Terror aggression

[beezer720]

When fish such as terrors and devils start to reach maturity which for them is about 5", (correct?) does their aggression tend to peak as well? My fish all seemed to not fight too much for while with the 10" chocolate being the dom. fish. No one would mess with her except for the ol pleco. Lately the terror has been chasing the 4+" red devil any time it comes in its space. It has even been backing down the choc. lately, surprisingly sometimes seeming to come out on top. I dont know if he/she is really asserting itself in the tank or the choc just doesnt care enough to fight (she's always been rather peaceful). Also, if the terror and the devil for that matter are male they should be starting to develop their humps soon, right? Not too much signs of one yet. I heard from a guy at a lfs that if the fish does not feel it is the dominant fish in the tank it wont neccessarily develop its hump (if it is a male). Has any one heard of this or know that there is truth to this? Also, the choc is quite an egg layer, does anyone know if the terror is a male would it possibly fertilize the choc's eggs? I know most people dont like that stuff, but i think a chocolate terror would be dope? Ha ha

 

[mooman]

I do believe that a male fish's "self image", if you will, dictates how big a hump it gets. All males should eventually show at least a hint of one. As for the aggression, well....you've got aggressive fish. I'm not a big believer in central american "community" tanks. I think they're all ticking time bombs myself. At least you've got them in a good size tank (for now). I see sooooo many tank busters brought into lfs by big cichlid keepers whose fish finally mature and start to beat on everyone. These are the same customers who told me four months earlier that "everyone gets along fine in my tank". Then they procede (against my advice) to shoehorn another devil or terror into an overcrowded tank. I remembered one guy in particular, and when he brought in a beat up fish, I told him we would'nt take it since we had advised him months earlier that his tankmates weren't compatible. Like I said, at least you've got them in a big tank.

 

[beezer720]

Like you said I do have the large tank. I also intend on getting a larger one years down the road when the peacock is huge and arowana. Also, I do believe all but the convict and devil are S.A. and I have heard it is easier to keep them in a community than CA. I have kept multiple smaller CA before too, and had good results aside from a missing eye resulting from the addition of a too small fish. I take very good care of my fish, bi weekly water changes, a bunch of dif food often, proper water parameters. I make it as easy to get along as possible, and I have heard taking these precautions will definately curb the aggression and beat downs. I do have no doubt that terror will be dominant fish sson enough. It does never do more than chase the devil right now, no fin damage just chases it all day. I don't know we'll see. Anybody know about the fertilizing question?