Keyhole Cichlid groups

[liamdalr]

Just looking for some thoughts on Keyhole communities. I have 4 x Keyhole Cichlids in a 55g set up. Two have paired up and been spawning and keep chasing off the other two which I think are both female. Should I be rehoming the two female or would they all be happier together once spawing is over? Not sure if Keyholes prefer larger groups or pairs only. For additional info I have 3x pearl Gourami and 6x white cloud minnow in the tank.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks
Liam

 

[littlefish4]

Hey Liam, disclaimer, I've never owned keyhole cichlids. But I saw that you hadn't gotten any responses and figured I'd throw in my 2 cents and see if any cichlid experts on here might see this and give you better help.

I plan on owning keyholes sometime in the future so I did a little bit of research a while back. Most tanks I see are community set ups with only one pair of keyholes. I've also read that people typically buy multiple juveniles (as you did) to try to find a pair and then they rehome the others.

So if it were me I would rehome the other two but I can't guarantee they won't be perfectly happy all together following the spawn.

I hope this helps or it gets someone else with an expert opinion to see this and they help lol.

 

[liamdalr]

Thanks Littlefish4, that's good to know. Perhaps I will look into rehoming the other two. I appreciate your input!