cichlid interaction

[zachmorrow]

I first heard of this at petsmart. if you put territorial fish in a tank with no rocks or plants, basically nothing as boundry marks, and no caves or anything of that nature to fight over, the fish will co-exist fine. I tried this with my 55 with cichlids in it, and it seems to work well. Of course i now have caves to reduce stress, but I was wondering if anyone else had thoughts on this. This is supposedly how fish store can house so many fish seemlessly.

[crashinc25]

Eh, I suppose that makes sense. I would rely more on the idea that, for the most part, space is the primary ingredient. Petsmart has like 30 fish in a confined space. No room for real aggression. Privately, we do not over-populate our tanks and thus sets up an opportunity for dominance. Get a bigger tank and each can feel comfortable in their own space. I have agressive guys, but in a 100g tank with tons of spaces for hiding and dominance. No real problems.

[Lupin]

You have an obligation to keep the fish long-term and in this case, they must be given a proper environment replicated from their natural habitat. Fish stores are far different from private fish keeping. I don't expect them to lift out the rocks from time to time simply to catch the fish one by one as they go into customers' tanks.

[Slappy*McFish]

Not to mention most people like their aquariums to look attractive. I'd much rather have a beautiful mini aquatic environment in my home than a bare tank full of fish. But to each his own, I suppose. One man's garbage is another man's treasure.

[jm1212]

i think it would be the opposite. the fish would have no boundary markers, and therefore all of them would claim the entire tank for themselves. then all will do is fight. and fight. and fight.