Cichlids hurting my corys - Help!

[Reechard]

Neetroplus nematopus, anyone else have these?

I just picked up three of these from my LFS, he said they were rare. They are pretty neat fish, big blue eyes and they change color when breeding or excited. I was wondering if anyone else had them and could give any advice. I have them in a 46g tank with some tetras and corys.

 

[Reechard]

Cichlid or general forum? I dunno...

I got these great new Central american cichlids, N. nematopus yesterday and now today I come home from work and note that all of my albino corys have serious fin damage. After some observation, the cichlids were clearly the culprit. Everything I had understood about the corys and cichlids said they'd be fine together but that is clearly not the case. After looking around on the net I can't find much about the cichlids, and my post in the cichlid forum looking for someone else that has this kind has yet to be answered. I'm not sure what to do. From a cost-analysis I'd just let the corys go since the Neets cost me $15/fish and the corys are cheap. I'd hate to see them die because I wanted a unique fish in my tank though. Help!

 

[JustOneMore20]

Best stocked as the only cichlid residents in a minimum sized, four foot long tank, with robust - very fast - tankmates. An outrageously aggressive, spawning pair of this species is not recommend for keeping with other cichlid tankmates in even larger sized, home aquariums.

From the profile on cichlid-forum.com.

Cories aren't that fast IMO. They like to just lay around (most of them), so I'd say they are not the best tankmates for these guys. Take the cories back to the LFS if you can.

According to cichlidtank.com they will terrorize any tankmates and are extremely aggressive. No wonder they are going after your cories.

 

[Ineubis]

Cories aren't that fast IMO.

heh...put a net in the water and go after one...you'll see how fast they can be...lol

I gave mine away when I got my loaches and it took quite a while to catch both.

Anyway, I have also heard that cichlids need to be kept with similar sized aggressive fish, and will attack smaller, or slower community fish.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Yes, I know they are fast when you try to catch them. I recently changed out the substrate in my 55g with 9 cories....took me forever to catch all the little buggers.

I meant in general though. My cories just kind of sit there most of the time. They don't have any big fish going after them though.

I think you should take the cories out before you find some of them dead.

What size tank is it by the way? Those cichlids get around 6 inches, so I hope its a big one. I'm surprised the cories haven't already been killed....so I'm guessing it is a big tank because they've only gotten some fin damage.

 

[Menagerie]

Things Not To Do
Do not underestimate this fishes ferocity.

That's from JustOneMore20's link to cichlidtank.com. I'm not sure where you got your information that cories and these cichlids would do well together, but that is clearly not the case. IME, the only cichlids that do well in a peaceful community environment are the dwarf varieties and even some of those are temperamental.
For the long term health of the cories, they need to be removed. What other fish are in the tank, how large is the tank, what kind of decor is in the tank and what are you feeding the Neets?

 

[Menagerie]

~merged the two threads~

 

[Reechard]

For the long term health of the cories, they need to be removed. What other fish are in the tank, how large is the tank, what kind of decor is in the tank and what are you feeding the Neets?

I figured The other tankmates in the 46g bow are a school of 9 tetras (cycle fish) that the cichlids leave alone completely. The tank has two rock formations in it, as well as a flower pot which the Neets claimed as home almost immediately, as well as plastic plants of various sizes. I feed the Neets Spectrum cichlid pellets.

 

[Menagerie]

I have never kept tetras with aggressive cichlids and am wondering if it's a matter of time before the cichlids turn on them. From the little reading I did on the Neets, it looks like rock formations are a must and they will benefit from fresh veggies (article in the articles section) and algae wafers in addition to the pellets--a varied diet is the best diet! You will need to read up on the Neets and decide if additional decor is needed and to see what tank mates are likely to get along with the Neets, if any. How many Neets do you have? There are some links in the Sticky of this forum that I use all the time for cichlid information. If you cannot find info on your specific fish, look at other fish in the genus for ideas on behavior/feeding/territory needs; although, it looks like JustOneMore20 has provided two decent links on these fish and googling the scientific name is bound to come up with more information.

 

[Reechard]

Took the corys back to the LFS, got store credit. The owner felt bad and was apologetic, but glad I got them out alive. Two different books at the LFS say the Neets will only get to be 11cm for males and 8cm for females. I have three, difficult to sex at this point, but I think there are two males and one female based on aggression and coloration. I'll try throwing them some cucumber when I'm rolling sushi tonight (with my back to the tank, of course!)

I feel that the tetras may be large enough and fast enough to avoid the neets. They mill around in the middle of the tank and don't get in the way of the neets like the corys did. The fact that they were albinos probably didn't help either, they might as well have held up a sign that said "Nip fins here." Well, lesson learned, no fish lost.

EDIT:

According to cichlidtank.com they will terrorize any tankmates and are extremely aggressive. No wonder they are going after your cories.

I've read a number of different profiles on this fish and they say anything from mild-mannered to the above terrorize description. The LFS owner said these particular three were relatively calm and had been living peacefully in the tank with other similar sized fish (cichlids and others) for some time. Trying to make the sale? Perhaps. They haven't taken any cheap shots at the tetras yet, all fins are still intact. Hopefully the rock structure I am building this week will make them happier, if I were a fish one stinkin' clay pot wouldn't do it for me, lol.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I'm glad you did the right thing and took them back.

I googled their scientific name and didn't get too much....I did get the cichlidtank.com link though. I always point people to cichlid-forum.com when they start a new cichlid tank (because I don't know much about them) and thought I'd check out their profile on the Neets.

You may be able to find more info if you google and look at the links...I just looked at a couple though, so there is a little more info out there on them.

Most cichlids stay near the bottom of the tank, so I'm guessing thats the reason the cories got picked on and the tetras haven't. But, like Menagerie said, it was probably only a matter of time before they moved onto the tetras.

It may be ok to leave the tetras in for now. I'd watch them carefully though to look for any aggression. Take them to the LFS at the first sign of aggression.

 

[Reechard]

Yeah, I got the same result googling neetroplus nematopus, by the third or fourth page the results all seem to have the same information pasted. I will have to document their behavior carefully and write a book or something =)

 

[JustOneMore20]

Sounds good! You can give your personal experience with them!

 

[Menagerie]

The LFS owner said these particular three were relatively calm and had been living peacefully in the tank with other similar sized fish (cichlids and others) for some time.

Juvies simply do not display the aggression levels of adults. Many times you will see in this forum and others someone post that they have X number of assorted cichlids in a tank for 5 months and things are great--you should try it!! Then things go terribly wrong within a month to a year's time as the fish sexually mature.
I'm glad the cories were returnable and that you got store credit. Not all LFSs are so kind!