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Everything's been calm in my tank these last few months...
til I woke up this morning and found the smallest of my 3 loisellei with torn up fins. It seems the larger two are ganging up on her and chasing her around for a beatin.

In turn that smallest loisellei has taken over the Texas's home, so now the Texas just swims around and gets chased by everyone. No visible damage on the Texas as it seems its small and fast enough to get away.

And now all of a sudden the two largest loisellei have been flaring gills and fighting each other. Its pretty intense, their lips are starting to get torn up.

Anything I can do to stop this mayhem, or are they just being cichlids?

Texas Cichlid refereeing a fight

Tag Team?



Last edited by livebait at 25-Jun-2005 12:15

the 2 in the top pic look like male and female so it's highly possible you could be seeing pre-spawning behavior. if this is pre-spawning behavior, then the smaller loisellei and texas should probably be removed asap or they could get torn up or killed pretty quickly.

Last edited by Jason_R_S at 25-Jun-2005 14:50

Remove the fish that are being attacked as soon as possible, or you will end up with some badly damaged fish soon.



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It does look like they are in spawning coat. Remove the other guys or invest in a divider before those little guys are killed. Btw, nice pics and fish!

also to add to the above ^ put some slate in your tank if they are thinking of spawning!!

Thanks Jason and Jason.
Thanks cichlidae for the comment.

Yesterday... I managed to finally net the smallest loisellei, but not after getting water everywhere!
I hope she is happy in her new home--Thanks to the kind lady I met at the LFS.

Meanwhile... The Texas can perform a disappearing act. There are cut outs in the plastic-driftwood decor I have in the tank. It probably finds refuge in one of them.
Once I drop the net in the tank, the Texas is no where to be found. That is one smart fish.

The two remaining lois continue there pre-spawning behavior. Sometimes they'll be there with their lips locked, waving their fins, for a long time. Other times, they'll just stay on opposite sides of the tank. Once in a while the larger of the two will chase the smaller one around. How long is this behavior suppose to last?
What should I do about water changes, feeding, temp, etc.?

John,
Is slate grey in color or red-orange? I remember my LFS has the two types of flat rock in stock but they're not labeled.