death.......

[k.mascher86]

I got a pictus for my tank the other day......last night my eartheaters ganged up on it and killed it. Female grabbed it by the tail while my male bit a hole by his gill........any reason why?

 

[HUKIT]

That's unfortunate but not uncommon, they're simply defending their territory. Plus geos are fairly low on the aggression scale, things like this escalate when you start getting into the more aggressive cichlids.

 

[k.mascher86]

What i dont get is that i have 6 1/2" albino cory cats with them and they are left alone.......had the pictus in for 8 hours maybe......shredded

 

[HUKIT]

Were the Cory's there first? Or simply the Geos don't see them as a threat yet. Personally if it were me I'd remove corys, I've seen more than a fair share of corys dorsal fins lodged in hungry cichlids mouths and they both died.

 

[garfy]

I second that.I once made the mistake of putting 4 cichlid fry in my community tank to grow out a little before I returned them to the main tank.They were fine for a week or so and then one day I went to work.I returned to find one of my Albino Cory's minus all it's fins and tail.It had purple marks all over it's body where the baby cichlids had attacked it.Hence to say it was dead.
I returned the babies to the main tank and let them take their chances.I would not put my Cory's through that again.Many Cichlids are killers through and through.
If I were you I would remove the Cory's for their own safety.

 

[k.mascher86]

Corys have been there just as long as the geos.........

 

[k.mascher86]

The corys are fine, no problems......

 

[garfy]

For now maybe.Just my opinion.No offence meant.

 

[k.mascher86]

Dude none taken! ive noticed that my male is now fin nipping the heck out of my "female".......i only say its female cause the fins and coloration are way different in the two and i know for sure that one is male. Maybe they are both males and found the pictus a threat since he was bigger than the corys? totally confused!

the fin nipper


the "female"

 

[garfy]

They could be both males and it is a territorial battle or just a show of dominance.I have no experience with sexing geo's so I can't tell you for sure.As HUKIT said they are low on the aggression scale but that doesn't mean they won't kill each other..Out of interest what size is your tank?

 

[k.mascher86]

55 gallon.....its just them and the corys

 

[garfy]

Ok that's a good size for them.Thats not the problem IMO.Do you have plenty of cover for them? Places to hide?

 

[k.mascher86]

This is my tank

 

[OwlnTigger]

The fish are beautiful, and so is the tank. I would suggest adding lots of greenery for them to hide in.

 

[k.mascher86]

I just figured that they were male and female, they didnt need that many places......i try to change the scenery every few weeks.......to cut down on any aggression.......guess i got to try something different.....

 

[k.mascher86]

Hukit i saw on another persons thread you had dividing crates..........where do you get those? i want to try that in my geo tank see if it helps

 

[HUKIT]

They sold at home improvement stores in the section with drop ceiling tiles, they are light diffusers. Just cut them to fit your tank, one sheet can normally do 2-4 tanks depending on size.

 

[k.mascher86]

Do you think that will help?

 

[HUKIT]

Do you think that will help?

With the aggression towards tankmates?

 

[k.mascher86]

Yes.....