hmm ok i think i goofed, now what can i do to fix it.

[me myself and the rest of us]

i have a 55 gallon narrow. before today, it had a few cories, a 10" pleco, a
weather loach, far too many feeder guppies and a farlowella catfish. a mish
mash i know.

I received from an aquaintance a single cichlid which will end up in another
tank, but i needed to put it somewhere for teh time being and my water
parameters are great for cichlids apparently.

i did the put-bag-in-water-add-tank-water-bit-by-bit then netted and
released the little guy.

the cichlid started exploring, then came to an area that the weather loach
frequents... and then all of a sudden, the loach struck! it chased the
cichlid around the tank, almost looking like it was nipping at it's
gillcovers.

now, because fo the setup in the tank, i'd have to drain the tank to limit
their escape options sufficiently for me to net one of them to for
re-location to another tank, something i am not ready to do quite yet...

do i need to be concerned? is this just a territory battle? the area
contains 2 cave-like structures which i hoped would draw the cichlid, but it
also drew the loach...

argh!!!

C.

[smcclure415]

Back when I kept African Cichilids, if I introduced new fish to the
tank I'd also rearrange the current setup. If you move the rocks/caves
around, the fish will not realize that its territory has just been
relocated. Just this simple thing can disrupt the turf of very
territorial fish, and result in a redrawing of the lines.

You might want to give it a shot, it might just work.

Good Luck

[Elaine T]

me myself and the rest of us wrote:
> i have a 55 gallon narrow. before today, it had a few cories, a 10" pleco, a
> weather loach, far too many feeder guppies and a farlowella catfish. a mish
> mash i know.
>
> I received from an aquaintance a single cichlid which will end up in another
> tank, but i needed to put it somewhere for teh time being and my water
> parameters are great for cichlids apparently.
>
> i did the put-bag-in-water-add-tank-water-bit-by-bit then netted and
> released the little guy.
>
> the cichlid started exploring, then came to an area that the weather loach
> frequents... and then all of a sudden, the loach struck! it chased the
> cichlid around the tank, almost looking like it was nipping at it's
> gillcovers.
>
> now, because fo the setup in the tank, i'd have to drain the tank to limit
> their escape options sufficiently for me to net one of them to for
> re-location to another tank, something i am not ready to do quite yet...
>
> do i need to be concerned? is this just a territory battle? the area
> contains 2 cave-like structures which i hoped would draw the cichlid, but it
> also drew the loach...
>
> argh!!!
>
> C.
>
>
Give them a bit of time. The little one IS a cichlid, after all. To
help the situation, you can make lots of temporary hiding places very
cheaply and easily by cutting up a piece of PVC pipe.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com