# Bumble Bee is a Bully



## Jeditwin (Jan 30, 2011)

Can someone explain to me what exactly is a Bumble Bee? I know it must be a hybrid of some sort....

Because of this hybrid, are they more likely to be more aggressive... Mine seems to have dominated 1/4 of my tank and is a real jerk at times...


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

It isn't a hybrid, unless yours specifically is a hybrid.
Fairly well known for their aggressive reputation.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=845


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## mokujin22 (Jan 19, 2010)

They're not hybrids. They're large angry mbuna - Pseudotropheus crabro. I had one that was every bit of 8", solid jet black. In terms of aggression, size and some pretty rough teeth, probably the mbuna with the most capacity for damage that I've ever kept.

I had him in a 110 community with some other pretty rough characters before I upgraded to the 180. He owned about half of it.


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## Jeditwin (Jan 30, 2011)

See mine only has slight black markings not like the picture, that is why I am wondering....

What to do to tame this aggression? Do I switch the tank around? Add more rocks? I don't want my other guys and gals to get bullied... Doesn't seem fair...

I got him a LFS which was mixed for me as a starter set.... I would like some input


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## dielikemoviestars (Oct 23, 2007)

Tank size? Other fish? Sizes of each?

Your two options are to determine whether it's male and, if it is, get 8+ females for him to chase around... But you'll need a big (5' minimum, 6'+ preferred) tank for that. Or get rid of him.


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## fox (Jun 11, 2009)

Pseudotropheus crabro ... a bully .... whatever would give you that idea :lol:

It is a shame that the big box stores sell these without some form of disclaimer. Shoppers come in with their kids and see this cute lil yellow and black bee and take them home not realizing that they can get large and mean.

We have a 8 incher plus some and he gets a lot of attention from visitors in is black tux. Then out of nowhere gets bullied a bit by some other more aggressive fish and his yellow bars appear.


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## Jeditwin (Jan 30, 2011)

55g is my tank size....

I have to my guess to be at best, since like I said... I got them from a LFS...

I have 2 Yellow Labs
1 Electric Blue Johanni (1 died)
1 Venustus
1 Red Zebra
2 Ob Clowns
1 Albino socolofi
2 Bumble Bees ( One dominant bully)
3 Syno Cats

Plenty of hiding spots ( I have made caves from Terra COtta post, along with some LFS coral rock stacked, 3 chiclid stones, driftwood and several large fake plants.....

I don't know the rest of what I have yet, as I am still trying to figure that out.. Most of the guys at the fish store don't know as much as you guys here, so I am tryng to get a better hold on it...


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

There are a couple of tricks that one can do to reduce aggression in the short-term including re-arranging the decoration and putting the bully in "time-out." But realistically as your bumble bee puts on more size and some of your females (if you have any) reach sexual maturity, I'd bet there is no possible way to contain the ego of this fish inside a 55 gallon box. People who have kept them successfully usually do so in a 6-foot tank and with many females (about 7-8) to keep a single male occupied.

Your electric blue johanni, though probably not _as aggressive_ as the Crabro, has the potential to be a very aggressive individual as well. I would suggest rehoming these 3 as well as the Venustus, who will eventually get extremely large for a 55g tank.

In general, the 'one of this and one of that' approach does not work well in the long run for mbuna. The exception being if you keep only males and avoid keeping species which look very similar to one another.


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## fox (Jun 11, 2009)

Jeditwin said:


> I have 2 Yellow Labs
> 1 Electric Blue Johanni (1 died)
> 1 Venustus
> 1 Red Zebra
> ...


Wow you are going to have a handfull with that stock and that size tank.

As suggested the johanni is going to be a problem later, be sure of it, mebe consider rehoming it. That venustus will out grow that tank so again as suggested consider rehoming. the zebra and the labs will mate and give you hybrids so consider losing one of those from the list.

I like the bumblebee so it is up to your particular fish if you should keep, or time out, or rehome. If you got them all small they can learn to live together after ironing out the bumps.


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## Jeditwin (Jan 30, 2011)

Most of them were the same size when introduced to the tank.... He just seems to be the Man... I didn't know enough about species and what not before getting the Mixed bag approach, but as I read more and more I am realizing that what I did isn't the best...

Maybe I can see if the LFS will take them back for credit, and I can get something else...Looking at that list, which ones should I remove and what should I introduce?

In your opinions...


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## Jeditwin (Jan 30, 2011)

fox said:


> Jeditwin said:
> 
> 
> > I have 2 Yellow Labs
> ...


yeah i think i got dooped a bit by the local guy, but hope i can turn it around


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## dielikemoviestars (Oct 23, 2007)

My thoughts:

Rehome the venustus, the RZ, the bumblebees. I don't know what an OB clown is... Get 4-5 more yellow labs. Is your EBJ a true johanni? Or a maingano? If it's a maingano, get plenty more and try to narrow it down to 1m:6-7f in the long run. You can toss in a few more socolofi if you want, or keep the lone albino. If OB clowns are peacocks, rehome them. If they're zebras or labeotropheus, get 4-5 more and call it a day.

Total numbers when all is said and done = 5-6 YL, 7-8 johanni (maingano), 1-5 socolofi, 5-6 OBs, 3 cats.


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## DAD419 (Apr 7, 2010)

have 2 bumble bee, 2 red zebra, 2 blue zebra all about 5 in. 2 johanni about 3in a 3in synondontis and an unknown mbuna 3 in in a 75 gal and the bees and zebras take turns being the bullies, with that being said they seem to police whoever is being the bully at any given time. so noone really gets out of hand


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