Subj : The Mystery Almost Solved
To   : Jeff Snyder
From : Michael Grant
Date : Thu Jul 02 2009 06:56 pm

Hello Jeff.

25 Jun 09 17:36, you wrote to me:

 JS> Actually, I think that you might be looking at this in reverse. While
 JS> Melanochromis Johanni, Melanochromis Cyaneorhabdos and related species
 JS> are pugnacious and aggressive, as you undoubtedly know, so are Jack
 JS> Dempseys, aka Rocio Octofasciata. The issue that you need to consider
 JS> here is that Jack Dempseys can grow to be over twice as large as the
 JS> former, in which case Melanochromis species may not fare very well
 JS> with them. Both species are better off kept in species tanks.

I've had a Jack Dempsey before, and it grew to quite a large size, but it was 
also quite docile and very good in my community tank amongst much smaller fish. 
The new Jack Dempsey I have seems quite shy as well. I've also had some other 
species that were supposed to be "good community fish" who were very 
aggressive.

In my experience, the "aggressive" tags given certain species are pretty broad 
generalizations, and individual fish can tend to vary widely from such 
designations. However, pretty much every electric blue that I've seen in local 
shops appeared to behave aggressively towards their tank mates.

 JS> The other problem is that both like to dig in the sand,
 JS> particularly during mating and spawning, so that would
 JS> undoubtedly lead to some serious territorial rivalries, and I
 JS> think that the Melanochromis species would lose the fight.

I try to stay away from pairing and spawning if possible. It's too much work 
for me to set up multiple tanks. I also once had three large angels and two of 
them paired up. It didn't end well for the third (he was blinded, and couldn't 
see to feed). I eventually lost the main aggressor as well, as the third gave 
back almost as good as he got.


--- GoldED/W32 3.0.1
 * Origin: MikE'S MaiL MaCHinE! (1:250/306)

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