Beware of the Etroplus; I've kept this tiny Asian cichlid and pound for pound it has more character than the African Hemichromis-group (Jewel Cichlid, Red Acara and the 5 Star General cichlid)
it's already a feisty little nipper all by its own, but once they have fry, a pair can and does clear out a 55 pretty fast
and yes, that's homegrown experience.
I had a great pair, unfortunately the male developed a swimming bladder disease and in the end I had to euthanize it
because it had to spend all the time lying sideways on the sand.....they stuck together till the very end!
talk about dedication.....the female wouldn't leave his side, not even when he was too far gone to swim up for food. she defended him against all the others, even against the 7" Paratilapia male in the same tank. (by then I had removed it from the small breeder and placed them in my 315G madagascar tank, no I don't put a 7" Paratilapia in a 55G)
I've been bitten by them when the male was still OK. they had spawn after spawn and the only other fish surviving that amount of agression was a very nasty Ancistrus.
I had to remove all the others after a few deaths.
your baby Suncat will have the chance of a snowflake in Hell once Etroplus starts to breed.
btw the Suncat reaches twice the size of a fully grown male Jack Dempsey, and it's a shoaling/grouping ocialfish to boot.....it needs a large tank to do well, nd at least 3-4 members of its own species.
if you start with a group and a pair forms the agression goes completely off the handle as well. they don't play nice at all.
the tank in wich I bred them was a 55G!
apart from all that
it's a fish well worth keeping. they're very visible, the breeding behaviour is fascinating and the changes in bodypatterns and color can be squid-like. little chameleons.
I like this fish.