New To Cichlids

[musicalfish]

As the topic states, I'm new to keeping cichlids, let alone any fish since I got rid of my old tank a year ago. Anyways, I purchased a new 36 gallon, and decided to do a fish-in cycle, stocking it with a (male) jewel cichlid and a (female) peacock cichlid until the cycling was complete. It seems there has only been problems since.

First off, the LFS employee assured me these cichlids were compatible. I don't know if it's because of the difference of species, or the fact that one is a very territorial male, but the jewel cichlid displays huge aggression towards the peacock, and everyday I wake up to her fins a little bit more torn up. He has exiled her to the upper third of the tank, and even then pays her a visit every once and awhile to keep her on her toes. How can I re-introduce the peacock to the rest of the tank, and calm the jewel's agression?

The jewel is usually a bright orange with blue neon dots, and stayed that way for the first week in the tank. However, it suddenly seems that it easily gets spooked whenever there's sudden movement or noise in the room, and rushes to hide itself behind cover or in a plant. Upon doing this, the top half of the fish turns a grey-ish black colour. I'm assuming this is simply a defense mechanism, but upon sitting and observing the tank for awhile, the jewel will eventually come out of hiding and tone down the colour change, but will still remain a little lacking in colour. Is this because he is still aware of my presence and is nervous?

I test the water regularly and everything seems alright: (I change the water frequently to make sure the ammonia doesn't get out of hand)
ammonia - .25ppm
nitrite - 0ppm
nitrate - 0ppm
pH - 7.6
Temp. - 80°F

I've had the tank for about a week and a half now, any of you vets willing to share any knowledge? Any help is much appreciated!

 

[always4lora]

You should have no ammonia reading at all, this will kill the fish. Also its very odd to have no Nitrate's in the water , you should use the search funtion and search for cycling this should explain it all

 

[minnnt]

I would take one back and explain what is happening with them. The only other possible thing you could do is remove the jewel, rearrange the tank into very different and obvious territories, introduce the peacock first then after an hour or so add the jewel. This might work, but i doubt it if he is as dominant as you say.

Just an idea.

 

[musicalfish]

always4lora: From what I understood, for nitrates to be present, there has to first be nitrites, and for nitrites to be present, there has to be a steady ammonia input for the bacteria to grow. I know that no ammonia is ideal, but is it not required to grow the nitrite-consuming bacteria? Also, I have a couple live plants in the tank, which I understand can help reduce ammonia and nitrate levels, so they could be tilting the scale a little.

minnnt: I actually tried the whole rearrangement thing to no avail, it seems since the female, with no desire for dominance, completely surrenders the whole tank to the male, who's dominance is not really challenged. For the sake of the fish, I may return one (probably the trouble-maker) if there is no other solution.

 

[roadmaster]

Jewel cichlids inch for inch, can be some of the nastiest cichlids out there, and it is doubtful that they are going to get along from what you have described.
Would not rely on the wisdom of fish store employee's with regards to compatibilty of fishes you select but would perform my own research before buying fish.

 

[fluttermoth]

I had a jewel cichlid years ago; I had it given to me after it completely decimated some else's tank. Even aggressive Rift valleys struggle against a jewel.

They are well known as a very, very aggressive fish; you should never have been sold it with another fish. I would never have tried to put anything with mine; beautiful fish, but one for a tank on its own for sure.

 

[roadmaster]

I had a jewel cichlid years ago; I had it given to me after it completely decimated some else's tank. Even aggressive Rift valleys struggle against a jewel.

They are well known as a very, very aggressive fish; you should never have been sold it with another fish. I would never have tried to put anything with mine; beautiful fish, but one for a tank on its own for sure.

They are indeed beautiful fish in my view, and I once entertained the thought of breeding them. I could not however get a group of five or six to get along long enough for a pair to form.One or two would qickly injure/kill the others till only one remained.
Perhaps if I had more than five or six, and a much larger tank things would have worked, but it was all quite disturbing to me and I gave up on the effort.

 

[KittyKat]

Jewels and (rift lake) peacocks are also not compatible because of the environments they require and aggressiveness.

It is very unusual to have no nitrates in the tap water, which is why we are asking about the reading. Do test your tap water for everything after sitting it for 24 hours in a glass, it will at least let you know what you've got to work with.

 

[musicalfish]

Hey all, thanks for all the responses!

I just retested the water on every parameter, and all came out the same as before.
I tested the nitrate in my tap water, and it is indeed 0 ppm. I also set aside some tap water for later testing as was suggested.
At least it seems I have stable tank conditions!

Any further help is very much appreciated

Also, if I chose to keep the jewel, and not the peacock, what fish would be compatible with this menace?

 

[bullit]

It really is a bad pairing mate. I think either will struggle in your tank size long term.