# Males mating with each other??



## mclaren880 (May 20, 2012)

This is a followup to another thread I posted a few days back about going to an all male tank. The subject is changing a bit, so i figured i'd post a new topic. Thanks to DJRansome and everyone else for their help in the other one.

I went to an all-male tank over the weekend. My big male peacock's mating was getting out of control and he was looking he might kill everything in the tank if I gave him enough time. So I took out the female haps/peacocks. Here is my updated 75g stock list:
All male, 1 of each:
Red Empress (just added over the weekend)
Blue Dolphin Hap (switched out my female for this guy over the weekend, female was about to drop her eggs, pretty much in heat)
Venustus (switched out my female for a male this weekend)
Deepwater Hap
OB Peacock (2 of these, just added a new one over the weekend)
Flavescent peacock (and removed his female counterpart this weekend)
Auratus Mbuna
Demasoni
Otter Point
Borleyi-esque hybrid (the big one who's trying to mate really hard)
German Red Peacock
Sunshine Peacock
Yellow Lab
Lion Cove mbuna (this is a female, and I'm going to remove her soon, maybe tonight)
Frontosa (don't actually know the sex)
Yellow Alto Comp (don't actually know the sex)
Inkfin (don't actually know the sex)
Hybrid borleyi that born in the tank (going to be removing him tonight, as well)
Acei
Blood dragon peacock
Tret (looks sort of like a mini-frontosa)

I realize the tank is heavily stocked, and that some of the fish are questionable in there (I know I might have to rehome the venustus if/when he starts to reach full size, same goes for the Frontosa. There is also the possibility that my fiancee breaks down and allows me to get a 120g. I figured at some point in our lives she has to break down and let it happen, why not in the next year or so? haha). I also know that Tang cichlids don't always thrive in these setups. They all seem to be doing well for the time being, the comp and inkfin do their own thing, never really chase or get chased. The frontosa behaves more like the other guys, chases a little, but nothing bad. I also have an FX5 and an emperor 400 on the tank.

The female blue dolphin was most likely the fish causing the larger borleyi hybrid to get so aggressive. Now the borleyi hybrid is trying to mate with the new male blue dolphin. Here is a link to a pic of his vent: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0By7HhzQ ... sp=sharing looks male to me, but let me know if you disagree. The LFS also said it was a male. For a second I thought the new dolphin was into it, but then it started to look more like he was just doing his own thing, picking up and spitting out sand while the borleyi was shaking/mating like he would with a female. Has anyone seen this? Is he confused and thinks it's still the old female blue dolphin? I did a large water change, thinking maybe her hormones were still in the water. I have him separated in a breeder net for now.

My other question, is, would the presence of a female mbuna/tang cichlid cause the male peacocks/haps to start trying to mate and get territorial? I was told they would not, since they don't interbreed, but just wondering if anyone else can confirm this.

Thanks in advance!


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

Males will do the "mating" dance as a show of dominance as well. I've not sexed blue dolphins before so I'm not going to weigh in on that. Several other fish than the ones you mentioned might need to be moved as well, particularly the auratus, I've also not had good luck with dragonsblood (or OB peacocks) in a hap/peacock tank even in a 125 and a 180.


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## mclaren880 (May 20, 2012)

Were the auratus and OB's just too aggressive? I should also mention that his aggression toward everyone else in the tank is back to where it was before the females were removed. I'm down to rehome in the future, if need be.

I'm wondering if i need to just keep him out for a few more days and see if that helps. It's weird though because he actively chases everyone else out of the area and then lets the blue dolphin in and proceeds to act as he did with the females.


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## lilscoots (Mar 13, 2012)

Auratus are said to be one of the most aggressive mbuna, The OB and the 4 different dragons blood males I tried were just too aggressive, but my stocklist was in the peaceful to mildly aggressive category. I'm not sure a few days will help, I kept the OB separated for 4 months and then introduced him singly into a 180 where all the fish had been there for a few weeks and had settled down into a hierarchy, with seconds of being put in there, the OB was chasing and within an hour had 3-4 fish up in the corners and 5-6 more hiding in rocks. But others have had success with both OB's and dragonsblood, not me.


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## mclaren880 (May 20, 2012)

Thanks, Lilscoots. My OBs have been pretty chill so far. The big guy who's been aggressive, the Borleyi-esque hybrid, is actually a very peaceful ruler when not trying to breed. He doesn't really do much beyond some slight chasing. He is definitely the alpha, but is chill and seems to keep everyone else in line. This is why i'm so reluctant to get rid of him. I still have him in the breeder net and he's still showing his intense blue mating/peacocking colors. I guess he'll have to hang in there for a few more days until hopefully he's out of the mating mind set.


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