Advice about territorial acei with electric yellows

[CRT]

Hi I'm hoping to get some advice! I have new tank set up with one acei and two electronic yellows. The acei has been digging holes and is constantly chasing the other two fish. He's also been doing this shaking / shivering thing which I read in another thread is a mating or dominance thing. I understand he's getting ready to breed but there isn't another acei in the tank.

So I guess my questions are is he likely to calm down after a while, and is there anything I should do? Would trying to introduce a female acei so they can breed calm him down or would that just make it worse? Could he be trying to breed with the electric yellow?

I've attached two photos of the fish and the tank, the acei has gotten a little bigger since the photo though. I think there's plenty of room in the tank but he chasing them all other, feeling bad for the other two fish!

Any advice would be great! Thanks!

 

[tlindsey]

Hi I'm hoping to get some advice! I have new tank set up with one acei and two electronic yellows. The acei has been digging holes and is constantly chasing the other two fish. He's also been doing this shaking / shivering thing which I read in another thread is a mating or dominance thing. I understand he's getting ready to breed but there isn't another acei in the tank.

So I guess my questions are is he likely to calm down after a while, and is there anything I should do? Would trying to introduce a female acei so they can breed calm him down or would that just make it worse? Could he be trying to breed with the electric yellow?

I've attached two photos of the fish and the tank, the acei has gotten a little bigger since the photo though. I think there's plenty of room in the tank but he chasing them all other, feeling bad for the other two fish!

Any advice would be great! Thanks!

View attachment 1475812

Welcome aboard

Definitely a dominance issue and I'm wanting to spawn. The situation won't get better until you remove the Acei. Also with just the two remaining Mbuna there will be a issue with dominance so adding more Electric Yellow would help 1male/3 female ratio. Most Mbuna setups will have lots of rocks.

My experience with Mbuna was brief so more experienced members will chime in.
Milingu
D deeda
Stephen St.Clair
james99

 

[james99]

Add more hiding spots, more fish could help too, depending on tank size. Labs and acei are pretty calm compared to most mbuna, so they could work it out without too much damage.

 

[Stephen St.Clair]

Build a complex elevated rock hardscape & add more fish of both species.
There will always be aggression in a Mbuna community. As long as there are no deaths or injuries, success has been achieved. Lol.

 

[deeda]

Agree with the comments from the others.

Can you post the tank dimensions please? It seems a bit small from the pic.

 

[CRT]

tlindsey james99 Stephen St.Clair

Hey hopefully I've tagged you all correctly so you see this! Haha. Thanks so much for the comments, there is a good chance I'm overthinking it a little but I was keen to get some advice. I'll definitely add some more hiding spots and will try adding a few more fish.

 

[CRT]

Agree with the comments from the others.

Can you post the tank dimensions please? It seems a bit small from the pic.

It's about 90cm x 45cm x 35cm

 

[Milingu]

It's about 90cm x 45cm x 35cm

Unfortunately that's too small for Mbuna on the long run. Not only especially for big ones like the acai but also for the Labidochromis.

I would give the Mbuna away and go for lake Tanganyika cichlids. The tank size is nice for a biotope tank with two species like for example a pair of smaller Julidochromis and some shell dwellers.

 

[deeda]

I agree with above statement, too small long term.

 

[neutrino]

Unfortunately that's too small for Mbuna on the long run. Not only especially for big ones like the acai but also for the Labidochromis.

I would give the Mbuna away and go for lake Tanganyika cichlids. The tank size is nice for a biotope tank with two species like for example a pair of smaller Julidochromis and some shell dwellers.

Agree with this.