New Tank Agression

I

ianheyian

AC Members
Dec 4, 2006
22
0
0
Looking for some advice. I have a 75G tank that's been up and running with Africans for about 8 years. In that time I've had two disasters .. briefly .. the first was my Ebo Yager heater sticking after about two years and killing all but two of my fish. I replaced the heater and restocked. (Incidently, I've used that original heater for years to preheat my change water and it has worked flawlessly .. go figure). The second incident was about 18 months ago ... I don't know what happened but I lost all but one fish .. a yellow lab. I couldn't figure out why ... the tank had been going fine for about four years since restocking ... no new fish, no change in feeding, no change in tank maintenance, water quality was always good. So I was pretty bummed out and put off about the whole thing to say the least.

So for the last 18 months or so I watched the yellow lab pretty much hide most of the time. I have a second tank I've had for about 5 years with Rusty's with no problems .... next to the 75G. Anyway, about two weeks ago I decided I'll try it again. I removed all the rocks, vac'd all the gravel, put the rocks back, changed one of the Emporer 400 filters ... and so forth ... along with 4 four 30% water changes ... not that I think it needed it.

I started adding fish over the last few days ... six juveniles and three adults ... the adults are OB Zebra, Yellow Peacock and a Blue Peacock. Even though the tank is full of rocks the yellow peacock and the OB Zebra are justs going at each other ... pretty much the OB chasing most of the time but I've also seen the yellow chasing him.

So my dilema is: Do I pull one of them out or do I add more fish and if so what ... males, females, same species, diff species, juves, adults? I don't want to leave them beating the %$#@ out of each other. I always thought the tank was large enough for about 12 to 15 full size fish. Right now I have 5 juves and 4 adults .. so I suppose I could add 3 to 6 more? I realise there's probably not a simple straight forward answer but I'm hoping someone with experience has seen the situation before and has an idea what works.

My end goal is to have a community tank of nice looking fish. I'm hoping to upgrade to a much larger tank next year. This tank is 75G, two Emp 400 filters, gravel subtrate with lots of various size rocks.

Sorry for being long winded. Thanks.
 
I had the same problem when I added my Bumble Bee's with my old ones. The two dominate males were trying to establish themselves. The bumble bee's eventualy killed them all four of them days later. But a few people told me when they start doing the "dominance game" you should re-arrange your tank or when you add new ones in, as they are extremely territorial fish.
 
If I had a 75 african tank I would put a mix of 20-25 all male mbuna/peacock/haps.

Twice in my 55 one of my fish got too aggressive. Most recently it was a venustus that started nipping 2 of my peacocks. I returned it for another one and no problems 3 months down the road.

So I would say add more fish and if the same fish keep fighting trade them in.

Sorry for your previous tank crashes, that would kill me.
 
I had a Venustus years ago when I first set up the tank ... I pulled him out in short order ... he didn't get along with anyone ... everyone else was hiding.

The new fish seemed to have settled down somewhat but the OB P. Zebra is still chasing the Sunshine Peacock although not quite as much ... but the Sunshine is still hiding most of the time. I'm thinking of adding 4 - 5 more adults ... peacocks, labs and the less aggressive species. That should bring the counts up to 8 - 9 adults and 6 juves. I'm a little concerned about how to add them. I'm thinking of rearranging the rocks when I put the new ones in? I also want to add some "Carib Sea African Cichlid" substrate ... I was told it will help stabilize the PH ... I suppose I could add it at the same time I rearrange the rocks.
 
I wouldnt see a need to rearrange the tank. I had to do this when I had an oscar and a JD, but with multiple small fish my guess is that it would be ok. I add new fish every now and then and I dont change anything. The tank is busy so no 1 fish can really claim a set peice of territory.

What is your ph now? The new substrate couldnt hurt, you could mix your current gravel with the cichlid mix if you dont want a complete change, they just like to dig around in sand.
 
DeRo316 said:
I wouldnt see a need to rearrange the tank. I had to do this when I had an oscar and a JD, but with multiple small fish my guess is that it would be ok. I add new fish every now and then and I dont change anything. The tank is busy so no 1 fish can really claim a set peice of territory.

What is your ph now? The new substrate couldnt hurt, you could mix your current gravel with the cichlid mix if you dont want a complete change, they just like to dig around in sand.
Click to expand...

I filter my water for chlorine, chloramine, cysts, sediment and rust. I add Tropic Marin Malawi / Tanganyika salts and a little aquarium salt to my change water. The PH is typically about 8.1 - 8.2. I added a 20LB bag of the Carib Sea African Cichlid Gravel mix to my 29G tank which is home to 5 Rusty's, (and has been for years). I mixed the new gravel in with the old gravel. The PH now reads more like 8.7ish. I'll need time to see if it remains stable. I'm wondering if I still need to add the Tropic Marin mix? I decided to experiment a little on the samll tank before I change anything on the larger tank. I have to move the larger tank to another room in about a month anyway ... so that will be the time to break it down and make any changes.

I added quite a few more fish to the 75G, (all larger juveniles 2- 3 " long): 4 Peacocks, 5 P. Acei and a "Horse Head"? The LFS told me the horse head is not very aggresive but a really "neat" looking fish. I figured I'd find some info on the web or in my books ... so far I haven't. I'll have to get a photo of him and see if anyone can ID him. So far he's fairly timid, but he's also only 2.5" long. Has a torpedo, slim kind of a shape, long sloped snout, (not as long as a compressiceps), blueish color with almost minature "Venustus" type markings on his body.

Anyway, the whole tank seems to have settled down. I'll have to see how they behave going forward to maturity. Noticed the nitrates starting to rise ... I'm supprised at how quick, guess I'll have to find a waterchange amount / frequency that will work. Might be junk in the filters?
 
The only think I add is NovAqua+ when I do water changes. My ph is 8.1 with crushed coral in one of my filter stages.

Not farmiliar with the horse-head, post a pic and we'll do our best to figure it out!

It took me a while to get ahold of the nitrates, but after daily testing I was able to find the right schedule for my water changes. Every 5 days the nitrates get up to the 10-15 range so thats when I change it. I only test every other time or so now.
 
How much crushed coral for what sized tank?

I have two Emporer 400's with plastic bio wheels in the media holders. I don't think I could get enough crushed coral in them to make much of a difference ... hence the reason for going with Carib Sea African Cichlid gravel. One thing I'm a little concerned about is overdoing things ... the gravel + the lake salts + my water is ~7.8 out of the tap.
 
I would skip the lake salts, some people use them and swear by them, others think they are just to make pet store money. I think they are good if you need them, but some cases you dont. Im not sure about the other parameters of your water but with 7.8 tap water + the new substrate it sounds like you will definitely be doing Ok with the ph.

I would try to go without the additivies and see what happens, if the colors, temperment, or appetite change I would add the salts back. I have never used any of the mineral/salt additives and I've had 3 african tanks that were all IMO successful. My LFS owner that sell the additives doesnt use them in his 175 mixed african tank so to me that says a lot. But Im sure someone will post that they get benefits from them so .... :confused:

Oh, and its only a few pounds of crushed coral in a seachem bag in one of my filter trays. The filter is a Rena Filstar xp3. I dont have any crushed coral in my aquaclear, just floss and bio-rings.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom