Jaguar And Butterkofferi Issue

[shadowfakx]

Have a 3 inch male Jaguar with a 3 inch Butterkoferi in a 75 gal.
There's also a 10 inch pleco in there. Plenty of rock caves and driftwood crevices for hiding and, in fact, so much so where one fish couldn't see another from one end to the other. That said , I introduced the Jag and Butter at the same time. The first week was perfect; no badgering. Then the Jag started to seek out the Butter and has him rather stressed and hiding most of the time. However, on occasion they will swim together along the glass and then the Jag goes back to bullying. Note, that the Butter has no fear at feeding time and they seem to be growing at the same rate. Note, as well, that the Butter is a fast one and rarely have I seen a frayed fin or body gash. My intention was to have them there until they grew to large enough where I'd house them in a 120 gal. I don't want to give up on this experiment of having these 2 wonderful creatures co-exist.

Contemplating a few options:
1. intro a larger, tough cichlid or two. Thinking of Texas and/or Dempsey.
2. a school of dither fish ( but kind will survive or prove uninteresting to the Jag and Butter? )
3. a group of about 3 inch clown loaches; I've seen then numerous times co-existing with S.A. and C.A. cichlids.

just want the Jag to concentrate less on the Butter.

Suggestions?

 

[Concaj1]

Introducing any cichlid less aggressive than the Jag or Butterkofferi would probably result in death for the newcomer,the only way I have successfully introduced another aggressive cichlid to an existing tank is the add the most  aggressive last.
As you are most likely aware this was always going to be a hit or miss combination, I know of a few people who have kept Jags and Butters but they have ended up with them in single specimen tanks, IMO  they make better pets when kept alone, they are also more likely to reach their maximum size and optimum appearance  I do hope it does work for you though, sorry i can't be more helpful

 

 

[dbanner]

IMO your asking for trouble. Any fish you add which is going to be less aggressive than a butti or a jag will soon end up dead. Another thing is that a 120 gal tank will not be big enough for both a jag and a butti once they start to grow. They would in fact need around 120 gal each. With a male jag actually needing a bigger tank at around 150-180 gal. I have a blue thai silk flowerhorn in my 120 gal by itself. Purely because he will not tolerate any other fish in his tank. He is currently just over 6 inches. Back when he was around 4 inches i tried to add a couple of different fish with him... 3 of which have been mentioned here.. I tried a 5 inch jack dempsey which the flowerhorn killed in a matter of a few hours and then a 6 inch buttikoferi which the flowerhorn killed overnight. Once the flowerhorn got to around 5 1/2 inches i tried to add a 9 inch common pleco to his tank but all the flowerhorn did was chase it around biting at it so i then had to take the pleco out. I agree with the above post and would have either the butti or the jag... not both. That way neither fish will be harmed and the 1 you do keep will look a lot better in the long run, it wont be stressed or have wounds and so on. These fish can live together but id recommend something like a 240 gal tank. Big aggressive cichlids = very big tank and from a somewhat peaceful tank to a riot in the blink of an eye

 

[nellynelly]

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