advice on how to handle my aggression

[Jeff22]

haha well not my aggression, but my tanks aggression.

I have a 46 gallon bow front tank that has been up and running for a little over three months.

I have 3 yellow labs and 2 metriaclima greshakei's. One of the greshakeis is pretty much running the tank. it bullies the other greshakei into hiding but not to the point of injury. Occasionally it will chase some of the labs around but nothing really concerning just normal behavior.

Well i feel bad for the smaller greshakei. It gets chased pretty bad and spends a lot of time just hiding, while the other fish are free to swim around like normal. I really like the larger greshakei because it's a really nice looking fish with some great coloration.

I guess my question is what is the best option to go with.

1. leave the tank alone because some aggression amongst cichlids is normal

2. Add another greshakei if i can find one to draw some attention away from the existing one

3. Take out the aggressive one

4. Take out the greshakei that is getting bullied and hope that aggressive one doesn't turn on the labs

 

[echoofformless]

The popular canon dictates that to cut down on aggression it's best to overcrowd an mbuna tank. You have some room for a few more.

Stay with the less aggressive species like labs and greshakei. Try to go for more females than males. It should work out.

 

[Kyohti]

The popular canon dictates that to cut down on aggression it's best to overcrowd an mbuna tank. You have some room for a few more.

Stay with the less aggressive species like labs and greshakei. Try to go for more females than males. It should work out.

I agree. Whenever you have one fish of the same species that's a little smaller, he's gonna be the 'underdog'. With cichlids, it's always best to 'spread the agression'... to diffuse it among many fishes. So perhaps buying a few more greshakei... especially females... would help to divert some of the aggro off the little guy.

Just make sure when you add the new fishes that you rearrange your terrain in your aquarium to help prevent unnecessary aggression toward 'the new neighbors'. Hope that helps!! ^_^