Fossorochromis Rostraths

[iluvstartrek]

Hello Everyone:

A while back I ordered a F. Rostraths over the internet. It is four inches and after a while I was sure it was a female. The owner of a local fish store, one who usually knows what he is talking about, said that he thought it was a female too. It wasn't very aggressive, hasn't colored up, and its anal fin is round and not pointed at all. Well, I really wanted a male, not a female so when I bought a Aulonocara OB Peacock I bought another F. Rostraths at the same time. This time I was sure it is a male before I purchased it. This one is a little bit smaller than the first one, it is starting to color up, and its anal fin is pointing and not rounded. The trouble is, now I think my first one is a male too. It is more aggressive than the second one. It keeps chasing the second one. I've only had the second one in the tank for 1 1/2 days. The first one still doesn't look like a male and the second one does, but the way the first one chases the second one and the second one is submissive, it never chases back, makes me think that the first one is male too. The first one also seems more aggressive to the other fish in the tank too now that the second one is there, but I could be imagining that. It was never that aggressive before.

So, what should I do? I should probably get rid one of one them right? If so, which one? Do I keep the more aggressive first one that hasn't colored up (even though it is bigger) or do I keep the second one that is less aggressive but is starting to color up?

I have it in a 125g tank. I have more than one tank, but I don't think I could put either one of them in another tank. It is a big fish so I couldn't put it in my 55g. I do have another 125g tank but I have Mbuna's in it. Several different kinds of Pseudotrophes among the Mbuna. All my fish are young since I got them not too long ago and I like to buy them young and watch them grow. The F. Rostraths would probably be o.k. in the tank for now since it would be the biggest one in the tank, even at four inches. It would always be the biggest one in the tank.

Here are my questions? What should I do? Should I just sell one to a fish store? If so, which one? (I really would kind of like to keep them both for some stupid reason.) Should I move it into the Mbuna tank? Should I just leave it alone where it is?

Hopefully I haven't been too confusing with this. If so, please feel free to ask me for further information. I'm really afraid that if I just get rid of one of the fish, I'll pick the wrong one to keep.

Thank you for your help.

[WorldNation]

hhe, i have the same problem with my Frontosas

i had wat i believed to be a female, and bought what i believed to be a male after the firs tone. and what i think is the female chase the second one around the tank. i'm pretty sure its jsut dominance.its been about 1.5 weeks since i added the second frontosa to ym tank, and tings have chilled out between the 2 of them. so i' would think its sjut a dominance issue, who was there first. etc etc.

[SGypsyMermaid]

i agree with world nation--it sounds like it's just a matter of "i was here first, and i'm bigger than you." since your larger fish still has not colored up even with the presence of the smaller male who is beginning to color, i would say that it's pretty reasonable to assume that the large one is a female. did you move any of the 'furniture' around before you introduced the new fish? maybe a couple of days with the tank lights off will settle things down. i would wait a bit before getting rid of either fish. keep us posted.

[iluvstartrek]

I didn't move anything around, but I did introduce six other fish at the same time, feed them, and turn the light off. This fish in there are all young and relatively new to the tank. I know I'm supposed to move things around but it is such a pain in the butt. I watch and if it gets bad, I do move things around. If they are older fish I move things around then. I've found that when the fish are young, most of them are just barely started coloring up, that if you introduce several fish at once it is o.k.

Things do seem to have calmed down between them. So hopefully things will be o.k.

On another subject, I discovered a dead fish in the tank. It was one of the new ones, a VC10. None of the fish in the tank appear to have anything wrong with them. I don't really know if I'm supposed to do something or not. The water cycle is fine, I test it weekly. I don't like the idea of just putting medicine in if I can't see any symptoms. Am I supposed to put medicine in? If so, what kind? Am I supposed to just wait and see if another one dies?

[SGypsyMermaid]

On another subject, I discovered a dead fish in the tank. It was one of the new ones, a VC10. None of the fish in the tank appear to have anything wrong with them. I don't really know if I'm supposed to do something or not. The water cycle is fine, I test it weekly. I don't like the idea of just putting medicine in if I can't see any symptoms. Am I supposed to put medicine in? If so, what kind? Am I supposed to just wait and see if another one dies?


i would wait...it could be many things, including stress from being transferred.

[matt1066]

Take out the dominant Rostratus for a week, and then try to re-introduce it to the 125.

Regards,

Matt