aggressive red zebra

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S

Soggy

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 27, 2010
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I have a 55 gallon tank with 6 male cichlids 1 red zebra, 2 yellow labs, 1 Johanni, 1 kenyi, 1 electric blue hap. Everyone was getting along until my Red zebra outgrew everyone else and now he terrorizes the yellow labs. I have all the rock work I can fit into the tank but it doesn't matter the red zebra cruises the whole tank looking for the labs and won't stop even after they resort to hiding behind the power heads. I've been thinking about adding more fish to help spread the aggression and because I want more fish, but all the fish my LFSs have are half the size of the fish in my tank.

any ideas?
 
i had to add more fish to my 55g for my cobalt zebra to stop bullying the other cichlids....i have a total of 9 cichlids and a fire eel in my 55g. 1 ruby crystal, 1 albino sunburst, 1 johanni, 1 venustus, 1 cobalt zebra, 1 red zebra, 1 yellow lab, 1 blue dolphin, 1 saulosi...i had had only 4 in when the cobalt was picking on the others i then added the rest and all has been well for about 2 weeks now. all cichlids are 2-3 inches and the fire eel is 5 inches.
 
Are you sure that all the cichlids are males? How big are they?

If you were to add fish half the size of your current lot, you'd probably be fine. A 4" mbuna will typically not mess with a 2" mbuna of the same species. He certainly won't try to eat the smaller guy.
 
adding a few more fish, especially his own species will help disperse the aggression... he may still chase the fish the same way, but he may refocus his aggression to other red zebra's.... that way each individual fish isnt being chased as much as before. good luck!
 
Mokujin22 said:
Are you sure that all the cichlids are males? How big are they?.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure they are all male. the red zebra has egg spots and the blue sheen, the yellow labs have the dark black on their lower fins, the electric blue is blue, and the kenyi has bread with a female. as far as size they are all in the 4 inch range except for the red zebra who is in the 5 inch range. It's funny, the zebra was the smallest fish when I put him in the tank, but the thing is an eating machine, I've nicknamed him Pig Fish.
 
One way to reduce aggression is to re-arrange your tank. Give that a try and adding few more fishes will also help. Make sure you have alot of rocks and hiding places. W/ 55G I would stock it around 20-25 fishes and a strong filteration.
 
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