# One cichlid bullying others



## jnyblazeny

Hey,
I am on my first cichlid tank. *** had it for a few months now and everything has been fine. But recently in the past week I have seen that one cichlid has been bullying all the other fish. He chases them all away from a certain area of the tank. Is there anything I should do? Thanks for your help.


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## QHgal

What size tank and what are the inhabitants?


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## jnyblazeny

Its a 40 gallon breeder. Im not sure of all their names, there are 10 of them and they are all from lake malawi.


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## MalawiLover

There are many fish from Lake Malawi that are totaly incompatable in an aquarium. You really need to get some IDs on them if you want the tank to survive. Try posting pictures of the fish (individual side pictures are best) in the Unidentified forum. Once we know what you have, we can help you make the tank work.

Cichlids are very different from regular tropical community fish. They can be highly aggressive and rather destructive in not kept in the proper numbers in a proper sized tank and with compatable tank mates.


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## jnyblazeny

Heyy, I got some ID's on them. The link is http://cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=171133

Its the first fish there that is being very aggressive.

Any suggestions???


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## GoofBoy

Okay, I'll answer:

#1-? (I don't buy the Perlmutt) - already aggressive - it will not get better.
#2- Melanochromis auratus - if it turns out to be a male then odds are it will kill everything in the tank except for maybe the crabo once it matures.
#3- Nimbochromis venustus - way to big and aggressive for your tank 
#4- Pseudotropheus crabro - way to big and aggressive for your tank
#5- Pseudotropheus socolofi - good choice!!! you could get a few more
#6- Nimbochromis livingstonii - way to big and aggressive for your tank 
#7- Aulonocara sp.? - you could keep male Peacock - if the mbuna are mellow, be aware of diets if you keep him... 
#8- Metriaclima estherae - should work, but maybe not with #7.

1) Look at the 40gal cookie cutters to get an idea of the kind of fish that are recommended for a tank roughly your size.

2) Search the profiles section - for Malawi Mbuna that are peaceful or mildly aggressive and see if there is anything you like the looks of - Ps. socolofi, Yellow Labs, rusties, Cyn Afra to name a few. Make a list of what you like. I really believe less aggressive is better if you are just starting out - esp. with a 40 gallon tank.

3) Definitely return/trade in #1, #2, #3, #4, & #6 from your list, whoever sold them to you with a 40 gallon tank did not do you a favor, there will be ongoing aggression/size issues that will escalate dramatically over time as they mature. Look up the profiles and read any species articles to get an idea of what you currently have and why I would recommend that you should trade these in.

4) Take your list from (2 above) of possible fish to the store to see what they have. If the Yellow labs at the store look like the pictures in the profile section (printouts are good!), solid yellow with black highlights on the fins I would strongly suggest getting 4-6 of them - they get along with pretty much everything (personality and diet) and look great. Don't buy them if they have no black on the fins or do have bars, black beards, or an orangish tint - they will be hybrids and you may end up bringing home more aggrerssive fish.

Hope this helps more than it confuses.

Good Luck.


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## AnThRaXx

yeah you dont need to worry about species like everyone says first off. i have 3 perlmutts 2 demasoni 2 melanochromis auratus 2 bumblebees 1 orange zebra 1 tropheops, and some other randoms anyhoo they are ALL super aggresive fish that get along great. the Main thing u need to worry about with malawi's is overcrowding and an abundance of hiding places. try visiting ur local fish store ( not petco but a homegrown place ) and try and get a bunch of lace rock / texas holey rock / honeycomb limestone. also if your trying to do malawi's cheap *** seen LOTS of tank set ups with just ur average river rock as a hiding place u just need to add like 10-20 rocks or so and just arrange them however u prefer just realize that the cracks and nooks are where your cichlids will hide out. also the average petco will not tell u these things so just try adding more rockery in your tank. o yeah if u buy the rock anywhere make sure u wash it good and then soak it in a bucket of treated water for like a week. (dechlorinated water) anyways dont worry about ur fish for now theyll be alright just try and add new rockery like i said and see how that works out. also overcrowding is your best friend. the more fish u have the better to a point because it helps spread the aggresion out on more fish u know? well good luck to ya man  and i used to have all ur problems but added lace rock off of craigslist and they are all doing great


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## MalawiLover

AnThRaXx said:


> yeah you dont need to worry about species like everyone says first off.


There are always going to be a few fish that are more mellow than their species is know to be, but in general the advice given about the fish not going to get along (or being unsuitable for the tank size) is conmpletely sound. Especially since the OP is already getting aggression problems.

Its great thast you are not having any issues in your tank, but 9 times out of 10 a mix like that is not going to work and rather than get the PO's hopes up just to have his tank be one of the 9 times is goes wrong, we recommend that as someone who is new to cichlids he no try to bend the rules just yet.


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## Dewdrop

What size tank do you have, AnThRaXx, and how long have you had those fish together? Any fish can get along while they are young if their food and water is right.
I had 3 little auratus in a 55g. and they were pussycats until they grew and 2 of them started showing male colors. One of the males got his tail chewed off by the other and is now in a little tank to himself growing his tail back before I return him to the LFS. The other 2 are doing ok for now but I'm keeping a close eye on them and they will probably be going back to the LFS too eventually. I wouldn't be surprised if one of your demasoni killed off the other in time, from what I've read. I don't know much about bubblebees cause I stay away from them lol. Good luck with your fish but I really don't see your luck lasting.


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## jorgy

I have a 90 gallon and have a few of these mixed in with my tank, I have plenty of hiding places for them to go. i have a male kennyi that runs the tank but they have plenty of room to run. you can see my tank on my profile page, the tank now has a pile of large rocks in the middle now. if you want that many fish you need to either get a bigger tank or find some that dont get so big. I have found that the umbuna will kill off any peacocks in the tank.


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## AnThRaXx

ya i got a ton of different aggressive cichlids. but i only got 2 melanochromis adults ( a male and his female) and honestly everyone in the tank bows to his glory, since day one and hes about 3 inches so almost adult same as his female, granted some of the other more aggressive ones are small but honestly the only fish i have that gets bit and messed up is my socolofi (pindani) and hes supposed to be gentle. but like i said everyone in the tank just moves outta the auratus's way large or small it dont matter, they all give him space and just avoid him. my julie has a little more of a hard time then the others... but thats cuz i forgot that she looks like his aurauts female so there is a little confusion. there is also a little bit of nit picking between the other fish but *** tried to isolate the males and only keep one of each species male. cant tell on some of the fish but o well


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