My cichlids are killing each other!

sreid

sreid

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Feb 12, 2007
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I have 2 very agressive cichlids that are virtually killing off all our stock. I can't handle this anymore! I just nursed a nice fish back to health and introduced him back along with 2 others (thinking that the attention would be diverted off him). His nice new tail is now bedraggled from being bitten and the other 2 new fish are very traumatised. WHat should I do? :help:
 
They are Malawians. The most agressive one is a zebra - he is a nightmare. The other culprit is a bright blue one (don't know the scientific name)
 
What size tank and how many cichlids are in the tank? (also, how many were in the tank before the losses began?). How many female counterparts of the two dominants are in there?
 
Malawi cichlids are naturally aggressive. you have to keep specific sexual ratios within species groups to mitigate some of the aggression, and you have to have a large enough tank so that all males can have a territory to defend. it sounds to me like you have neither.
 
I have a 3 foot tank (sorry don't know what that is in gallons cos I am from South Africa and my brain only works in metric). I am quite a new fish fanatic so can't tell the difference between male and female, however I know for a fact that the one zebra is a male as it changed colour. This is the one causing havoc in the tank. I also have a new red zebra, a rather timid yellow cichlid with a black stripe on the dorsal fin,a nice blue 'joanjohstone' fish and another new darker blue cichlid with black stripes. I am trying to get their numbers up but whenever I bring new fish they get stressed and die. Fish keeping is tough

Picture(9).jpg
 
zebras

I have zebras in my tank and they beat up any fish I try to add to the tank I have a 75 gallon. Right not it has 3 Zebras and a Johani and a Pleco. I have moved everything else out because they get beat up so bad. They are pretty to look at but aggressive little boogers. I am not sure what advice to give other than to offer lots of hiding places for the other fish. I hope other people will have better advice and good luck.

Kelly
 
The Yellow fish with the black stripe on the dorsal sounds like a Yellow Lab.

And as for the Metric brain...I have one to. Other people should be able to figure out the conversion.

I am sorry to hear that your fish are kicking the crap out of each other, but do you have enough rock cover for everyone in the tank? and what is the ratio of males to females?
 
From the looks of it your main problem is that you got no caves. These guys are cave dwellers and will fight to the death for a cave, and protect that cave, also to the death.

Also, this is the only time people will recomend overstocking a tank, when it comes to cichlids.

You want to have a large number in the tank so the agression level is spread out, not one pick on one, or two pick on the weaker, then end up each other. Blah blah blah ect ect.
 
Though it is a small shot, that tank looks pretty bare.
 
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