# Swapping Cichlids between tanks to reduce aggression



## twistedinkcreations (Feb 26, 2013)

I have 2 tanks a 55 and a 29. in my 55 i have a VERY dominate male. unsure what he is but hes a brilliant blue color with a black mohawk like stripe across his top fin and black stripes they come up from a black belly.. anyway hes super aggressive to the other 7 fish in the tank. I was thinking maybe i could swap him and his mate with the pair of Jewels i have in the 29 and they can live with the other 5 in that tank.. my thoughts are that by taking him out of HIS territory, the entire 55g, and slapping him in a tank that he dosent own, he would be calmed down. Good Idea or no?? *** tried constantly rearranging the tank and lowering the temp to 76 (things *** read) but nothign seems to work.. hes the most attractive fish i have and i really dont want to get rid of him. but hes destroying the fins on the fish in the 55.

link to teh vid of him, hes the first fish i get a close up on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... jXNuBYi_Vg


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Not sure what he is...but among his look-alikes (johannii maybe? or a hybrid with johannii mixed in?) he is probably too aggressive for both a 55G and a 29G.

On top of that...Malawi do not pair so if you have any females in the tank, you want to have at least four (and maybe seven) females of his species in any tank he is in.

If you want to try him in the 55G try adding six females. But then you may need to remove some other fish.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

I'd remove everything but the Jewels in the 29 gallon. Your 55 has fish hiding from other fish, and aggression issues. I recommend to decide on 2-3 species you like and get some groups. Agression and fighting can lead to disease.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I would make a serious attempt to identify all of the fish in the 55G, and be willing to revise my stock list.

Also, if he is that aggressive, the poor females would not live long if you move them to a 29g tank.


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## twistedinkcreations (Feb 26, 2013)

Thanks for the input. there are a few in the 55 i dont really like, so i prolly will thin it out and stock with that i like. the aggressive guy i do really liek so ill try to get some females for him.. im going to be getting a friends 120 display tank here soon, so we will see what i can get togeather.. hard thing is im so remote where i live that it is extremely hard to get what i want.. the local store will take orders but it takes forever. so lets see what I can do.


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## pfoster74 (May 13, 2012)

lots of companies sell fish online. if fedex or ups reach you it should be fine.


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## twistedinkcreations (Feb 26, 2013)

Yeah, *** looked into the online buys, but the local Store owner is a friend of mine, and it would be kinda a dick move to cut him out.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

twistedinkcreations said:


> Thanks for the input. there are a few in the 55 i dont really like, so i prolly will thin it out and stock with that i like. the aggressive guy i do really liek so ill try to get some females for him.. im going to be getting a friends 120 display tank here soon, so we will see what i can get togeather.. hard thing is im so remote where i live that it is extremely hard to get what i want.. the local store will take orders but it takes forever. so lets see what I can do.


Looks like several hybrid mbuna and likely johanni hybrids which are VERY aggressive especially for a 55g. Only way that may work in a 55 is if you add 7 females and remove all the other fish. Just too aggressive for a 55g.

What are the dimensions of the 120g you are looking at? Do you want to breed at all?


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## twistedinkcreations (Feb 26, 2013)

the tank im getting is a 110. not 120 (typo) 48x18x30

I have been breeding sense day one. my jewels have had around 10-14 clutches of fry that i have pulled grown and sold to the fish store.. and in my vid the first blue fish and the darker fish that you see are also breeding, and the blue guy is the dominate male in the tank. I also have another pair that is breeding, but i cant tell which ones.

After reading hundreds of forums and watching hundreds of videos and making a call to reputable fish store. *** come to find out that If i add more fish to the tank, it brings the aggression down from the dominate male cuz he wont pick on just one anymore like hes been he spreads his aggression out on more than one... so i took all the cichlids from my 30 and stuck them in the 55 with the rest.. its a bit overstocked, but sense i have done it, he has been way more calmer, and the tank is alot more active and seems happier.

anyway
I did an update video with a commentary. i kinda ramble on in it, and talk to the fish... but you get the point more.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

twistedinkcreations said:


> the tank im getting is a 110. not 120 (typo) 48x18x30
> 
> I have been breeding sense day one. my jewels have had around 10-14 clutches of fry that i have pulled grown and sold to the fish store.. and in my vid the first blue fish and the darker fish that you see are also breeding, and the blue guy is the dominate male in the tank. I also have another pair that is breeding, but i cant tell which ones.
> 
> ...


Adding more fish to a already undersized tank with many of the fish you have will spread the aggression around for sure. When I say that I mean he and others will continue to attack each other as they fight for space and it will get worse. Spreading aggression around is a good idea but only if you are not trying to do it with super aggressive fish. The 110g you are looking at is basically a 75g as far as malawi cichlids are concerned meaning it has the same floorspace as a 75g only taller and these fish don't fight over territory high in a tank.

The breeding question was more in reference to all the hybrid mbuna you have in your tank currently. What are you doing with those babies?


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## twistedinkcreations (Feb 26, 2013)

Well sense I have swapped them over the aggression has gone way down. and the fish are more active.. so, so far it seems to be working. all the full grown fish I have are all my original fish I got in my "Bulk Assortment" almost 2 years ago... when I got them they were all the same size as the little guys in my 29. but as i get more babies, i sell them to the local fish store. Hes already bought almost 100 1-2cm sized jewels from me so far.. at $5 a pop! and *** sold some of the mbuna babies to a few fellow fish fanatics locally... but they just keep laying LOL. He wants to buy my breeding pair or jewels but i wont sell them.. He offered me 100 bucks for the pair!


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I would strongly urge you NOT to distribute fish from that tank out into the hobby. I am 99% sure the fish in question is a hybrid, likely a johanni crossed with another Melanochromis, and I see several other questionable fish in the tank. Once you release these fry out into the hobby, we have all kinds of posts like this one trying to figure out what a fish is and why it's causing so much trouble in the tank.

You can't get females for him because he's a hybrid. I would really, really work on my stock in that tank...Post a pic of each in the unidentified section and get some informed answers. Meanwhile, keep them in your tanks.

And for the LFS who wants to pay $100 for the pair of jewels, tell him I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I'll make him a good deal on!


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## twistedinkcreations (Feb 26, 2013)

Thats what I figured he was, some kind of Hybred Johanni... and hes breeding! So i have some pretty cool looking young from him.. But, I talked to the local fishmonger about getting me some set kinds of cichids and starting over (keeping my jewels) and after doing some research I would like to get some yellow labs, Yellow Tail Acei, and some Ngra White tail.. maybe 3 of each 1m 2f... and just start over with them.. He asked about the Jewels again and I laughed.. No way I'm selling the fish that are funding my obsession!! especially ones that are as awesome looking as those 2.

on the overstocking, *** put up on the local wire that im getting rid of the red zebras, the albino, the marble guy (unsure what the name is) and the big purple guy with orange fins ( the one thats getting beat up bad.) so hopefully soon ill get rid of that issue.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You don't want to mix two types of acei if you want to save fry.


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## twistedinkcreations (Feb 26, 2013)

which one is the other Acei?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

twistedinkcreations said:


> Yellow Tail Acei, and some Ngra White tail.


These are both acei.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

DJRansome said:


> twistedinkcreations said:
> 
> 
> > Yellow Tail Acei, and some Ngra White tail.
> ...


And they will crossbreed..

I would also increase my species group sizes to 5 or 6 rather than 3.


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## twistedinkcreations (Feb 26, 2013)

well ill dump the yellow tail then.


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