the electric blues, so they may make a nice community fish???

 

[Steve2717]

Overstocking is a trick that works with east African Cichlids from Lake Malawi. When you say "Cichlids", that's what a lot of inexperienced fishkeepers think of. They don't realize yet how diverse the Cichlids group is, and that leads to mistakes.

South American Cichlids like those two hate overcrowding. A green terror earned its name by methodically killing fish that annoy it. They are beauties, but not social ones. If you crowd them, you may get a few months of spread around aggression, but the fish will be stressed, and in time, murders will become regular until the tank is stocked the way she wants it. Most likely, that would be with no other fish.

Please be sure you label the offspring as hybrids if you share them. They are potentially destructive to any species based breeding projects, and could contribute to the loss of species within the hobby. In my tanks, if accidental pairings like that happen, I don't save the fry.

I like the looks of green terrors, but I have never kept any because they need their own tank with no company. The industry loves them because they breed like bad politicians and are beauties. They are dirt cheap to stores and they can mark them up through the roof. But they are hard fish to keep, resources-wise.

Yeah I know they were talking about african cichlids, just wondered if it would work with these too, now I have my answer. I've given some away to friends that won't try and breed them. Don't know if I have it in me to bludgeon a fish's head in so maybe just let her do what she's gonna do. I am planning on getting a bigger tank for some bigger cichlids so if the problem hasn't resolved itself I might move her over

 

[Steve2717]

Maybe the hybrid fish will look like green terrors, but have the passive nature of the electric blues, so they may make a nice community fish???

They have her markings but his head shape. They are fairly aggressive too but I wouldn't say he was peaceful as I've seen him show aggression to others as well

 

[GaryE]

The Acara group aren't easy going, in general. Some individual natural blue acaras are okay with fish their own size and weight class, but when they feel the need to assert themselves, it's best to have a plan B for tankmates. They aren't at the level of green terrors - they are a whole other league of territoriality.

A lot of people get electric blue dempsies, another weirdly easy going experiment. Then they get dempsies that haven't been tampered with, and end up online discovering Jack Dempsey was a famous fighter.

I was kind of led astray by reports of the acara group being peaceful. I've kept blue acaras, metae and a few other members of the group, mostly to grow them for photos. Not one has even been close to easy going. Laetacara have been relaxed, and two of the three Nannacara I've kept have been peaceful-ish. N taenia and anomala were okay, adoketa was brutal.

 

[Lcc86]

Yeah I know they were talking about african cichlids, just wondered if it would work with these too, now I have my answer. I've given some away to friends that won't try and breed them. Don't know if I have it in me to bludgeon a fish's head in so maybe just let her do what she's gonna do. I am planning on getting a bigger tank for some bigger cichlids so if the problem hasn't resolved itself I might move her over

There's humane euthanasia methods such as clove oil, doesn't have to involve violence (I know I couldn't do it that way either). Maybe move the blue acara to the other tank you get and leave her in this one, they'll probably all be happier.

 

[Steve2717]

The Acara group aren't easy going, in general. Some individual natural blue acaras are okay with fish their own size and weight class, but when they feel the need to assert themselves, it's best to have a plan B for tankmates. They aren't at the level of green terrors - they are a whole other league of territoriality.

A lot of people get electric blue dempsies, another weirdly easy going experiment. Then they get dempsies that haven't been tampered with, and end up online discovering Jack Dempsey was a famous fighter.

I was kind of led astray by reports of the acara group being peaceful. I've kept blue acaras, metae and a few other members of the group, mostly to grow them for photos. Not one has even been close to easy going. Laetacara have been relaxed, and two of the three Nannacara I've kept have been peaceful-ish. N taenia and anomala were okay, adoketa was brutal.

Yeah I'm guilty