Green Terror digging hole..
Dempsey
Hi I have a single Green Terror in a 33 gallon tank. I had to remove an
Angelfish cause I was sick of having the divided so I took out the
divider and after only a little while, the Angel was just beat up to
crap. Also the other morning I found my only Tiger Barb decapitated. Now
my Green Terror is digging a huge hole in the back of the tank. I should
mention that he's about 3 inches or smaller right now. When I approach
the tank he rushes to the front with his gills flared and his fins out
and looks like he really wants to get through the glass to bite me! My
question is, Is hole digging by a cichlid an action of a female or male
or just both? Thanks
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moi
Dempsey <mce...@smartt.com> spake thusly:
>Hi I have a single Green Terror in a 33 gallon tank. I had to remove an
>Angelfish cause I was sick of having the divided so I took out the
>divider and after only a little while, the Angel was just beat up to
>crap. Also the other morning I found my only Tiger Barb decapitated. Now
>my Green Terror is digging a huge hole in the back of the tank. I should
>mention that he's about 3 inches or smaller right now. When I approach
>the tank he rushes to the front with his gills flared and his fins out
>and looks like he really wants to get through the glass to bite me! My
>question is, Is hole digging by a cichlid an action of a female or male
>or just both? Thanks
>--
Cichlids dig. Nuff said about that. Angels and cichlids don't mix. The
cichlids are quite aggressive, so you have to watch what you mix them with.
Angels like a Ph of around 6.2. Cichlids like it around 8.2. He's probably
looking thru the glass and screaming if you don't get the &$%&# Ph up, I'll
get you when you're sleeping! ;)
Unknown
In article <31f98de0...@news2.microserve.net>,
moi <gar...@microserve.net> wrote:
>Dempsey <mce...@smartt.com> spake thusly:
>
>>Hi I have a single Green Terror in a 33 gallon tank. I had to remove an
>>Angelfish cause I was sick of having the divided so I took out the
>>divider and after only a little while, the Angel was just beat up to
>>crap. Also the other morning I found my only Tiger Barb decapitated. Now
>>my Green Terror is digging a huge hole in the back of the tank. I should
>>mention that he's about 3 inches or smaller right now. When I approach
>>the tank he rushes to the front with his gills flared and his fins out
>>and looks like he really wants to get through the glass to bite me! My
>>question is, Is hole digging by a cichlid an action of a female or male
>>or just both? Thanks
>>--
>
>Cichlids dig. Nuff said about that. Angels and cichlids don't mix. The
>cichlids are quite aggressive, so you have to watch what you mix them with.
Um what? Angels are cichlids.
>Angels like a Ph of around 6.2. Cichlids like it around 8.2. He's probably
>looking thru the glass and screaming if you don't get the &$%&# Ph up, I'll
>get you when you're sleeping! ;)
Get a clue. Some cichlids, like angels, like it soft.
- John
--
=-+=-+=-+=-+
John Raithel cichlids, mainly new world
rai...@rahul.net catfish, mainly new world
http://www.rahul.net/raithel/ other fish, mainly all worlds
rgib...@bmi.net
(snip)
Cichlids dig. Nuff said about that. Angels and cichlids don't mix. The
> cichlids are quite aggressive, so you have to watch what you mix them with.
Uh...angels ARE cichlids. Hello! But you're right in that they can't hold their
own with the more aggressive green terror. By the way, the digging and
aggressive displays are generally more of a male thing, but don't quote me on
that :)
Rachel
David Garrett
On Sat, 27 Jul 1996 03:38:41 GMT, gar...@microserve.net (moi) wrote:
>Dempsey <mce...@smartt.com> spake thusly:
>
>>Hi I have a single Green Terror in a 33 gallon tank. I had to remove an
>>Angelfish cause I was sick of having the divided so I took out the
>>divider and after only a little while, the Angel was just beat up to
>>crap. Also the other morning I found my only Tiger Barb decapitated. Now
>>my Green Terror is digging a huge hole in the back of the tank. I should
>>mention that he's about 3 inches or smaller right now. When I approach
>>the tank he rushes to the front with his gills flared and his fins out
>>and looks like he really wants to get through the glass to bite me! My
>>question is, Is hole digging by a cichlid an action of a female or male
>>or just both? Thanks
>>--
>
>Cichlids dig. Nuff said about that. Angels and cichlids don't mix. The
>cichlids are quite aggressive, so you have to watch what you mix them with.
>
>Angels like a Ph of around 6.2. Cichlids like it around 8.2. He's probably
>looking thru the glass and screaming if you don't get the &$%&# Ph up, I'll
>get you when you're sleeping! ;)
>
>
Uh let's see- first of all, Angels are cichlids- same family.
Second, only African Rift Lake cichlids like that kind of pH; no
South American cichlids do. If I recall Green Terrors are South
American.
Third- to the original poster- why did you think they called him a
Green Terror, anyway? Both the aggression and the digging are
completely normal behavior.
-David Garrett
-Newport, TN
Scott Noack
--Dempsey,
Buy a good book on cichilds (I recommend The Cichlid Aquarium). Your
little green terror will eventually grow to a health 8-12" adult. Green
Terrors are omnivorous, but highly territorial. If a similar looking
fish goes into their territory they will protect to the death. Suffice
it to say terrors are NOT community fish. Angles (which are also a
cichlid from the americans) are also territorial, but MUCH less so. You
cannot put angles and terrors in the same tank UNLESS the tank is LARGE
enough to allow both to have their own territories and hiding places. It
is unlikely you will be able to accomplish this with a single 33 gallon
tank (not even close). You CAN keep a pair of terrors in such a tank or
a couple of angle pairs.
