Perpetual Cycle?

N

nattybrack

AC Members
Jan 13, 2003
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NYC
I have a 55 gal. w/:

3 saulosi (hopefully 1m, 2f) - .5"
3 yellow labs (hopefully, but more confidently 1m, 2f) - .7"
1f Kenyi - 2.5"
1 Red finned borleyi - 2.5"
1 electric blue johani - 2"
1 synodontis multipunctatus - 1.5"

I recently (3 wks ago.) added the saulsi's and (4wks ago) added the yellow's. Now, unfortunately, as previously thought, the Kenyi has been chasing everyone all over the place. She started chasing my juvi saulosi's, so... the Kenyi is going back to the LFS. My thought though, is that even if I pull the kenyi, the electric blue will start terrorizing the little ones. Is this the case?

My problem or question then is... if there is always an aggressor or "King" (or as this case would have it "Queen") of the tank that is dominant, at what point does the dominant fish have to be pulled from the tank? or... What level of dominance is OK and what is grounds for becoming a LFS return? and will this cycle of returns cease? more poignantly... is this a newbie problem, an ongoing issue or the excitement of the hunt for the perfect fish?

Many thanks.
 
My friend this is by no means a newbie problem and affects us all. There will always be a dominant one in the tank. I usually leave fish in as long as there isn't some form of mutilation going on. The occasional bitten fin or rough up lip is ok but any more than that I take them out. Usually though if you have good rock work you shouldn't have too much of a problem. And since there's enough fish there for the kennyi to not chase just one no one should be singled out. I'd be more worried though that the johanni looks enough like the kennyi for those two to start going at it. And the johanni's a tough one, so it'll be a real battle. Keep an eye out for that. If you still have real bad problems, consider getting a school of target fish, such as larger rainbows or giant danios. The kennyi can chase these around instead of just the cichlidae and danios and rainbows should be able to escape no problem.
 
VoodooChild, many thanks for the reassurance it is appreciated.

As for the Kenyi, I have been trying to reep the benefits of keeping the tank true to a Lake Malawi system, and am hesitant to add a Rainbow or Danio as they are not from this region/country. Is this a justified concern? Are there other fish from the region that may serve the same purpose?
 
There are, but I couldn't see paying the price for such a target fish, as the purpose is to get the fish to vent anger on it, and that usually makes for a short life-span.
 
I try to keep my 55 all Malawi but I still use a pair of Synodontis eupterus for clean up (I can't afford the njasse) so I guess it's a little "tainted". But if it meant I could keep my fish in there I'd by all means do it.
 
The problem here, as I see it, is that you have an unfortunate combination of fish in a tank that really isn't big enough for either establishment of separate territories or controlled overstocking.

The likely fish that will aggress against the rest: the kennyi, the johanni and the borleyi. The first two, in particular, are likely to hound your labs and saulosi incessantly. The borleyi may or may not be belligerent, but there's a distinct possibility. (They get pretty big, too.)

I don't think dither/target fish will help that much, and I agree they look out of place in a Malawi tank. I would recommend you find new homes for the three likely troublemakers mentioned and get a couple more of the Syn. multipunctatus. That will make an attractive tank with less change of coming home to find a floater.

HTH,
Jim
 
Many thanks for the replies and suggestions, as always much appreciation. I couldn't add the target fish, be it out of sympathy for the target or mixing the Lakes (although I too have a synodontis) ...whatever. What I did do, was add more rock work, and add 3 more juvi's. Possibly a little rash, but so far, so good. The kenyi doesn't know where to turn first and the small guys are in and out of the rocks all over the place. Hopefully I haven't overstocked too much w/13 fish in a 55, but it really does look / seem good. I guess I'll keep on keepin' on, until the next ???? Again, many thanks.
 
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