New to Cichlids - Some key questions....

[Mr.Fish]

I've got three Severums about 7" in a 110...just transferred them in from my 55...water/temp/chemistry is all good and down the middle for the species...tank is in a nice, quiet portion of the house.

I'm a gourami guy by experience, so I'm not familiar with some of these behaviors I'm seeing since they've moved. If you guys could please provide some advice on whether this is normal, I will sleep a lot better.

1) They seem awful shy still...I'm assuming this is because they've just been moved. Left alone, they come out and go to the top of the tank...luckily the room is large and I can observe this - if I get close, they bolt to the rocks.

2) One of them has turned a darker blue and has exhibited some aggressive behaviors toward the other two. Didn't know severums could change color...

3) The darker one also occasionally will "take a roll" on one of my sword plants, a rock, some gravel...at first I thought this might be some sign of a skin irritation, but it's not - immediately after doing this, it goes for one of the other fish and gets right in it's face...What the heck is that all about? I think they are still too small to be breeding....

Thanks in advance..

 

[NickH]

1.) The shyness is normal. You just upset the world as they know it. Give them some time.

2.) Fish change colors with their moods. This is normal.

3.) Cichlids will "flash" on rocks and other objects as part of their display of dominance or aggression. You upset their internal hiercarchy by moving them and now this order has to be re-established. Cichlids are territorial and now they have to sort things out - who gets what.

All of these things should come to pass in the next two to four weeks. Sounds like a nice bio-tope tank, enjoy it.

 

[NatakuTseng]

They aren't too small to breed. Flashing can be two things, most likely its something irritating the the fish and they are trying to get it off, often this is a early warning sign of ich. It could be a dominance thing. The aggression is going to happen with nearly any cichlid when their territory is changed, so they need to re-establish the pecking order. The shyness is most likely just because they have not become comfortable with their new environment yet.

 

[Mr.Fish]

Nope, not ich...it's been a couple days now and seems like the "blue" is settling down and not flashing..

the aggressive behaviors are moderating, too...all fish are now swimming at all levels in the tank and appear healthy.

Thanks for the advice