rosiesfishpond
Aquarium Advice Newbie
help! i’ve had a (heated) cichlid pond here in south florida and my two largest Firemouths which are gorgeous, are literally killing every other firemouth in the pond. this just started two weeks ago. I’ve always added different cichlids that are compatible so they aren’t upset about newbies. The only other change is that i’ve had a few unexpected pregnancies, so there are many more fish than before. it’s a 1000g pond so there’s (or was) plenty of room. I’m planning on rehoming the babies (teens now) to the lake out back. It’s getting overstocked. Since the babies arrived, the nitrates went from 0 (used to have better readings than my indoor tank which is around 10 nitrates) to around 30 but never out of “safe zone” about 40,, nitrites 0, and ammonia 0. At first I thought maybe they were hyper sensitive to nitrates, but again, they in not the danger zone and i haven’t lost a single other fish. IMO, based on my experience with my indoor tank, Angels and EB JDs are very sensitive but they are just fine. So far i’ve lost over 25 teen firemouths in 2 weeks. Not a single other fish has died. I should add that they aren’t the Giant Adults babies- they are just randoms I pick up at Petco like one a month bc i absolutely love them and adore their colors. They’re gorgeous fish.
Anyway, I wouldn’t have believed it if i didn’t see it with my own two eyes, but mom & dad (the giant adults) are quite literally killing every firemouth in the pond. I watched the adults swim around with smaller FMs in their mouths while the other fish tried to steal them. Again, not their spawn. Is this their version of population control? bc this started when the two groups of random babies got bigger. I need help bc i’m upset I can’t stock FMs anymore, but moreover I want to know why the two largest are killing all the smaller ones!!! and only the FMs!!! wth?! I’ve googled my butt off to no avail
Anyway, I wouldn’t have believed it if i didn’t see it with my own two eyes, but mom & dad (the giant adults) are quite literally killing every firemouth in the pond. I watched the adults swim around with smaller FMs in their mouths while the other fish tried to steal them. Again, not their spawn. Is this their version of population control? bc this started when the two groups of random babies got bigger. I need help bc i’m upset I can’t stock FMs anymore, but moreover I want to know why the two largest are killing all the smaller ones!!! and only the FMs!!! wth?! I’ve googled my butt off to no avail