bolivianbaby

I have 3 baby striped cons growing out in a 29 gallon aquarium. There is one female and two males. I've attached a picture of the female. They're all about the same size.

The female has been chasing the males a lot and has caused a little shredding of their fins. She's getting pretty aggressive.

Is she big enough to put in my african cichlid tank and can I put her in there by herself? I usually add africans 5 at a time to minimize aggression, so I'm not sure the best way to do this. I was going to wait until my pink cons got a little bigger and add them and two of stripes to the african tank, but I don't want my baby boy stripes getting beat up, either. Nor do I want her getting pulvarized in the african tank.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Attached Images

female striped 090609.JPG (762.3 KB, 14 views)

Shawnie

how big is she? and is your african tank overstocked or under yet? what I did with all my con fry was feed the africans on one side, then add my con babies to the other...if there are plenty of hiding spots, she will be fine...mine were about 1/2 inch when I added them....I now have a breeding pair in there (grrrrrrr) as the babies were unsexable when added..and my bull moose boys are in there...you saw the vid of my 1 1/2 - 2 inch fem with her 7 inch hubby!

bolivianbaby

She's about 1". Yes, I just approached the tank with a tape measurer-you know how I am with my babies. I'll add some extra plants and maybe some smaller "african proof" ornaments and then do as you advise. That'll give the "boys" a chance to regain their finnage (it's very minor-it just happened in the last 24 hours) and then I'll add one of them to the african tank as well.

There's 13 africans in there-one of the "miscellaneous"-I think he's a rust cichlid got attacked and I lost one of the Petco electric blue johanni's-he never did act right. My guess it's borderline stocked for an african tank. Does that sound about right?

Now the other option would be the princess's african tank-but her blue (I think socolofi or afra) are pretty aggressive creatures.

Shawnie

or just leave th em ...the pecking order is being established the older they get..although if she pairs up with one, she will kill the other....

you know me and africans LOL ..i have a kennelration type tank with much of everything....

bolivianbaby

Yeah, I could do that. I just got back from Petsmart with more plants and ornaments. Maybe I'll just re-aquascape the tank to allow for territories, let the males heal, and then take the female and whichever male she pairs off with and put them in the african tank then. I'm really hoping I can pair the other male with one of the pinks upstairs when they get older and let them have the 29 gallon.

Thanks, Shawnie! Once again, you've saved the day

gmen4life

well i added a female con to my african tank with sucess she is about 1.5 inches long.she was picked on a bit at first but cons are tough and can hold their own now she flares up and chases the smaller africans a bit shes definitly a fun addition to watch!!! oh and she did get a lil fin nipped i added her with the lights off and let them stay off for 12 hours to let her be settled

bolivianbaby

Thanks Gmen, I'll keep that in mind when I do this.

I can't believe the aggression sprang up so fast. These cons are definitely giving me a lesson in not underestimating fish, that's for sure

Tony G.

great info above! the no light seems like a good idea, that way they wont see when she is being added. She is very cute btw!

bolivianbaby

Thanks! She shows some fantastic color! Any ideas on a "less than flattering" name for her? She's totally evil!

Tony G.

Cruela De Vil
or... hmmm think of evil disney characters, like Ursula or something like that

bolivianbaby

I like Cruela-I may call her that!

Thanks, Tony!

Tony G.

hi cruela
im sure my "lady killer" would like to have luch with you sometime

that name is adorable!

bolivianbaby

Somebody's going to get mad at me for this I know, but I think I'll name the pair in the JD tank Bertha and Bubba. She's so much bigger than him, it's so funny.

Tony G.

are they bigger tahn your JD?!?!

bolivianbaby

Bertha's pretty close! She's got some courage, too! She chases George all over that tank. My poor baby. He is so getting to eat some of their fry if they have any

Tony G.

hehehe as punishment

bolivianbaby

Exactly!