Maybe the dumbest question ever!

[Tommy Gun]

I am very new to the world of cichlids and I have been staring at my tank for the past couple minutes and wondered what 'aggression' really means when it is applied to fish.

My thinking is that aggression is easy to point out in humans and even other pets like dogs and lizards, but when a fish is aggressive, what does it really mean?

Can one fish kill another fish just by chasing it around the tank? Sure, I understand how a piranha can kill a fish, but I mean as far as cichlids goes, they dont seem to have huge teeth capable of taking a chunk out of another fish.

Right now I have P. kennyi and M. auratus in my tank (9 total) who are just small little things, about 2 inches at the most. The first comment I get from everyone I tell about my tank says "Ooooh, they are mean fish!". Still, I just dont really see it.

Dont get me wrong, I have posted in other areas of this forum about my tirals with keeping eels in the tank as well as a chinese algea eater, who both got beat up pretty quickly. But is this aggression mostly going to be exhibited on other, more relaxed, fish or will it become a problem within the same species?

I kept four rainbow sharks before also, which I have come to learn that they are aggressive toward fish of their own species or ones that look alike. But the highest extent of anything I saw was some chasing around the tank, much like I am noticing now with these new fish.

What should I look for? nipped fins? constantly hiding fish? How will I be able to recognize who the culprit is?

Yea, I know, dumb questions probrably, but I have never really thought about it before or known what to look for.

 

[wobble]

When a fish is under constant stress.....yes, it will finally die. You will know when a fish is stressed when it's constantly hiding towards the top corners of the tank away from all the others. And yes, nipped fins is also a good clue. Chasing is normal, there is nothing you can do about that. Welcome to the world of cichlids!

Watching the fish for a bit will let you know pretty quickly who the aggressor is.

This is why it's soooooo important to have lots of rockwork and other places fish can hide. They need to be able to escape from their aggressor. This is also why overcrowding helps. The fish being aggressed gets "lost in the crowd" pretty easily.

It's also important to keep the correct m/f ratios. Too many males of the same species usually just doesn't work out long term in the same tank.

Keeping kenyi and auratus will give you with endless aggression. These are two of the nastiest Malawi out there.

 

[kay-bee]

Right now I have P. kennyi and M. auratus in my tank (9 total) who are just small little things, about 2 inches at the most. The first comment I get from everyone I tell about my tank says "Ooooh, they are mean fish!". Still, I just dont really see it.

The severity of aggression increases with age. Any aggression juvenile fish display is just not in the same category as the aggression sexually mature fish can dish out.

Can one fish kill another fish just by chasing it around the tank? Sure, I understand how a piranha can kill a fish, but I mean as far as cichlids goes, they dont seem to have huge teeth capable of taking a chunk out of another fish.

Chasing is pretty much standard mbuna behavior. It's when pursuit transforms into punishment that serious aggression occurs. Even without pirannah teeth, they're still capable of inflicting significant physical damage to another fish.

 

[Tommy Gun]

Would I be better off then sticking to a species tank, keeping in mind the male to female ratios? Can I have as many females as I want if there is only one male in the tank? I am looking to make this a 'busy' tank and would like to have eight to ten fish in there at a minimum, and in possible

 

[kay-bee]

A species tank would work but isn't really required. Additional females is always a plus, but keep in mind female mbuna can also be aggressive.