# Large Cichlid is Being Picked On Aggresively?



## ptcruiser1155 (Feb 14, 2011)

I have so far had a nice & successful 92 gal. African Cichlid tank going, with few problems. But, we are now noticing that several of the larger fish are aggressively going after a larger 4-5" dark colored on I have. They have caused some cuts & abrassions on the poor defenceless victum.
Please do not ask me the genus of the fish, I don"t know it. Can anyone offer any advise on what I can do to hopefully save this fish?
Could he or she just be week and I should do a good water change? All 12 of the fish in our tank have been in the for many months.
No new additions recently. Thanks.


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## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

Tis the nature of African cichlids I'm afraid. They do get aggressive if you have an unstable mix, too small of a tank, too many males, not enough males, high tide, low tide, waning moon, etc.

I don't think a water change is going to help you. I'd recommend getting the victim out to someplace safe. Then ask quesitons on here and pick a mix of fish that's right for each other and for your tank.

--$0.02


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## ptcruiser1155 (Feb 14, 2011)

Thanks xWingman48. Anybody else have knowledge on how I can help this being picked on fish?


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

Unfortunately I think Wingman nailed it... It is their nature, especially once one has been singled out and injury inflicted.

If the root cause was weakness from stress resulting from not doing enough water changes then that might help future cases, but I don't think it will help at this point.

The only way I've been able to save a fish once one has been singled out - especially after injuries have been inflicted - is to remove the fish to a separate (cycled) tank to let them recover. It's possible to accomplish this with a breeders net in the original tank, though that's tough for the long haul, and it will take longer for the injuries to heal as the fish will still be stressed - but at least they can be saved in the short term.

After recovery, reintroduction to the original tank isn't likely... I've had it work once, but it took a lot of work and a very slow reintroduction. Best bet would be to let him heal then trade him in for something more likely to succeed.


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## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

Yeah, once someone has been singled out, you really have to remove them to save them. I've successfully reintroduced a few times, but with an African cichlid tank, introducing a lone fish is a recipe for disaster. You have to add them in batches of three or more similarly sized fish to give them a chance.


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## ptcruiser1155 (Feb 14, 2011)

Thanks for you input guys. In another room, I do have a 42gal. fresh water tank consisting of small friendly fish (NOT CICHLIDS) like sword tails, gouramis, a silver dollar, things like that. Will a wounded cichlid likely get along good or become the aggressor and kill these fish?


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

It's hard to say... but if you're attached to these fish I wouldn't try it lol. I speculate he would be aggressive if he has any kick left in him...


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

What type of fish is being picked on, what types are doing the picking on?


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## ptcruiser1155 (Feb 14, 2011)

Hi. You asked me: What type of fish is being picked on, what types are doing the picking on? When it comes to the species of cichlid, I must admit the names get too confusing to me. The aggressive one is about 5 inches and all black. The one being picked on constantly is approx. 4" also black, but has six beige stripes going up & down 1/2 it's body.

Any thoughts on how it might do in my fresh water community tank? (nothing aggressive in there).


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## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

ptcruiser1155 said:


> The one being picked on constantly is approx. 4" also black, but has six beige stripes going up & down 1/2 it's body.


A picture is worth a thousand words.  Glance through the profiles section and see what you can find. A frontosa is black and white with barring, but so is a calvus, and some hybrid mbuna can as well.

Either way, I think putting a 4" cichlid in a community tank is a recipe for disaster. I had a 3" afra tear a 4.5" gourami to shreds in my only experiment mixing the types. When striving for a mixed African cichlid tank, it may be a good idea to have a spare hospital tank on hand. A 10 gallon with a heater and a sponge filter is fairly cheap, and could hold a fish temporarily until you found a new home for it.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

Fogelhund said:


> What type of fish is being picked on, what types are doing the picking on?


Yep....hard to answer without knowing this. Also need the dimensions of the tank.

Can you give us the dimensions of the tank and take pics of your fish? That is the ONLY way to be able to help. Otherwise it would be almost impossible to help.

