animallover09
Aquarium Advice Activist
I have two electric yellow cichlids-one female and one male is what the fish store owner said. The female is quite larger than the male, pretty much double his size. I have had them for almost a month now. They came home to a 20 gallon tank that has two castles and other decorations in it to hide in. The first week went well. They acted fine around each other for a week. The male would stay hide in the castles the whole week, would only come out at night time, and would rarely eat. Then one morning during the second week I saw the female chasing the male around in circles in the tank. The male would get so tired of trying to get away from her that he would be tired and float to the top. At first, I thought this was their way of breeding but then I noticed that she was nipping at his tail. He ended up losing half of his tail in this battle. I couldn't watch her kill him so I took him out and put him in a one gallon aquarium for now. A week later, I tried reintroducing him back into the tank with her but she still tried to kill him. So he is still in his one gallon tank and his tail is almost grown back. He isn't shy anymore and actually eats better now. He seems a lot happier in his one gallon tank than with the female cichlid.
Can someone help me figure out why she is so mean to him? And will I be able to put him back in the tank with her when he gets older and bigger?
Can someone help me figure out why she is so mean to him? And will I be able to put him back in the tank with her when he gets older and bigger?