Curviceps Aggression

[joecoral]

Got a pair of L. curviceps just over 2 weeks ago.
One is much larger than the other, with visibly extended dorsal and anal fins which I am pretty confident is a male. The other is notably smaller and has no extensions on either dorsal or anal fins, and I originally thought it was female.
After going into the tank all was fine, they were generally in close proximity to each other and getting along fine, I was hopeful they were a M/F pair.

However the last few days (since about friday) the larger one is showing considerable aggression to the smaller, and the smaller one has taken to hiding behind the filter, getting harassed and chased by the larger whenever it ventures out

This therefore leads me to think I might have 2 males and the one which I thought was a female is a smaller less developed/dominant male.

Is there much I can do other than removing one? If so, I'd ideally like to keep the larger as its a beautiful specimen and the fins are really long, so could I remove the smaller and add another potential female?

I know Curviceps are difficult to sex so this makes my life even more difficult.

Any input appreciated

Joe

 

[markandhisfish]

im still pretty novice where it comes to sexing cichlids but if as you supsect you have 2 males or even 1 of each and there is bullying going on best corse of action is to remove 1

im sure if you can post pics some of the more experience cichlid keepers could sex them for you

 

[Davo86]

If these are in your 54L then it will be the tanksize that is most likely causing the problems, even if you do have a Male and Female, (which by the sounds is a possibility)

 

[markandhisfish]

didnt notice the tanksize was in sig. yep have to agree thats much too small. and probably half the problem

 

[joecoral]

Too small, really? I thought it was possible to keep pairs of SA dwarfs in a tank of that size? Rams, apisto etc
Am I mistaken? or is it different for curviceps?

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?s=&amp...t&p=1462169

 

[Davo86]

Too small, really? I thought it was possible to keep pairs of SA dwarfs in a tank of that size? Rams, apisto etc
Am I mistaken? or is it different for curviceps?

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?s=&amp...t&p=1462169"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?s=&amp...t&p=1462169[/URL]

Aah I see the problem - In that profile the Op has stated that 60L s 20G whereas in fact it is only 15G, (54L is only 14G)
The Op does however correctly state that 20G should be ok for a 'pair'

Atm yours don't appear to be a 'pair' and so therefore a slightly larger setup is needed to counteract any aggression that may occur between them.

 

[markandhisfish]

Too small, really? I thought it was possible to keep pairs of SA dwarfs in a tank of that size? Rams, apisto etc
Am I mistaken? or is it different for curviceps?

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?s=&...t&p=1462169"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?s=&amp...t&p=1462169[/URL]

says 80 to 100 so 54 is way too small but hey your sig say rio 180 is empty why not re-home the stressed 1 and put the other in the 180?

 

[joecoral]

I have the aggressive male contained in a breeding net for now. One will most likely be going back to the shop at the weekend, as I'm not quite ready to set the Rio180 up yet, need to buy a few bits and pieces first
Thanks for your input guys