Albertan Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 I posted this on MFK originally, but since we have a few really experienced cichlid-keepers here I figured I'd post my concerns here as well. Sorry for the long post. I know this sounds like a contradiction in terms...shy and dovii. But that's exactly what I have, and I am not sure if I am dealing with it correctly. I know that young dovii can be notoriously reclusive, likely to get them through their early days in the wild amongst a lot of piscivorous parents. But I haven't read of any shy to the degree mine are so I thoought I'd seek out some opinions. These fish were obtained by a local LFS from Jeff Rapp's. They arrived at the LFS last November at 1.5". I picked four of these fish up in late January, still at 1.5-2", and began growing them out in a 150 with six freddies. The freddies were much more outgoing and fed more aggressively, so I didn't think the dovii were getting enough food as the freddies were growing considerably faster. I decided to move the dovii to their own 120 to grow out. The second largest was given to a friend and I later replaced it with the last one at the LFS as I didn't think I had a female amongst the three I had (still don't ). The 120 was only sparsely decorated, so the dominant fish chased the others around and guarded the sole piece of bogwood as his territiory. By this time the largest fish had to be 4" or so...I don't want to give the impression these fish aren't growing. I decided to plant the tank artificially more as a biotope and added more bogwood. I also added a larger (6") female carpintis to shake things up a bit and give the other dovii a chance to come out of hiding. The carpintis was the dominant fish and things seemed to be ok. The carpintis tolerated everyone well except for the largest dovii, which began skulking behind some plants, only coming out to feed. The dominant dovii is to be my showpiece fish, so I try to make decisions based on what is best for him. I decided to rearrange the tank again (this occured over a period of months not days) and take the carpintis out. Ever since I took the carpintis out and changed the aquascaping, the dovii are not to be seen. For 10 days I literally could not see a trace of any of four dovii ranging in size from 3-5+"...nothing. One night before bed after turning the lights out on the tank I saw them all out feeding. I realized that they will not come out if the lights are on. So I am left with a dilemma. I can leave the lights on and never see the fish. Or I can leave the lights off and rely on the ambient light in the room to let me see shadows of my prized fish. I really enjoyed watching these fish, and even in the shadows I can see simply amazing blue finnage developing on the dominant fish. I tried some dithers, but they took 8 Columbians down to 5 in one night and 6 tin foils down to 3 in the same time span. If anyone can relate how their dovii behaved as juvies, I would like to get an idea if this is just at the far end of normal or if I should be making some changes. The tank looks great, but if I'd be better off with fewer decorations to actually get the fish to come out of their shell I have no problem with that either. Water parameters are fine BTW. I do 60% WCs every 7-10 days. I'm running an FX-5, XP3, and AC110 on the tank. The only other fish are a male BN pleco and a rhino pleco. Both are about 3" currently. Thanks in advance for any feedback. Sorry for the long post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nandopsis Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 I have never had a "large" dovii, but everything that i have read says that they are realy timid untill they hit around the 8" mark. Then the poop hits the fan. I would imagine it is due to their enviroment where like you said their piscivorous parents or other large predator might pick them off. Either way i would just let them do their thing and i'll bet you'll be left with one super dominate dovii once he hits 8" in size. Rudy or Canuklehead could probably give you a first hand account on this for sure though. Good luck, Jay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 Try some feeder/dithers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted July 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 Yeah I tried Columbian tetras and then tin foil barbs. Both became feeders in short order as mentioned. I think I'm just gonna have to wait it out and let them put on another inch or two. Just a minor inconvenience on the path to owning a monster I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunl Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 If you can find some fast enough dithers/feeders, they should be out chasing them more, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted July 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 The dovii aren't much for chasing. They ambush them at sunrise. I slept next to the tank one night after adding the tin foils and was awoken by the dominant male smoking the glass tops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 I have the one, she was generously given to me by a fellow AAer, thanks . She was about 2 1/2 - 3 inches. She immediately hid and stayed that way until I added the festae juvies. Then she started cmming out a bit at mealtime to compete for food. As the festeas were the same size and a bit bigger , they were in no danger of getting reduced in numbers. A week later once I figured out I had 1 male and 4 female festaes I gave 3 females away. With the 3 fish in the tank the dovii was out a lot more. I then lost the male to cichlid stupidity, he wedged himself in the wood and drowned . Down to two , both female. I started sitting in front of the tank at feeding time, each time ( NLS btw). I'd stay there a couple minutes until these two would come out to check for food, then I'd slowly , no sudden movements, lift my arm up to drop the food in .This has been about 2 months of this now and both of them have learned to trust me and are out front most of the time. The dovii is at 5 inches now, the festeae just slightly larger. I think through a lot of visiting and patience is why they are out a lot more now. If you find you would like to reduce your number of males, this young female of mine is very beautiful and could eventually use a nice male, I'd be in the market. Oh I should mention, right now they are in a 25 gallon, they'll be upgraded to the 77 in the next inch of growth, so fairly soon. Determining factor will be, when I've got it ready lol. Right now they both have their sheltered hidyholes and still have lots of room. This having been my entire experience with my dovii, I can't really say if the smaller tank has anything to do with it being less shy or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted July 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 (edited) Lol. It figures I gave away the only female. Actually I am not sure I want a breeding pair now anyways. I do have a very nice male, second in the tank's pecking order. I would be happy to bring him to Edmonton sometime. I'm not looking for ward to culling these fish which is what I expect it to come down to in the end. Edited July 2, 2007 by Albertan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 That would be great , I'd love to have your male. PM me with price and we'll set something up next time you're in town . Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklehead Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 As mentioned dithers may help, so could adding an aggresive feeding fish but in the end it could just take time, my grammodes hides pretty much all the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted July 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 (edited) The only thing I can see as a "dither" is another cichlid big enough to get outta the dovii's way but not big enough to dominate the tank. Maybe I'll dump a few convicts in. Sue the male is free. Once I get some lights on and some pictures taken, I'll send them down to you. I'll have to figure out when to get him out, as it took me forever to get the one you have outta the 150. But at any rate consider him yours and I'll try to get him to you by the end of the month. If you could, please send me a pic of yours. I'd like to see what it looks like now. Edited July 4, 2007 by Albertan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 She's beautiful and I'll try again tonight . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted July 5, 2007 Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 (edited) Sheesh , no problem having her out while I'm there but bring the camera and she hides. Here's what I could "catch".... Edited July 5, 2007 by Qattarra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albertan Posted July 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2007 Cool. I'd like to see a side shot if possible. I'm personally not 100% sure that's a female looking at those pics...there appear to be some traits of both sexes. Good looking fish either way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted July 6, 2007 Report Share Posted July 6, 2007 She is very yellow with no blue at all in her fins. I keep trying for shots , unfortunately she is very smart and doesn't like the camera. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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