Hi all! I am new here. I've had a 20 gallon for the past couple of years with a male nannacara anomala, and a group of endlers. When I bought my first nannacara, he was all alone and was being bullied by a betta at my local fish store, so I took him home. However, despite constant searching over the past year, I was never able to find more nannacara companions for him. I finally found some last week (they were mislabeled as an apistogramma species), and bought a pair of juveniles to take home. All seemed to be going well, but then my endlers kept dying, and I soon realized that my new nannacaras may be the culprits. I have not seen them outright attack the endlers, but there is definitely a lot of chasing going on. I have isolated the two new nannacaras in a breeding box for the time being while I figure out my options.
My original nannacara male has been extremely peaceful, and is actually on the timid side. I have had absolutely no issues with him being aggressive toward other fish, and have also read that nannacara anomala are one of the most peaceful cichlid varieties, and this has been my experience until now. However, my only experience has been with a singleton fish, so pecking order behaviour/male to male aggression/breeding behaviour etc. is all new to me. I've also read mixed information about the best pairing for these fish; I've read that they are best in a harem of one male to two females, but have also read that they do better in pairs. So I'm a little at a loss as to what the situation is in my tank, and what to do. My hope was to wait until both fish were old enough to properly sex before making a decision about which pairing I would keep.
Since my new nannacaras are juvenile, I can't sex them with 100% accuracy, but I'm pretty sure one is a male and one is a female. Based on this, I was told in another forum that the presence of another male may have caused some aggression to the endlers as the males are trying to "show off" their strength to the female. Another theory is that the female may be more the culprit if she is in breeding mood. But I'm thinking because these guys are just juveniles that they would not have exhibited that type of behaviour just yet. Am I wrong on that? Does this behaviour start when they are still young?
Anyway, I think my main question is the following: if I remove one male, and only keep one male and one female, should aggression toward my endlers dissipate? Would aggression become a thing again if the pair bred? Or would I be better off getting another female and creating a harem? Would that balance aggression better? I'm hoping I will be able to keep a small schooling fish variety along with my nannacara group, but don't want to subject them to constant terrorization! Any advice appreciated to help me figure out the best balance in my tank.
My original nannacara male has been extremely peaceful, and is actually on the timid side. I have had absolutely no issues with him being aggressive toward other fish, and have also read that nannacara anomala are one of the most peaceful cichlid varieties, and this has been my experience until now. However, my only experience has been with a singleton fish, so pecking order behaviour/male to male aggression/breeding behaviour etc. is all new to me. I've also read mixed information about the best pairing for these fish; I've read that they are best in a harem of one male to two females, but have also read that they do better in pairs. So I'm a little at a loss as to what the situation is in my tank, and what to do. My hope was to wait until both fish were old enough to properly sex before making a decision about which pairing I would keep.
Since my new nannacaras are juvenile, I can't sex them with 100% accuracy, but I'm pretty sure one is a male and one is a female. Based on this, I was told in another forum that the presence of another male may have caused some aggression to the endlers as the males are trying to "show off" their strength to the female. Another theory is that the female may be more the culprit if she is in breeding mood. But I'm thinking because these guys are just juveniles that they would not have exhibited that type of behaviour just yet. Am I wrong on that? Does this behaviour start when they are still young?
Anyway, I think my main question is the following: if I remove one male, and only keep one male and one female, should aggression toward my endlers dissipate? Would aggression become a thing again if the pair bred? Or would I be better off getting another female and creating a harem? Would that balance aggression better? I'm hoping I will be able to keep a small schooling fish variety along with my nannacara group, but don't want to subject them to constant terrorization! Any advice appreciated to help me figure out the best balance in my tank.