Aggression

[brian_moons]

It seems that i have a dominate fish in my aquarium, he chases all the other fish and bites them as well, im not quite sure the type of cichlids i have. I went to the local petstore and they said that if i added more the aggression wouldnt be as signifcant, something about being community fish and like being crowded. But this dominant one still nips and attacks the others. When hes not out all the rest are fine, and there are no signs of aggression. Anyone else have this problem? :confused:

[Capps]

What size is your tank?

Can you post any pics or give a detailed description of them?

Sounds Like Africans to me and yes overcrowding can equal out aggression but this means overstocking, so you need adequate filtration for this. Overcrowding really isn't recommended.

[brian_moons]

i have a 20 gallon tank and an aqua clear 30 filter. Yeah, there african cichlids.

[Capps]

You definitly need a bigger tank for those fish. Unless they are shellies.
20g is good for shell dwellers , but 30g plus for lake malawi species.( I recommend 55g or more IMO)

By the way how many do you have?

[brian_moons]

six.

[Raf]

Any of these ring a bell.....

http://www.malawimayhem.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=3107

[brian_moons]

thanks thats exaclty what ive been looking for! :D

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Yes, the only way to beat the aggression is going to be to upgrade your tank size. In that size tank you cant even keep 2 africans happily... they WILL fight. If you remove the aggressive one then your just going to have the next one in line become the bully.

Overcrowding really only works on tanks 75+ gallons, and you still need to pick your species carefully.

I reccommend either upgrading to a tank at least 40 gallons, or returning your fish for some Lake Tangynika shelldwellers, which as mentioned before will be good for that size tank.

HTH
:)
-Diana