# Was never a bully till now..



## FishBait4me (May 3, 2008)

Alright..I have a 10 Gal tank (I know it's small) I didn't want community fish, so thought I would just get a few Cichlids as not to crowd them. A couple of the original fish had passed, So we recently added two new fish to the mix. As of now we have: 1-Yellow Labido 1-Royal Pleco 1-Auratus (Male) 2- new guys still figureing out what they are(Possibly a red fin borleyi I have a post in unidentified)
Anyway..My Auratus male is chasing everyone. He killed one of my unidentified fish today, He tore him up bad. He actually tried taking a chunk out of the Pleco  No one ever messes with him. He was "Never" agressive since the first day we got him, though now he the biggest bully. Does anyone think he'll chill in time..Or should I take him out of the tank and try giving him to a pet store that would take him?

Please help me! Thanks


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## Cook.MN (Mar 11, 2008)

Hey mate, I don't want to be a downer or anything, but you're tank is too small to even house your stock list even short term. Mbuna are aggressive fish, M. Auratus extensively so. Your dominant male will continue to kill everything else in the tank because there isn't enough room to establish territories nor is there any room for the submissive fish to hide.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

I agree completely. Most Mbuna will not do well in a 10g tank and the auratus is one of the most aggressive out there. I'm afraid there's only one outcome for your situation..............Getting a much bigger tank. :thumb:


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## FishBait4me (May 3, 2008)

I also agree with you...I did some searching and scored a 40 Gal for $20.00 bucks and was also offered some babies for free. I will have to wait on the babies for now, till I am able to get this new tank set up and let run for a day or two.

I found a pet store that would be more than happy to take my Aruatus. I checked out the comatibility chart and the Aruatus is not compatible with either of the other guys i have in my tank. I also see that the ones that I have currently are alright with Peacocks..Which is really the beauty's I would like to have, as my brother has 2-150 Gal, 4-55 Gal, 2-20 Gal(For babies) & a 10 Gal for my 5 yr old nephew which has a few peacocks in it..As Peacocks are mainly what my brother has.

Thank you so much for your advice..Even though I felt like a Dumb~A** for haveing a 10 Gal for Cichlids.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

All of us started somewhere and I've made more then a few mistakes. You came to the right place for advice. The real dumba--'s don't even bother to research and make the same mistakes over and over again thinking they'll get a different outcome. :thumb:


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## FishBait4me (May 3, 2008)

*EDIT* I posted my question in the (Equipment forum)


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## AnThRaXx (Apr 21, 2008)

ya umm idk why youd keep haps / peacocks in a 10g when ur auratus isnt even doing good. i hate to say it but haps get even bigger then ur average mbuna so yeah ur gonna need a bigger then 60g tank for haps and peacocks to really thrive. the 40 will work for mbuna tho  wich are the kewler ones just make sure you dont overpopulate without taking that into consideration and adopting better filtration to cover it. also the average mbuna = 4-5 inches and about 2 inches thick, peacocks get around 6-7 and are thinner requiring much more swimming room. mbuna also like lots of rockery to defend. try adding some througholy cleaned river rocks (about 10-20 rocks) of all sizes and just place em in a pile in the back however u like. when they have places to hide mbuna tend to tone down the aggression. well good luck to ya. also overpopulation is good for mbuna just only to a point and only if u keep up on maintenance.


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