FishProfiles.com Message Forums

not me, but what would you say to thiss guy.

he has a 50 gallon tank,

currently he has 2 oscars/and a JD.

he wants to add 2 red devils, 4 fire mouths, 2 green terrors.

i told him that this wouldn't work, and there is 100% going to be a fight for territory.

What would you say, as this is always a FAQ when it comes to new cichlid owners.

All you can do is advise him on what would be the outcome.
If he will not listen that is his problem. I fully realize some fish will die and he will possibly go out and buy more.
Sounds like he has more money than sense or is just plain stupid.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Hmm, one interesting possibility is this.

Cichlids are pretty smart when it comes to determining when to hold back on the aggression, and when to launch into combat. An article from one of my magazine back numbers stated that Cichlids sense the level of pollutants from their companions, and use this to gauge the number of opponents. If the number of opponents is deemed to be small enough that all out warfare is associated with relatively little risk, the stronger Cichlids will start exterminating their weaker companions. If, on the other hand, the signals they receive suggest that starting a fight will lead to all out armageddon because there's a small army of opponents to take on, the Cichids may back down and just glower at each other. So, paradoxically, this piece of madness might not result in the carnage that is the first thought to spring to mind. However, this is heavily dependent upon whether or not the existing fishes have invested heavily in territory or not, and if they have, the "interlopers" introduced after the fact will find they're in an aquatic version of the Hanoi Hilton ...

Even if they react in accordance with the behavioural features given in Dr Ashley Ward's article (Practical Fishkeeping, February 2004, pp 4-8), and they replicate the behaviour observed experimentally in Convicts, putting several large Cichlids into that aquarium is a bad idea from the standpoint of the stress imposed upon what are, after all, highly evolved and intelligent fishes.

Let's see ... 2 oscars and a Jack Dempsey need 125 gallons just for those three as a baseline figure ... throw in 2 Red Devils, 4 Firemouths and 2 Green Terrors and you're looking at 300 gallons and up. Even then, the poor Firemouths could easily end up ripped to shreds by the bigger fishes unless the furnishings are planned very carefully to give them hiding places that the big fishes can't reach.

I've encountered at least one dipstick of this kind myself, who seems to think that having a tankful of psychotic fishes on the edge of all out warfare somehow confers upon him enhanced status as a 'hard man' - much the same way that having a snarling pit bull on a lead became a sort of willy extension for headcases some years back. I advised him to go marine and keep a Stonefish ... * evil cackle *

Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I think everyone in that neighbourhood gonna end up UN-happy, unh hunh (OR DEAD... which is less happy than unhappy, it's downright gorn)

If he wants to keep all the species he needs to give them the tank space EACH they need to be happy.

Fish keeping is like scheduling a social life... you have a certain amount of invitations and a certain amount of time. You gotta choose a time/place and can't do EVERYTHING.

A tank is the same - cept instead of limited time you have limited SPACE and can't do it all. Him dumping fish into a tank because he just likes 'em and gives no thought to if they are happy is selfish.

Tell him I said: Make up your mind or make appropriate arrangements!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

i'de tell him, to put it euphamisticly, that packing a bunch of aggressive fish together is not a great method of enlarging his "ego". If he wants to feel like a man, he can run head on into a wood chipper to prove his pain tolerence and toughness. If he wants to keep aggressive fish, he should learn how to keep them properly, or he'll come off as a cruel, insecure little man. Sorry if this sounds harsh, i just don't understand people who use cruelty to animals to assert dominance.

By chance, did you meet this guy at a monster truck show?

he probably just thinks its cool to have huge aggressive fish that eat other fish. that is what i thought when i got an oscar for my 10 gallon....but then i came onto the internet and found out i had to get rid of him. now i'm going to get hopefully a 92 gallon corner aquarium for a Jack dempsey.....can't wait!

Beggar... your post made me laugh!

Chris please tell us that your friend has seen the gro-light?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

i'de tell him, to put it euphamisticly, that packing a bunch of aggressive fish together is not a great method of enlarging his "ego". If he wants to feel like a man, he can run head on into a wood chipper to prove his pain tolerence and toughness. If he wants to keep aggressive fish, he should learn how to keep them properly, or he'll come off as a cruel, insecure little man. Sorry if this sounds harsh, i just don't understand people who use cruelty to animals to assert dominance.

AMEN TO THAT!

By chance, did you meet this guy at a monster truck show?

I'd offer this guy an invite to step into a zoo enclosure with several Siberian Tigers, see if he liked aggressive creatures after that ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002