Julidochromis Dickfeldi

[KingofthePisces]

i have 2 julidochromis dickfeldi in a 20 gal tank, and one is harassing the hell out of the other. Basically I'm freaking out because one is hiding up behind the filter and the other is guarding the two caves that are close together (i think this is part of the problem). I'm about to go move the caves, i'll post any behavior changes when i notice them. I think its also worth noting the tank mates:
1 male Bn pleco (he lives!!)
1 clown loach (yeah... i know... bigger tank etc im working on it)
2 peacock cichlids (marbled)
2 j. dickfeldi

 

[KingofthePisces]

after changing the caves positions, and monitoring them closely for the last 2 hours, the bullied one did go into and investigate the closer cave but soon retreated to the back of the filter again... ugh... facepalm... as these are one of the smaller species so i would assume that the tank would be sufficient for the two, perhaps i got the sexing wrong and got two males?

 

[kiriyama]

Hi. Very hard if not impossible to identify the sex of Julidochromis Dickfeldi, thats why I only bought one but wish now i got more, as far as I'm aware and the websites I have found I think your tank size is ok, don't think two males will tolerate each other and probably more so if any females in the tank, do you have lots of rocks?, they need lots of rockwork in the tank to establish there small territory....

 

[KingofthePisces]

Hi. Very hard if not impossible to identify the sex of Julidochromis Dickfeldi, thats why I only bought one but wish now i got more, as far as I'm aware and the websites I have found I think your tank size is ok, don't think two males will tolerate each other and probably more so if any females in the tank, do you have lots of rocks?, they need lots of rockwork in the tank to establish there small territory....

i don't have any rocks apart from the gravel, so i'll find somes today and put them in. thanks for the advice, ill post any behavior changes.

 

[KingofthePisces]

put rocks in, still hiding up behind the filter, but he / she IS eating. So i guess that is a bit relieving. also i checked up on my species today, had a close look at all the other julidochromis as well. then it dawned to me, that my julies dont have stripes, they have a checkered pattern. therefore NOT dickfeldi. so i looked into it abit more and i finally concluded that they were mislabeled Julidochromis marlieri. Are they any different? i did all my research on J. dickfeldi and i have no idea how the J. marlieri act or behave towards other fish of the same species let alone other species

 

[kiriyama]

I have found it both confusing and frustrating, regardless of which forum or website I checked , the information on each species was always slightly different, I only chose the Dickfeldi because it was described as one of the smaller Julis and less aggressive/territorial, also compatible with small shell dwellers, general rule of thumb with any Juli species (and this only what I have read, I don't claim to be knowledgable in any way)is that they should be ok with there own species but not with othr speices of Juli, for what i have managed to figure out (and I could be wrong) is that marlieri grow to 12-15cm and are a bit aggressive towards each other, would be good if any marlieri keepers were to come on and advise better, my general understanding of Julis (as vague as it is) is that they do need lots of rockwork, like a stack of rocks or clifs with caves, good luck with it, let us know how you get on....