All Male Vic tank?

**Mac** · 01-22-2009, 07:58 PM

Hi Guys,

I'm kinda curious about this... first, note Jeff F's excellent 70 gallon all-male vic tank here:

http://www.cichlidforums.com/showthread.php?t=33477

Now, my question is, I had understood that vics wouldn't really display as well in the absence of females, but the ones in that shot sure do look nice! Is that tank atypical? Or is it really possible to gather a bunch of different male vics and have them all looking good?

If I had a sufficiently sized tank (150 gallon 6 foot tank?), would I be able to keep, say, 8 to 10 different vic males? Or am I living in fantasy land? There are so many attractive vics to choose from, that even if certain species were "out", I know I could find enough different ones to keep me happy. If I did keep the males, would I have a reasonable expectation that they would display their colors?

This is my first vic posting, so be gentle if I'm an idiot.

**deadman-1** · 01-22-2009, 09:53 PM

in my opinion, and there may be several others out there would be this;
if i understand correctly the pictures were taken the day of a tank change and maybe a resident change as well.
having said that, yes you could expect that the males from diffrent species will display thier colors in an attempt to establish them selves as the dominant fish in the tank, or obtain a prime piece of property. the latter going on for a while until they learn where the food enters the tank.

however, given time i would expect that there will be some, more than likely thoes who are less agressive in thier nature that will display in a manner that doesnt get them harased by the dominant fish resulting in less color.
one could expect that challenges to the dominant males position would result in diffrent species at diffrent times would attempt a take over, resulting in a color display.

please keep in mind that with these victorians that i think are the hottest thing going have a tendancy to be finiky with color displays. and wont display for a while, then only moderatly, or with brilliance.
i believe that structureguy wrote on this topic. maybe he could chime in and let us know where to find it.
i hope that helps. and keep in mind this is just one persons opinion.

**StructureGuy** · 01-23-2009, 06:59 AM

Many times my 180 gallon tank isn't so much a display tank as it is an excess male or past breeding age or no females left tank. I recently sold a dozen extras to my LFS because several colonies of juveniles I bought months ago need more room so everyone gets bumped.

I don't have much to add to what deadman-1 said. For the most part, when I move them into the 180 gallon tank, they still show some color but are no longer "picture worthy."

For example:
The one ruby green has lost most of his color
The one crimson tide is still showing fantastic color (definitely the exception for now)
The P. red flank is one of the biggest in the tank and he has one female in there with him but he is very dull colored now
The red back scrapper is downright ugly

In all my one or two species tanks, the one dominant male is fired up almost all the time and almost always "picture worthy."

Kevin

**Jeff F.** · 01-23-2009, 05:22 PM

First of all, Thanks maccichlid for the generous words in regards to my tank. As far as the tank change and resident change, I only added a few rocks and switched a few things around. I may be an exception for whatever reason but most of my males stay pretty colored up. They're not at "peak" coloration but certainly nothing near a drab appearance. The colors pictured are pretty much what I enjoy on a daily basis. There have been times when I had to segregate certain fish along the way to deal with aggression issues but I seem to have figured out "my" perfect balance for now. Call it dumb luck, I call it therepy after a long day!

**6stang9** · 01-24-2009, 09:12 AM

I have a 4ft 120 vic tank w/ 1 male obliq, 1 male Uganda fire, 1male rock krib, 1flame back, 1 pair Parvidense, all kept with 5 female rock kribs. I also added some other male haps such as 1 blue ahli, 1 fire fish, 1 steveni imperial, 1 hap burtoni,1 white calvus, and a pair of A. Caliptera. Amazingly enough the Firefish owns the tank. The rock crib has his territory, and the burtoni and uganda fight alot, nothing to bad but they all seem to be colored pretty good. The calipera's constantly breed, the rock cribs breed alot, obviously I never pull any fry, I think the calvus gets em all. These fish have all been together for about two years. But you must also remember that all fish have thier own personality traits. They also started at about 2-3" and are now all 6-7".????