# Red Zebra aggression



## cichlidnoob314 (Jun 14, 2012)

Are Red Zebras supposed to be aggressive? I know mbuna are aggressive fish by nature but I have an all mbuna tank and my 3 red zebras are all super aggressive. The constantly chase any fish that comes close to them in the tank. I am thinking about getting rid of them in order to get a few more Cobue Afra.


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## Michael_M (May 31, 2012)

What are the dimensions of the tank, what is the stock list and what are the sex's of the red Zebras?

My Red Zebra's were no more aggressive than any other Metriclima I've kept. If they are in too small a tank they could get nasty, or when breeding. They do better in groups of 1m and at least 4f.


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## LanceN34 (Mar 24, 2011)

If the tank isn't large enough Metriaclima are especially aggressive. I've had Red Zebra's and Gresheiki (sp). Both showed a lot of aggression in my 55G all male tank.


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## cichlidnoob314 (Jun 14, 2012)

They are in a 55G now. I think I am going to trade them in at my LFS and decide if I want to get another species, add more females, or do nothing. Since I have Yellow Labs, I dont mind getting rid of the Red Zebras so there is no crossbreeding anyways


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## cichlidboy123 (May 8, 2012)

My red zebras are calm. I have 2 males and 1 female. One of the males were supposed to be female. They chase each other a little bit. They are in a 55 gallon with 4 other cichlids.


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## Baggly (Feb 2, 2012)

My zebras rule the tank but I wouldn't say they are overly aggressive. There are definitely different levels of aggression. It's one thing to chase (which all mine do), it's another to nip, bite, kill etc. The most severe aggression was male on male zebra in my tank until I had one male left.


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

cichlidnoob314 said:


> Are Red Zebras supposed to be aggressive? I know mbuna are aggressive fish by nature but I have an all mbuna tank and my 3 red zebras are all super aggressive. The constantly chase any fish that comes close to them in the tank. I am thinking about getting rid of them in order to get a few more Cobue Afra.


Yes...they can be aggressive especially in a 55g(standard) or smaller and not in the right male/female ratio. What other fish do you have?


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## cichlidnoob314 (Jun 14, 2012)

They are in there with Acei, yellow labs, and Fuelloborni. The red zebras are 1:2 ratio.. But are still small like 2"


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Too many species anyway for a 55G. Also acei and fuelleborni are too large for a 55G.

I'd keep the zebras and get rid of the fuelleborni as they are big and even more aggressive than the zebras.


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## cichlidnoob314 (Jun 14, 2012)

DJ do you think I could be better off just keeping the male of each and going with an all male tank? I have heard it is harder to do with mbuna? Just an idea I'm tossing around since the fish are still young.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

IDK about better off. All-male in general is more challenging and in a 55G to boot. You can have more fish with mixed gender, and they are more predictable as to what will work with stocking.

Is variety essential? Or you just want color?


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## cichlidnoob314 (Jun 14, 2012)

I think color would be more important to me


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## Michael_M (May 31, 2012)

There are various more peaceful mbuna that have colourful males and females.


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## riverpaws (Dec 7, 2011)

Keep the red zebras and the labs, get rid of the fuelleborni and the acei, and add some Cynotilapia Hara? That would give you a nice blue color with your yellow and orange.


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## Baggly (Feb 2, 2012)

should have noted that i have 1:5 zebras in the tank


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