Red Spotted Severum Aggression Towards Blood Parrot

Hey Everyone,
I've recently got into a problem where my 5-6 inch Red Spotted Severum (Male) is bullying my 4-5inch Blood Parrot cichlid and regularly chasing it around the tank and forcing it to stay in a top corner of the tank.

They've been tank mates for about going into 2 years now and I haven't experienced a problem like this before. But that's probably because the Sev's starting to grow and build up in size. The BP's always been the bigger one, and it's just recently the Sev grew in size and just yesterday started showing aggression. Usually, it's the BP that's aggressive whenever she's about the lay eggs.
They started lip-locking the other night and ever since the Sev's been bullying her. It's not extremely bad, the aggression kind of stops whenever I walk up to the tank since they think they're about to get fed.

Still, I'm open to any possible solution but I'd strongly prefer that it doesn't involve giving away one of them. If it has to be done then I'll do it, but it's just that they've both been with me for such a long time and I quite enjoy both of them in the tank.

Much Thanks!
Ed.

 

Really no need to rehome either one. Keeping Cichlids is all about "adjustments". Whether the adjustment is additional stocking, hardscape rearrangement or partition seperation.
As long as both fish continue to eat and no fin damage things will probably level out.

 

Really no need to rehome either one. Keeping Cichlids is all about "adjustments". Whether the adjustment is additional stocking, hardscape rearrangement or partition seperation.
As long as both fish continue to eat and no fin damage things will probably level out.

Hey there! Thanks for the response! Any suggestions on how long I should wait before doing something about it? (Assuming, it continues of course. Just trying to prepare if things really get that bad)

 

Since the two have been together quite a while with no serious problems, maybe this aggression is a male / female thing. The aggression level in my African Cichlid tank skyrockets when one of the males is ready to mate and the female isn't. The female will darken and retreat to an upper corner. It usually is a temporary situation.

 

Since the two have been together quite a while with no serious problems, maybe this aggression is a male / female thing. The aggression level in my African Cichlid tank skyrockets when one of the males is ready to mate and the female isn't. The female will darken and retreat to an upper corner. It usually is a temporary situation.

As of now, the female has laid eggs about 3-4 times in the tank. Maybe the Sev's started to become more mature in a sense? The BP's coloration hasn't changed at all, still a bright orange.

If you don't mind me asking, how long do these particular problems last in your tank?

 

Usually just a few days, and in my case there can be as many as three males after one poor female. I'm trying to rehome the few females I have left.

 

Usually just a few days, and in my case there can be as many as three males after one poor female. I'm trying to rehome the few females I have left.

Alright, cheers mate! I'll update if anything changes.

 

A201 Just an update, aggression did dwindle down a lot. But this time the tides have turned, the Severum still pushes the BP around but she doesn't really care anymore and just acts like nothings happening. And now, she's getting ready to lay eggs again so I think she'll be the aggressive one now haha.

Anyway, thanks again for your help! Much appreciated.