You could have a large peacock in a tall tank with some very aggressive mbuna. It is just hard to say without knowing the above. If you really want answers then please take some time to take pictures of your fish, upload them in this thread and we will help....promise. :thumb:


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## ptcruiser1155 (Feb 14, 2011)

I took a pic, but don't see anything to click on to upload a photo. The tank is a 92 gal. bow front. But anyway, it won't be easy, but tomorrow I am going to try and catch the picked on fish because OTHERS are now going after it now. Hopefully it will survive the night with lights out. I will take it to an aquarium store in Tampa who will take it. Thank for all the feed back and private msgs. People on this forum are terrific!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

To post a picture first upload your picture to a free website like www.photobucket.com. Under your pic there are several links. Click on the img link to copy it. Past the img link into the CF topic. Press Preview to verify you can see your pic, and then press Submit.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

ptcruiser1155 said:


> I took a pic, but don't see anything to click on to upload a photo. The tank is a 92 gal. bow front. But anyway, it won't be easy, but tomorrow I am going to try and catch the picked on fish because OTHERS are now going after it now. Hopefully it will survive the night with lights out. I will take it to an aquarium store in Tampa who will take it. Thank for all the feed back and private msgs. People on this forum are terrific!


Just because this fish is removed does not mean that all will be well. Certainly a good idea to remove him anyways. Pics would great. Just upload them to photobucket, it is free, like DJ mentioned above. Once you have them uploaded to photobucket when you move your mouse over the picture you will see a little hand and then it will give you 4 options just click "direct link" and it will say "copied". Then come back here in this thread and click the "Img" button just above and it will display...

In between the two above just paste the link you copied from photobucket. So it will read....


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

My guess is Ps. crabro for both the aggressor and aggressee.


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## ptcruiser1155 (Feb 14, 2011)

DJRansome and brinkles..... The pics you have next to your names are exactly what this picked on fish looks like. You nailed it. Oh, except no yellow on it.
Black w/6 beige vertical stripes. So far this fast fish has been successful at evading me, but still being chased by others (fish). I'd HATE to have to take the canopy, glass & all decorations out just to catch him!! :x


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## ptcruiser1155 (Feb 14, 2011)

Followed the above instruction, but the image is WAY large for some reason?


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

The picture shown is P. Crabro, known in the trade as the bumblebee cichlid. Dominant males are black,m subdominant males and females have stripes.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

So you say this fish is 5" and in the OP you called the fish picking on him "larger". What are their sizes and do you have pics? Your pic posted above is perfect size so don't worry about it being too big. If you can post pics of ALL your fish that would really really help. What are the dimensions of your tank...can you measure it for us?


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

called it! 
My avatar is M. "elongatus Chewere", DJ's is Ps. demasoni. There are a number of blue/black vertical barred fish in the lake.


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## infamous (Mar 28, 2012)

I had to remove fish and restock new ones a few times,to finally get an all male Malawi tank that worked...without extreme aggression. Now I have had a group of males for about 6 months with no major issues. If your going to stock unconventionally...expect to have to take out weak fish and replace them. I would return the victim,and wait to see if there's a new victim shortly after...before replacing him. If you replace the aggressors....its never going to work out for you.


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## infamous (Mar 28, 2012)

The picture you posted looks like a very stressed out and pissed off bumblebee,I would only want to keep one male of a specific species...with no look alikes.


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## Dawg2012 (May 10, 2012)

ptcruiser1155 said:


> ... I'd HATE to have to take the canopy, glass & all decorations out just to catch him!! :x


LOL! Welcome to our world...

In the end it's a good time to clean and rearrange... and the fish seem to like it at that point as well...


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## xWingman48 (Apr 8, 2008)

I've actually had decent luck with the late night sneak attack. Turn all of the lights off, wait a few hours until they're all asleep. Then quietly take the hood off, get your net ready, and then turn on the lights and swoop in.

You'll have about 25 seconds to try to catch him before they wake up and get evasive again. I also have a 12" wide net, which helps.

Even with that though, you still have to tear the tank apart a good 30% of the time. Mbuna are quick little buggers.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

xWingman48 said:


> I've actually had decent luck with the late night sneak attack. Turn all of the lights off, wait a few hours until they're all asleep. Then quietly take the hood off, get your net ready, and then turn on the lights and swoop in.
> 
> You'll have about 25 seconds to try to catch him before they wake up and get evasive again. I also have a 12" wide net, which helps.
> 
> Even with that though, you still have to tear the tank apart a good 30% of the time. Mbuna are quick little buggers.


Yep or you can do as I do and remove at feeding time. As soon as I walk to the normal feeding spot they are all anxiously awaiting. I use my large net and make sure I get the one I want plus a bunch of others. I then just grab the one I want with my hand. Seems to be the easiest way I have found. Doesn't work well with pleco's and most tangs but works pretty good with most malawi's.


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