Aggression sass or danger danger

[Carolineep]

Hi all,
Before my guys get bigger I need some guidance please.

I have a group of 6 paralabidochromis chromogynos my goal is to eventually get a breeding colony. My question is I see a whole lot of chasing around and one in particular fish seems to be getting chased a lot. However I also see him chasing.
My question is should I pull the fish getting chased? Should I split the males from females as best as I can tell? They are roughly 1.5 to 2 inches a couple are starting to color up and believe they are males.
I get they are going to be sassy to one another I just want to make sure everyone lives.
Thank you
C

 

[jonclark96]

I've never had luck with pulling subdominant males and ever reintroducing them to the group, but this was with other harem spawning fish, not the species in question. Maybe others have more experience with them.

 

[chriscoli]

Do they have enough sight blocks and hiding places where a fish that needs some time to chill can hide?

 

[Carolineep]

Do they have enough sight blocks and hiding places where a fish that needs some time to chill can hide?

After I spoke to you Christine I dumped a bunch of plastic plants, rocks and a faux log thingy that they love to swim around.
They have another week before they are out of QT.
And once they are out of qt I have some more hardscape stuff and some pots.
I also have plants on order from Rachel

In retrospect maybe I should not have started my Cares breeding project with this sassy of a fish...

 

[Carolineep]

So I added a bunch of plastic plants to break line o sight. I think I need to add more I see them lip locking and squaring up against each other a lot.

I have had them 2 weeks now and it would break my heart for them to get through Qt just to kill each other.

Christine can you show a pic of your chromogynos tank to give me some ideas?

Do you see anything off about my set up?
They have another week in qt before I will add more sand.
I am open to suggestions.

filtration is hob 70 plus two sponge filters and a air stone
C

 

[chriscoli]

Here are a couple of examples....some uglier than others.

Jesse verbal also has/had chromogenys....maybe he can show off his setup.

 

[chriscoli]

Oh, and for quarantine setups, I love using PVC. It's easy to clean and not so heartbreaking to part with if you decide you need to start over because of some horrible disease.

 

[Carolineep]

This sounds silly but I totally forgot about pvc.
I can get it at Home Depot yes? What size should I get?

I just saw one of them scooping sand in a circle. Is that a breeding behavior or just setting up an area?

What size are yours now?

 

[chriscoli]

Home Depot or any hardware store is great. Get a size large enough for the fish to fit inside if they want. I've got one that's a good 5 or 6 inches and two smaller ones.