New aggression in Jaguar Cichlid

Discussion in 'Cichlids' started by Jodyc, Dec 7, 2009.

  1. Jodyc

    Jodyc BigCichlid

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    Hi

    As some of you might recall, I changed my substrate last week from gravel to Black sand.
    Well since the change my large jag (15cm) who was previously buddies with my small Jag(8cm), now terrorizes him. and he almost killed my 1 Malawi(Not sure about the name), and leaves my other Malawi(Its mainly blue, with white stripe through center.).

    Can it be that the substrate colour changed the aggression levels??
     
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  3. small_fry

    small_fry Fish King

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    nope....it could be stressed related (due to gravel change) or he is establishing territories which is what i think it is....hope your fish survive...jags are known fish killers of all types...especially if their tank it small. min size for a MALE jag would be 1.5m x 700mm x ?mm and only that fish will be able to be happy in it by itself...any more fish then you must go bigger.
     
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    Jodyc

    Jodyc BigCichlid

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    Oh ok.
    I have mine in a 1.2m x 600 x 600??

    Do you also own a Jag?
     
  5. small_fry

    small_fry Fish King

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    i used to own a jag when i was living in a bigger place. Had 2 of them in a 2m x 650mm x 650...much happier fish when they were moved and 1month after the move i had a spawn.
     
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    Jodyc

    Jodyc BigCichlid

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    So seeing as mine is only 15cm, im still ok for a while though?
     
  7. small_fry

    small_fry Fish King

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    You will be fine for about 2 months when they hit a growth spurt (from 15cm to about 23cm odd). GL

    mine was 8 cm when i moved him and her...

    i have seen a you tube video of a 15cm Jag murder a full grown Oscar in your size tank...

    you must remember that when you are dealing with highly aggro cichlids, then you always have to provide the biggest "foot print" of a tank that you can afford. If thats the biggest size you can afford (the 1 in your sig), then i can tell you now, your malawis will die and then they will harrass your plecos by repeatedly biting its eyes.... your pleco will then stay underneath a rock and not come out and then die....creating lots of bad chemicals in your tank.

    if you remove all the fish but the jags from the tank, you should be fine provided they are male and female...if they are and they breed, just watch the male jag as they have a habit of killing the female after the spawn...go to monsterfishkeepers.com and do a search there for Jags.
     
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    Jodyc

    Jodyc BigCichlid

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    I will do so, thank you.

    How can I sex them?

    And Yes, it is the tank in my Sig.
     
  9. small_fry

    small_fry Fish King

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    my pic is a pic of my male jag i used to have...females have the bars on their lateral sides complete where a male has the bars broken/scattered. as they grow those bars of the males will then develop into a beautiful spotted fish...hence the common name, Jaguar, cos they look like the cat. also you can only sex these fish 100% successfully once they reach roughly the 4in mark (around 10 -12 cm).

    the tank in you sig is a great sized tank as it has the volume of water to house various cichlids healthly yet unfortunately is too small a foot print for aggro cichlids such as jags...2 oscars in there and you are stocked...those 2 plecos will eventually out grow the tank and you might be having water quality issues now (dont know your water change regime) if not, you will have water quality issues when those plecos hit 30cm+...best advice now is to get rid of them...they not suited for a closed environment such as an aquarium.
     
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    Jodyc

    Jodyc BigCichlid

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    I do 30 % water change every 3rd day.
    I use the Plecos to keep the tank clean, i.e. Glass, and left over food.

    I will try and take pics tonight and post tommorrow, then hopefully you can help me with sexing.

    The thing is , a 2m tank is 7K plus.
     
  11. small_fry

    small_fry Fish King

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    if you buy a 2m tank brand new, then yes you will pay out your arse. but if you shop around on the net, gumtree, junkmail, then you will find a bargain. my 2m was secondhand and picked it up as well as stand and sliders for R1500...not bad....plecos dont keep tanks clean, yes they may eat up all the left over food, but they destroy the water quality a lot quicker than if you have your current fish in there picking up all the left overs....also if you have left overs, then you are over feeding. a little bit of left overs is fine, but not enough for the plecos to chow as thats overfeeding....

    your water change sounds excellent!!!! keep it up and you will have very happy and healthy fishies that will love you and then try to eat your finger when its in the tank.

    yeah pics are always a must when sexing...try to get as much light on it as possible and see if you can get a profile pic (mine is a semi profile)
     
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    Jodyc

    Jodyc BigCichlid

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    I will try,

    What catfish type of bottom feeder can I swop my Plecos for to share with my Jags?
     
  13. small_fry

    small_fry Fish King

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    not much go with jags unfortunately...you could try synodontis erupuptus (i.e. featherfin synodontis, featherfin squeaker, etc.). i had 1 with my jags and although he tried to boss them around, he was put in his place very quickly...also he is a nocturnal fish and will more than likely only come out after lights out, but when he gets used to you, will be out and about all over the place. just remember to provide him with a home of his own (otherwise he wont be very happy), prefably away from the jags home. he scours the bottom as well as the surface for food...awesome fish...really awesome!!! you wont go wrong with them...also you can try pictus catfish...slow grower so you might need to grow them out in a smaller tank so the jags dont try and eat them...if they do, they will die due to the long-ass whiskers of the pictus...
     
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    Jodyc

    Jodyc BigCichlid

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    I had some Syns, ages ago, wasnt really a big fan of them :)

    I also have a talking catfish, will it survive
     
  15. small_fry

    small_fry Fish King

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    you wont ever see except during the night (if you lucky). i had 2 of them once and rarely ever saw them...again you can try....you must remember that jags develop a personality as they grow bigger...i like to call it the god complex cos they can and generally do own the tank...unless you have a midas or a red devil...then its a toss up of who is stronger...LOL!!!!

    it might die during the night if your jags are breeding due to the fact that they scavenge on the bottom and dont stop till lights on...
     
  16. OP
    Jodyc

    Jodyc BigCichlid

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    Oh OK,

    Just a quick thought. Will a 8foot tank suffice?
     
  17. small_fry

    small_fry Fish King

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    the length sounds great, in fact its perfect length for any cichlid but whats the width??? remember male jags grow to about 40cm odd give or take 3cm...so take the 40cm and multiply it by 1.5 and then you will see MIN size for width so the fish can turn easily...height is not a factor too much provided that its a decent height such as 40cm...

    hey jody...that tank that ACE007 pointed you to.....take it now...brilliant price...just pray it isnt sold yet...

    by the way, you will need 3 of those terta tec filters to adquately filter your water with jags in....or by a sump or build a sump...sumps are around R600 for a 2ft sump...but you should look at a 4ft sump at least....
     
  18. OP
    Jodyc

    Jodyc BigCichlid

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    I did mail that oke , in the link
     
  19. small_fry

    small_fry Fish King

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    will be holding thumbs that you get it...
     
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    Jodyc

    Jodyc BigCichlid

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    Thanks
     
  21. OP
    Jodyc

    Jodyc BigCichlid

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    I phoned the guy now, Its actually 1.8 m, so its a 6foot, not a 8ft :(
     

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