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New Rainbows fighting

captmicha

captmicha

Members
The pair of Rainbow cichlids I got at the last auction were fighting pretty viciously when I checked on them today.

They're QTing in my 15g tall QT tank with a lot of plant cover and hiding places, and food too.

I thought they were pretty peaceful? Do I wait for injury to seperate them? That sounds bad, I mean, when would other people seperate them? Thanks.
 
mchambers

mchambers

Former CCA member
They are usually fairly peaceful, but they are cichlids, and can be mean. A 15 isn't much room for them, but it's not bad for a quarantine tank. Maybe you could put some sort of divider in?

I'd be inclined to separate them now, if you have another tank to put one in.
 
Z

zendog

Active Member
What is the footprint of the 15 tall? I know a regular 15 is 12x24, but if this is one of the column tanks or something else with a much smaller footprint they might just be too cramped and you'll need to do more to keep them from being in each others faces.

I've successfully quarantined some grumpier west African cichlids in a regular 15 with a lot of rock and hornwort or other plants so that one fish has several locations to get completely out of sight of the other. Having other fish in the tank with them can also help a lot. The target fish can quickly change the dynamic from you-against-me to us-against-them for a pair.

But if your rainbows are feeling aggressive and you can't block sight lines enough or distract them with target fish it could escalate to the point one fish gets seriously hurt or worse. So keep an eye on them and be prepared to move one if necessary.
 
captmicha

captmicha

Members
Thanks! I'll move one to another tank until I can get something bigger set up for them. They're with other fish, but I guess it's not good enough.
 
xny89

xny89

Administrator
Staff member
FWIW, my three have just started getting "active" again after several months of peace.
 
FishEggs

FishEggs

Well-Known Member
These were donated from me. I had 2 pair in a 75 gallon. The pair I have left just spawned again so I'm fairly certain it is a male and female. The female I actually got from Holly.
 
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