My Cichlids

[rtopa]

These are all my cichlids except for my Oscar. I haven't managed to get a good photo of him. He mostly looks like a black blob and you can barely see any markings. From left to right are my Gold Severum, Bolivian Ram, Electric Blue Akara and my Convict. Other fish in the tank are my Oscar and a Golden Algae Eater. At least I hope my Algae Eater is still in the tank. The oscar was swimming around with something hanging out of his mouth earlier today and I'm hoping it was something from his feeding this morning and not my algae eater. Hopefully I'll see the algae eater sometime
soon so I can confirm I still have one.

 

[OB Guy]

Nice looking Cichlids.

 

[rtopa]

The EBA (Ghost) is currently king of the tank. He's the largest of the bunch, for now anyway. The Oscar (so originally named Oskar) is working hard to catch up. The Severum (Goldy) is probably the most mellow except when Oskar decides to wake him up for a race around the aquarium. For now the Bolivian Ram (Diego) seems to hide behind the EBA for protection from the Convict (Victor or Jailbird - name hasn't caught on yet). Hoping Diego won't get bullied too much since he'll be considerably smaller when everyone grows up. He was originally purchased for a 30 gallon tank which is now housing our bettas.

 

[rtopa]

Well, the aggression has kicked up in my tank. Oskar decided he actually hated Goldy and I came home to dead fish today. I also believe I lost my golden algae eater to Oskar a few days ago. Oskar had something in his mouth that didn't look like his normal food and I haven't seen the golden algae eater since then. It's possible it's just hiding, but I usually saw it every couple of days.

So far Bolivian Ram is only getting chased a little by the Convict, but if the Oscar decides he doesn't like the BR, then I doubt it will be able to hold him off long. For now he seems to be somewhat protected by the EBA, but not sure why or if the EBA is doing it deliberately. The BR is sticking fairly close to the EBA, and makes sure that he's on the other side of the EBR when the Oscar is around. The EBA does seem to go looking for the BR if it's not around though, so maybe they're actually friends???

I've read on here and elsewhere that overstocking is a way to keep down aggression, so I guess I'll try to start building up tank population. How many fish would constitute overstocking in a 75 gallon tank? What types of Cichlids would be most likely to get along with the fish I have left - Oscar, EBA, Convict, and Bolivian Ram. Or should I limit it to more of the EBA or Convict and not mix it up as much?

 

[OB Guy]

With the Oscar in the tank you're going to have aggression and he will eat just about anything that will fit in his mouth.

 

[rtopa]

I replaced my Severum with 2 Red Hook Silver Dollars, 1 Parrot Cichlid, and 1 Firemouth Cichlid. All of them are currently bigger than the Oscar, especially the Firemouth who is almost full grown. Funny thing is the Firemouth seems to be the most shy of all my fish. Oskar is currently fixated on the Silver Dollars. Since part of the reason I got the Silver Dollars is because one website said that they would calm the Oscars aggression down, so it's kind of disappointing. The Parrot is now king of the tank and seems to enjoy the presence of the Silver Dollars and frequently swims around with them. Oskar tried to bully him and ended up having it backfire with the Parrot chasing him all around the tank. Fish dynamics are very interesting at the moment.

 

[rtopa]

So my tank has finally calmed down. It took the addition of a few other fish - I replaced the golden algae eater which my Oscar ate with a Rafael Striped Catfish and a Pleco and also purchased a Taiwan Reef Cichlid. After about a week for everyone to get used to each other, things have mostly calmed down. The Oscar has turned into a relatively calm placid fish who mostly keeps to himself. The Silver Dollars still enjoy chasing each other around the tank and occasionally the Taiwan Reef (Rusty) joins in on their fun. At least until my Firemouth , who is no longer that shy, comes out and tells all the children to behave. I even have some of my fish that will come to be hand fed. The Oscar was eating out of my hand on day one, but the Silver Dollars, the Parrot, and the Blue Acara are all now coming up to take food out of my hand. The Taiwan Reef is thinking about it, as is the convict. That's pretty cool.