I have a Cichlid question?

Question

I've got a salvini, green terror and kribensis in a 90 gallon tank. The kribensis will not leave the salvini alone, despite the fact that my tank is absolutely full of hides and plants. I think its because the krib thinks the salvini looks too much like it. I heard kribs are only territorial when they are in breeding mode but I don't have a mate for it so I'm not sure if thats the case. Any opinions?

Answer 1

The reason that krib is chasing salvini because they both look alike and your krib seems lonely. If they both are about the same size, there will be a little possibility that these fishes will crossbreed. Try to set your water temperature between 80-86, see if they cooperate. If your kirb is territorial toward salvini, then your krib is not interested at it.

Answer 2

So basically, you have a Central American, African, and South American all in the same tank?  Are these all the occupants of the tank?

It does sound a bit like the Kribensis is a male.  Females most likely wouldn't act in this way.  However, like I said, you have to consider, you've got fish from three different parts of the world all mixed into the same tank, things are not always going to be kosher with a mix like this.

The only saving grace you have out of all this is the fact you have a 90 gallon space, so this should prevent your Green Terror from acting like it's name.  You might also want to spend more time watching what is triggering this.  It's highly possible that the Salvini is wandering into the area which the Krib feels it's theirs.

What you can try to do, in case you are already not doing this, is every water change, take everything out of your substrate, and set it up differently.  This should cause some confusion among the group and keep aggression off balance.  You should be doing weekly changes, so the changes should be occuring fast enough to prevent anyone from getting too assertive.

What water parameters are you keeping this at?  Both the Salvini and Krib would prefer the same type, but your Green Terror would prefer lower Ph and softer waters.  I'm just curious.

It's a case where they can adapt to different waters yes.  I mean I don't think you could for example, go so far as like take a fish that thrives in 8.0 and keep them in say 6.8.  That's probably too far out of range.  The Salvini though, I looked up, Mexican and typically does well in a PH of 8.0, and even though the Kribs would be in lower PH'd waters in Africa, you'd still like to have a decent KH reading in the tank.  That's still probably not the cause.  I've got the feeling the Salvini is intruding into the Krib's area is all.  Watch them for a day or two and see what you observe.  Try the decor rearrange for now.

Answer 3

its a case of to big for his britches i bet.. add some more kribs or other fish that are compatable....

feed them well also

Answer 4

maybe you have a dominent male