Geophagus Brasiliensis On A Rampage

I have a male geophagus brasiliensis (about 4”) who suddenly turned VERY aggressive. He’s been mildly aggressive in the past, but today it was like he flipped a switch.

His tank mates are a driftwood cat (4”), pictus cat (4”) yellow bullhead (6”) and Senegal bichir (7”) and he started going after all of them. So I had to remove him. He is in timeout in a bucket because I don’t know what else to do. He can’t go in another tank because the rest are either saltwater or too small with other docile fish.

Do you guys think I can put him back in the tank in a few hours and it will calm him down, or am I going to have to get rid of it tomorrow? There is nothing I can do at this moment.

Tank is 60 gallons, FWIW.

Any input is appreciated.

 

I have a male geophagus brasiliensis (about 4”) who suddenly turned VERY aggressive. He’s been mildly aggressive in the past, but today it was like he flipped a switch.

His tank mates are a driftwood cat (4”), pictus cat (4”) yellow bullhead (6”) and Senegal bichir (7”) and he started going after all of them. So I had to remove him. He is in timeout in a bucket because I don’t know what else to do. He can’t go in another tank because the rest are either saltwater or too small with other docile fish.

Do you guys think I can put him back in the tank in a few hours and it will calm him down, or am I going to have to get rid of it tomorrow? There is nothing I can do at this moment.

Tank is 60 gallons, FWIW.

Any input is appreciated.

I had a male also and he attacked everything. I tried rearranging the decor giving him a timeout and nothing worked I had to regime him. Sorry but IMO they don’t get nicer.

 

I hope mine doesn't get super aggro. He's with 4 females now and is pretty mellow for a cichlid, even when spawning.

 

I hope mine doesn't get super aggro. He's with 4 females now and is pretty mellow for a cichlid, even when spawning.

Mine was pretty nasty from juvenile stage so maybe he just has a chip on his shoulder. Lol

 

I had a male also and he attacked everything. I tried rearranging the decor giving him a timeout and nothing worked I had to regime him. Sorry but IMO they don’t get nicer.

I put him back in before I went to bed last night. Didn’t really have much of a choice. Hopefully that knocked him down a peg, but if not I’ll just have to take him to a LFS.

 

I put him back in before I went to bed last night. Didn’t really have much of a choice. Hopefully that knocked him down a peg, but if not I’ll just have to take him to a LFS.

Is he being nice?

 

Is he being nice?

NOPE. Already removed him again. I’m taking him to one of my LFS in a little while. Hopefully I can at least get a few bucks credit or something, since this is a healthy, very robust fish that, while not super expensive, are also not super cheap for freshwater.

 

Can you post a pic of him?

 

Can you post a pic of him?

He’s in the bucket already ‍♂️

 

NOPE. Already removed him again. I’m taking him to one of my LFS in a little while. Hopefully I can at least get a few bucks credit or something, since this is a healthy, very robust fish that, while not super expensive, are also not super cheap for freshwater.

Sorry it didn’t work out