# About that time



## Kdizzle (Aug 3, 2018)

I am ramping up my research to stock my 75g which will be an all male hap/peacock tank. I know you get this question ad nauseam, but I want to make sure I didn't overlook anything. SO here is my list. 
Oto Tetrastigma
Copadichromis trewavasae "fireline mloto"
Protomelas Taeniolatus Red Empress
A. Kandeense Blue Orchid Peacock 
A. Suartgranti Chiwindi Neon Blue Dorsal
A. Maulona Bi color 500 
A. Koningsi Mbenji 
A. stuartgranti Cobue Regal Blue
A. Suartgranti Ngara Flametail Peacock 
A. Maylandi Sulfur Head
A. sp. German Red Peacock
Dragon Blood
A. Baenschi Sunshine Peacock 
My understanding is that the dragon blood might be too aggressive and the kandeense has a good chance of not coloring up. I am buying guaranteed males at the same time at the smallest size I can get. How does it look?


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## james1983 (Dec 23, 2007)

The Kandeense, sulfur head, and ngara have a good chance of not coloring up, *** had trouble with tetrastigma in my all male tank is too, they never seem to do well.

You can try the list that you have, it may work or someone completely unexpected can terrorize everyone. Just be ready to move fish that aren't working


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## fish_gazer (Nov 9, 2017)

Kdizzle said:


> My understanding is that the dragon blood might be too aggressive...


You just never know. Mine is clearly the alpha male to all who have seen him but he is not a yay hole in any way. I've had others who fly all over the place nonstop but he doesn't do that. He's really cool in that regard.


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## Kdizzle (Aug 3, 2018)

Well I think I'll give it a try and see what happens. There are so many options of someone isn't working out that it should be fine. I am not too set on having any one kind


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## Kdizzle (Aug 3, 2018)

Well it has been 2 days since I received these guys in the mail and everyone is getting along. I haven't seen any aggression and the only one who has seemed to be on the receiving end is one of my longing bristlenose. Everyone is eating and out in the open today.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

You fish are young and new. Eventually the fish will all become sexually mature you will get a pecking order and there will be winners and losers, and mediocre in the middle. These fish are so similar there will always be a chance for conflict. They may get along for awhile, and things may change at some point. The interest is in trying to maintain a balance, more challenging than a common peaceful "community tank", but it is unrealistic to expect all of the males to show full color and have no conflicts.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Also note it can take months to a year for problems to start to show up and another year of tinkering with the tank to achieve a balance that is sustainable.


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## Luvindaspurs (Jun 6, 2017)

I agree withJames, the flame tail, blue orchid sulphur head will probably not color up at all. The Oto tetra or red empress will probably be tank boss. The dragon blood should be okay (probably tank boss of peacocks lol) definitely a balancing act. Good luck man and have fun.

You will have to resell or rehome some eventually, you will probably have a death or two. It happens and you manage/adjust as you go along!


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## Kdizzle (Aug 3, 2018)

It's been fun so far. I just figured I'd have some.sort of catastrophe when just starting. How fast do these fellas grow?


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## Luvindaspurs (Jun 6, 2017)

That's a super generalized question lol

Growth rate varies soooooo much. I would say the number 1 contribution to healthy and fast growth is water changes. Other factors will contribute (filtration/diet). But, water changes are the most important thing to consider. Sorry I don't have a better answer for ya.

If most of your stock is fairly small (2-3inches)I'd go with northfin cichlid formula and krill gold (for protein/peacocks) 2mm I personally feed mine 5-6times weekly and krill gold every 3 days or so. Everyone will give a different option or opinion but water changes weekly (at least 40%) and a healthy diet will be key!


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## Kdizzle (Aug 3, 2018)

I was hoping for a pretty general answer but that's ok. I went with new life spectrum for food for now. I haven't done my first water change but it's good to know I should do at least 40 percent. I was planning on doing like 33 percent.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Even 50% is a good minimum. I often do 75%...once you have all the stuff out it's just as easy to wait a couple more minutes and get even cleaner water. Shoot for nitrate of 10ppm after a water change.

I use NLS (and Northfin). Nothing wrong with NLS.

Regardless of size, maturity and adjustment to a new tank and establishing an order of dominance can take months so I always expect smooth sailing for the first 8 months and then start watching closely for issues.


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## Kdizzle (Aug 3, 2018)

Tonight I removed I believe my Tetrastigma and placed in it a 20g QT tank as it has been hovering in corners and behind filters for a few days. I noticed no physical signs of bullying, but nonetheless. It is still eating. The plan is to keep it there for about a week and reintroduce when I do my water change this week. The problem is I do not know who the bully is.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Time out may be good for the bully but not for the victim. Personally I have not found it to work...even if you keep the bully out for 3 weeks or more.

You could just remove the tank boss or the fish with the most aggressive reputation. Would that be the empress? The empress may get too large for a 75G anyway. The dragon blood?

Or you could try adding 3-5 fish. A breeding group of yellow labs?

Or both...swap out the empress and dragon blood for the labs.


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## Kdizzle (Aug 3, 2018)

If I had to guess it would be the dragonblood as it is the most active and largest to boot. I will remove it when I re add the other one and see if the oto will cease to isolate itself in the corner.


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## Kdizzle (Aug 3, 2018)

Probably not relevant but this behavior didnt start until I added salt and increased the temp to fight off ich.


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## Luvindaspurs (Jun 6, 2017)

Ah the good ol ick lol I've kept fish for several year and had my first case about 6 months ago. I didn't know what to do cause I never experienced it lol anyways, sounds like you're taking the right path towards treatment.

Also agree with DJ removing the bully may be better than removing the injured fish or shy fish. If the bully did that to the Oto and the Oto is removed he will just find another target.

Lastly, it's always a balancing act with an all male tank. What I've learned is the less rock, the better. Gives the fish less territory to fight over. You're gonna have a tank boss naturally but if there are no nipped fins or damage to fish, just let it be.

Hope that helps and keep us posted!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Except...if they fish are lurking then they are being harassed when you are not looking so address that issue before they get sick and infect the tank.


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## Kdizzle (Aug 3, 2018)

I put the bullied back in about a week ago so far so good


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