panduro behavior observation

[cootwarm]

What I like the most about cichlids is their interesting and individual behavior. I thought I'd share an unexpected observation. It's probably not all that uncommon but I thought a few of you might be interested.

So for more a a year now, I've had 6 adult wild caught panduros (2m4f) in a 30 gallon long tank (12in. x 12in. x 36in.) with 3 caves and a large piece od driftwood with 4 large clumps of Java Fern. The dominant male took up with 2 of the females. Although there were 3 caves and 3 territories, only 2 females claimed a cave for spawning. The middle cave served as a no-mans land and temporary shelter for the remaining panduros.

Even though it was kind of crowded, the 2 females spawned at least 3 times each over this past year. The extra male and 2 extra females were pretty much able to live in peace. They just kind of had to stay in the background and shadows. There was lots of chasing when fry were being cared for, but no beatings.

Anyhow recently I thought it was a waste of a trio of wild caught panduros, plus they'd be happier in their own tank so I set up another 30 gallon just for them. Well it turns out that I didn't get the second trio I expected. This male just paired up with one of the females and both beat the other female very badly before I realized a problem. :frown: The new 30 gallon has 2 caves each with a good heavy covering of Java Moss, as well as 2 large balls of Java Moss, a large peice of driftwood and a pile of oak leaves. Even with all these hiding places in a large tank I ended up with an aggression problem!

It's odd that a 30 gallon tank worked fine when it was crowded with 2m4f adult panduros, but when half of these were moved to their own tank that was the same size and had more hiding places the aggression got out of hand!

A 30 gallon was enough room for 6, but too small for 3!

The original trio is still living peacfully in the original tank.

Michael

 

[Mike Wise]

The dominant male in your original 30 is atypical for a nijsseni-group species. They usually are monogamous. He accepted 2 females in his territory & spawned with both. He also spread his wrath among the other male & females, so none were picked on excessively. Your other male is more typical. When he was able to establish a territory, he picked out his preferred mate & togeth they tried to drive the other female from their territory.