Tetracanthus vs Festae

[thermofish]

Just picked up a Festae (apparently a female, about 17cm), i knew they were pretty aggro and it was giving the other fish in the display tank hell, so thought it could hold its own .

So i put it in my 4x2x2 with my big male tetracanthus (cuban, about 21cm) and female Texan (about 15cm)

Within an hour the Cuban has nearly killed it.

Lucky i got another tank for it to rest and recuperate in.

So, is the Cuban an underated psyco or the Festae just not what they are made out to be?

Anyone out there owned either? whats your opinion??

cheers.

[Tim]

you just took a Festae out of a tank and put it in another tank that had a tetracanthus living in it with an established territory. You could put anything in that tank and the Tetracanthus would probably do the same. Cichlids need a while to check out it's surrounding, a chance to establish a territory of it's own, try putting the Festae and the Tetracanthus in a tank that is new to both of them, you might have more luck. Over the years when i kept fish i must have answered this kind of question sooooooo many times. No one species is more aggressive than another, It is different for each fish. It depends on so many variables. You can make genralisations with species but thats all, it's not a set rule. Basically most large americans will try and kill anything that get's put in it's territory, make the advantages even and then they might even get along.

Tim

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

i aggree with that but theirs 1 maybe 2 fish that will kill for fun

1)the red devil

2)jaguar

these 2 fish mainly the red devil kill for fun even in large tanks they attack anything that looks at them lol

but if i was introducing a new fish into a tank with a cuban,red devil,texan,jag well most hella aggresive fish i would part the tank into 2 so the new fish can get use to its new surrounding and stake out its terrortory but its all about trial and error

[thermofish]

I totally rearranged the rocks and wood to breakup any established territory but it didnt make a difference. Guy from the shop said they would be ok, but guess not.

I'll try rigging up a divider and see if they can get used to each other.

Im still trying to get my hands on another tank cheap.

cheers.

[Mr_Puddlesworth]

I'd say that your tank is too small for those large fish to get along at all. I've found that using a divider doesnt really help. they will just eyeball each other, flare gills etc and when you take the divider out one will get smashed regardless of them having a 2ft square territory. if your mad keen to try it then get some target fish to try and displace some of their aggression.

[Dragon_Lord_Tia]

ive tried the target fish once and they were ignored fish like them seem to wanna kill cichlids only they might chase them but only to get them away but soon as they see a cichild of some sort their goooooone

[Gcichlid]

I agree with Tim. The festae is at a disadvantage being introduced into an established setup dominated by the Cuban (who are pretty aggro in any case).

In a 4 foot tank the cuban is going to immediately defend his territory and establish dominance.

A festae,cuban and texas are quickly going to outgrow a 4x2x2 tank anyway.

Hope your festae pulls thru and its good you had another tank to put him in. All three are really great fish!

Good luck

Nick