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I've had my loisellei for about 7 months now in a 60 gallon tank. I bought her when she was 2" TL, and has since grown to a healthy 6" TL. Within the last few months she's gotten bold enough to attack the siphon while I'm doing water changes or gravel vacs.

The thing that she does now is every-once-in-a-while she'll hover near the top of the tank... then she leaps out of the water and attacks the glass top. I keep the water line about two inches from the top. The noise it produces is startling, also to mention that sometimes water splashes out of the tank! At first I thought she was trying to jump out, but she has an opportunity to do so since there's a few sections at the back of the tank which are not covered by glass. Upon investigation, I believe she's attacking water droplets (condensation) that form on the glass top.

My question: Is she doing it out of instinct? out of boredom? for fun? is she telling me she's hungry? or is she just one bad fish?

I've contemplated adding more fish so she has companions, but every attempt has ended in failure. Any fish smaller than her is completely terrorized by her.
I would like to have more fish in this tank if possible. Any suggestions? More than likely a larger tank would be a solution. Is there an anger management program availible to make her more docile? I believe not.

Last, a confirmation of my loisellei's sex. I've been told she's female. This was stated when I first got her.
I'm wondering if her high aggression is due to her not being a her, but actually a he.

Here's a few new pics:

http://images.snapfish.com/3429638323232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2333%3D94%3C%3D929%3DXROQDF%3E232374979%3C479ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3429638323232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2333%3D94%3C%3D929%3DXROQDF%3E232374979%3C577ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3429638323232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2333%3D94%3C%3D929%3DXROQDF%3E23237497%3A3273ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/3429638323232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2333%3D94%3C%3D929%3DXROQDF%3E23237497%3A365%3Aot1lsi




Last edited by livebait at 22-Jan-2005 10:39

male or female, that is one nice looking loisellei. ok, as for her attacking the water droplets, she probably thinks they're insects flying around and by jumping out of the water at them she's trying to catch and eat them. maybe try feeding her just a little bit more each feeding, or feed her smaller portions more frequently.

as for the aggression, she's not really being aggressive she's being very territorial. in the pics I can see she's been cleaning some rocks and moving gravel around...in preparations for spawning. Of course she can't spawn because there's no male, but she is a fish and doesn't know that in the confines of a tank a male can't just happen along. she's preparing the spawning site so it will be ready if/when a male comes along. by attacking the gravel vac, she's merely defending the area where she plans to build her nest.

what are the dimensions of your 60 gallon tank? chances are you will need a larger tank to add tankmates. all Parachromis species are hyper territorial, demanding a much larger territory to call home than most other New World cichlids.

Thanks Jason.

The tank is 48" x 15" x 18"

I've been looking for a male for her but my search has come up empty. One tough fish to find. ]

Are they any other types of fish I could throw in? It doesnt have to be a cichlid.


Last edited by livebait at 29-Jan-2005 01:26

Thats a nice female, I have one female 4" in a 75 with an Oscar about 10"

Going to try and find a male too, and move them into their own tank