This is only a brief differentiation between these two cichlids; I'd
highly recommend you educate yourself more before purchasing your fish
and throwing them in together. I don't think your angle appreciated
being brutally attacked. A six or eight inch terror would have finished
off that angle in a few seconds (not including breeding periods). If had
a breeding pair of cichilds and they were protecting their brood you
would find it impossible to even place your fingers in the tank. My
breeding pair will not tolerate anything next to their fry. It's a
wonderful sight to see such good parenting.
Enjoy your up and coming reading...
--Scott
Ralph Davenport
moi wrote:
>
> Dempsey <mce...@smartt.com> spake thusly:
>
> >Hi I have a single Green Terror in a 33 gallon tank. I had to remove an
> >Angelfish cause I was sick of having the divided so I took out the
> >divider and after only a little while, the Angel was just beat up to
> >crap. Also the other morning I found my only Tiger Barb decapitated. Now
> >my Green Terror is digging a huge hole in the back of the tank. I should
> >mention that he's about 3 inches or smaller right now. When I approach
> >the tank he rushes to the front with his gills flared and his fins out
> >and looks like he really wants to get through the glass to bite me! My
> >question is, Is hole digging by a cichlid an action of a female or male
> >or just both? Thanks
> >--
>
> Cichlids dig. Nuff said about that. Angels and cichlids don't mix. The
> cichlids are quite aggressive, so you have to watch what you mix them with.
>
> Angels like a Ph of around 6.2. Cichlids like it around 8.2. He's probably
> looking thru the glass and screaming if you don't get the &$%&# Ph up, I'll
> get you when you're sleeping! ;)
seem to know that a green terror is a South American cichlid and would
be much happier at a PH of 6.5 to 7.5. I keep Sout Americans and I
would guess that you keep Africans. If not I suggest that you lower your
PH :)
Virginia
Malyar
Dempsey <mce...@smartt.com> wrote:
>Hi I have a single Green Terror in a 33 gallon tank. I had to remove an
>Angelfish cause I was sick of having the divided so I took out the
>divider and after only a little while, the Angel was just beat up to
>crap. Also the other morning I found my only Tiger Barb decapitated. Now
>my Green Terror is digging a huge hole in the back of the tank. I should
>mention that he's about 3 inches or smaller right now. When I approach
>the tank he rushes to the front with his gills flared and his fins out
>and looks like he really wants to get through the glass to bite me! My
>question is, Is hole digging by a cichlid an action of a female or male
>or just both? Thanks
i am also wandering the same thing; is the act of digging only a
male's trait, or is it both the male and female?
Karl Jacobs
In article <4tkiqj$8...@sjx-ixn4.ix.netcom.com>, mal...@ix.netcom.com
(Malyar) wrote:
It depends on the species, and if the fish is in isolation or paired.
Generally though, the male is the more aggresive digger. A femal will
generaly only dig if she is in isolation and mature, or if she is paired.
But like I said, it varies according to the species and the fishes
maturity.
--Karl
Sharon Kinman
I have 2 green terrors that I raised from about 1 inch. One is now about
4 and the other is about 5 inches. I have not seen either dig except
to sift the gravel while foraging. They are also in a community tank with
a large severum, four 2 - 2 1/2 firemouth, 1 large and 1 small botia, and
a pleco. I think an angel is maybe too delicate to be with a terror, and
with most other cichlids as well. I read in a book called The Cichlid
Aquarium, that some cichlids may become bored and move all of thier
gravel from one end of the tank to the other constantly, and become mean.
Perhaps you could find another terror of the same size or larger,
re-arrange the tank, and install some target fish such as the very fast
giant danio, maybe about 7 or 8 of them. A larger tank would help. I had
all of mine in a 30 gal. hexagon before I set up a 55. Try to spend a
little more time around your fish, clean a little more, change less water
more often, and try to hand feed them live worms. Just a little bit,
often. They may have to get used to this, but you will find them begging
at the glass when you come home.
K. C.
Johnny A.
>It depends on the species, and if the fish is in isolation or paired.
>Generally though, the male is the more aggresive digger. A femal will
>generaly only dig if she is in isolation and mature, or if she is paired.
>But like I said, it varies according to the species and the fishes
>maturity.
>--Karl
i have four jeuvenile c. frontosas (about 2 inches long each), and
two of them are "big time" diggers while the other two don't seem to
dig a all. so would you conclude accordingly that those two which dig
would be males? i'm thinking that because frontosas mature slowly, the
other two might not have developed the instict of digging yet. any
comments?
Sharon Kinman
P. S.
I don't know how to sex them, but digging of a cichlid is not usually an
indicator of male or female.
K. C.
Scott Noack
--Sharon,
You're right. Both the male and female will take part in cleaning the
nest area; which usually translates into digging. 8^)
You can differentiate the female from the male after about 2-3" in
length. The female will develop verticle white strips down the middle
when she's willing to mate. Terrors also "pair" so if you see two fish
spending much of their time together digging there's a high probability
that they're a male/female pair. However, I've seen two males
demonstrate this behavior two. Full sized females are also about 3/4
the size of a full sized male. When the pair gets down to breeding the
female will have a larger duct (where the eggs will pass).
--Scott