Curbing Aggression

Tommy Gun

Tommy Gun

Fish Fanatic
Aug 1, 2006
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Wisconsin, USA
Hey everyone. I need some hints for the future to help keep my new cichlid friends from being overly aggressive. I plan on doing the more simple things like overstock slightly (maybe one or two over my limit, nothing more than that) and I will make sure there is the appropriate ratios of males to females (1 male to 3 or more females sound about right?)

The tank is 55 gallons and I have 3 (soon to be 6 I hope) pseudotropheus kennyi and 6 melanochromis auratus in there at the moment. They are all young and hard to sex as of today, but I am starting to get a good idea as the males seem to be changing color just slightly.

My other question is recommendations for changing the decor to offer a sandy substrate and a rocky 'cliff' type situation. I am curious to know if I should be putting anything under the tank to support the glass on the bottom of it. The advertising on the tank actually said I can withstand some 4 or 5 hundred pounds of weight, but I am leery about this since it could lead to a big mess. Right now, it is on a tank stand made just for this tank and there is nothing supporting the glass (meaning that there is a gap between the bottom glass and the top of the stand.

Thanks for any help

P.S. My posts seem to keep 'dissapearing' in this forum and I am wondering if there is something I am doing wrong or is this just a glitch in the system?
 
To curb the aggression in my tank I went with all males. Male peacocks are more attractive anyway so it wasnt too hard of a decision. And I wont have to deal with any babies or breeding aggression. In a 55 gallon tank I would go with 12-15 and see how that works out. You can take away a few or add a couple more depending.

Malawis definitely prefer a rocky structure with plenty of caves to hide in. I stacked rocks and slate against my driftwood to make about a dozen caves. I also have a pot in there as well to hide in. I would think to use as much support as possible, I cant really tell without looking at it but it sounds like
you would sleep easier with more support on the bottom, especially if you add more rocks.

Some posts dissapeared a few days ago, but I think its fixed.
 
All males sounds like it would cause alot of trouble, but I read through that link you put in your post and it doesnt sound too bad. I have been told that with the two species I have, males will be the problem.

Would an all female tank work ok? They are the ones I really enjoy anyways (as far as coloration goes), but I am thinking hard about how to get this tank set up the best way. I also have another tank, which is brown and on a brown stand. A rocky decor may work better in there as far as it being astetically pleasing (both of these tanks are large focal points of my living room!). So many choices, so little room for more aquariums!
 
Most males will only fight if a female is present. The exception is if you have more than one fish that is the same species or color pattern. They seem to be more aggressive toward their own kind or fish that look like they do. Thats why I went with all different species and colors.
 
DeRo,

I can see your point on keeping males that look nothing alike. Do you have any input into keeping a pleco or algea eater type fish in with cichlids? I have tried a chineese alegea eater and even though it is way bigger than the cichids and I have been told, aggressive as well, it wasnt long until it was getting gnawed on. In fact, it only took about an hour before I had to move the CAE to the other tank it was origonally in.
 
None of my cichlids are full grown. The largest one is the C. Azureus an he's about 4 inches. I had 2 CAEs in there with some danios before I put them in and they never messed with the CAEs. Neither of the CAE's are in there now(one to parents, one in my 29).

The entire time I have had a gold nugget pleco in there and I havnt seen them EVER pick at him which I thought was really suprising. I have a huge peice of wood that he usually sticks on. I feed him cucumber once a week and I can see him on the glass sometimes. He was in there before 90% of my cichlids were so I dont know how it would be if I would add him now.
 
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