The dark side

[thedude]

Looks like my beta P. Blue Giant male is getting picked on by the big guy. Yikes. If I take him out I won't be able to get him back in. I'm about to order some polyodon and moshi from Allison but don't know if he'll hold on another 10-12 days 'til I can get them and maybe reset things in the tank. Took my Famula out to sell but thinking maybe I should add them back to up the distraction? Already moved a couple of big rocks. Woe is me.

[eklikewhoa]

what is all in the tank?

[thedude]

9-10 T.ikola, 5 trews 5-6", 7 P. REDS 6-8+". 4 BGs 7.5-10",6 cyps and a couple of L. cylindricus and 4 little clown loaches. it's a 210.

[moganman]

Oh wow. Yeah I've heard people say u have to keep blue giants in large groups. I'm sure the more the better. I'd try adding alot of rocks to give the fish a place to hide and let the other fish focus on gaining territory and it should serve as a distraction

[SunnyHouTX]

9-10 T.ikola, 5 trews 5-6", 7 P. REDS 6-8+". 4 BGs 7.5-10",6 cyps and a couple of L. cylindricus and 4 little clown loaches. it's a 210.

Definitely understocked, but the main thing is with just 4 BGs you can't have 2 males, has to be 1m/3f. My advice is to permanently house the beta male in another tank or find him a new home.

I recommend removing as much rock as possible, even go bare tank with substrate only to keep down territory/mating related aggression.

[thedude]

Understocked already figured into my assessment of the problem. I have fish reserved with Allison to address that. Others have increased the size of group and just increased the murder as othen as not. Likelyhood of me finding somebody with a bunch of spare female Kisambalas is pretty slim anyway. Sh*t, you'd think I was trying to win the lottery. I've also seen where some very experianced petro keepers both here and in Europe would just as likely prescribe more males.

I'm willing to move the beta BG on but think I'll try packing back up with the new big petros before I give in to it. The tank had rocked on in peace for months before I took the Famula group out. Fortunately or not, even if her order came in yesterday, getting the new fish in is probably still a couple of weeks out. The Beta should be pretty healed up and just growing new finnage by then. We'll see. Of course, something else could blow up between now and then.

I've been keeping cichlids for over 35 years. They never cease to present new challenges and I sure haven't developed the sense to always see something coming. I guess that's what keeps me doing it and, so far, Petros are about as good as that part of the fun gets.

I'm going to remove most of the scape before I go to work today.

[SunnyHouTX]

Living on the knife's edge is part of the Petro fun, agreed.

Good luck!