Guess I should've been more careful, but I had 2 baby female Melechromis Auratus Cichlids that were in my 30 gal tank till they got a little bigger. This morning, I noticed something in my Jag's mouth, and thought it was wierd he wasn't coming up for food...he's usually the first one up. What was in his mouth, was one of my small Melechromis Auratus Cichlids...Guess I should've knew better.
Jaguar Cichlid ate Melechromis Auratus Cichlid
- Thread starter WHEELMAN322
- Start date
The funny thing about is...I got the Jaguar second hand. The guy I bought the 80 gal from, was also getting rid of his fish. I read a small amount about the Jag online, but thought he was much less aggresive than the Mbuna. My wife saw the tiny Mbuna being chased by the larger Mbuna when I was setting up the 80 gal, and had them all together. I thought it would be a bright idea to temporarily keep the small Auraus's together with the Jag till they got a little bigger....Guess I was wrong.
Jags pwn. M'buna fans seem to have a habit of greatly underestimating the potential destructiveness of several new world species, including Jags, JDs, Midas...
A general rule is that they should not be mixed (African & S.A./Central American species), if, for no other reason than they're generally sort of backwards in how they use color to communicate their "mood". New world species generally go darker when they're stressed, cowering or retreating and they blanch when they're coming out to kick some tail. This is the opposite of what many old world species do. When put in a tank together, they may all get along well enough - until someone changes color. Then all you-know-what breaks loose and it is made worse because of the miscommunication. It can turn into either a complete ambush of the African species or being kicked even harder when down for the new world fish.
PS - I know that the above is far too general and that there are lots of exceptions, so please don't flame me (too much).
A general rule is that they should not be mixed (African & S.A./Central American species), if, for no other reason than they're generally sort of backwards in how they use color to communicate their "mood". New world species generally go darker when they're stressed, cowering or retreating and they blanch when they're coming out to kick some tail. This is the opposite of what many old world species do. When put in a tank together, they may all get along well enough - until someone changes color. Then all you-know-what breaks loose and it is made worse because of the miscommunication. It can turn into either a complete ambush of the African species or being kicked even harder when down for the new world fish.
PS - I know that the above is far too general and that there are lots of exceptions, so please don't flame me (too much).
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Not to worry....Good advice is always appreciated.PS - I know that the above is far too general and that there are lots of exceptions, so please don't flame me (too much).
Lol and it all works out in the end. Guess it was an expensive lesson to learn that only Mbuna should be with Mbuna, even then it's risky.
P.S. Laughing at Coler's reply, not your loss which I am sorry to read of.
P.S. Laughing at Coler's reply, not your loss which I am sorry to read of.
Agreed with Coler, eating a smaller fish has nothing to do with aggression/territoriality issues. Jag's are predators, though just about any fish will eat a suitably smaller one if the opportunity arises.
that they will. but for an exception i had my melanochromis johanni and aruatus in the same tank as my mating pair of jacks and they did just fine, i just pulled out the melanos because i wanted the jacks fry to grow with less stress.