Female Aggression in Africans

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Brian_Indiana

Brian_Indiana

Fire Eel
MFK Member
May 22, 2010
1,210
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Muncie, IN
Have any of you ever witnessed female fish fighting? I just watched two 2.5" female labeotropheus trewavasae cichlids throwing down; I mean lip locks and everything. They were in a definite battle, not just a nip at each other.

I got them a month ago ago from NotoriousSway and have them in my 5' 120. I have never noticed them fighting before.

I usually do not keep females so I am not sure if this is common and I just never noticed. I five 3" female Ahli's and they do not fight.

I know breeders keep same species females. What do you guys say?

http://www.aquapage.cz/Obrazky/Ryby/Labeotropheus_trewavasae.jpg
 
I have 3 female metriaclima msobos and they fight every so often. They have their own ranking. I also have 2 female saulosi and they bicker as well. It never is very serious just some chasing, circling and occasional lip locking.

A while back I had a female ice blue zebra that ruled over my 55 gallon. She outranked all the other fish, even the males. Female aggression isn't too uncommon.
 
This was circling, lip locking, and headbutting each other right in the side. There are no wounds, but it was way more intense than what I have ever witnessed with females.

So you had a female "alpha male"?? That's pretty interesting!
 
Yep, I had some Victorians that would do the same.

Also had some peacocks in which the one female killed all the others.
 
Some of the most brutal aggression I've seen was female vs female (metriaclima msobo's), the female mortally wounded two of her sisters and was in process of killing off the third (and injured) female when I noticed what was happening.

Some time later the now fully recovered female nearly eliminated the initial aggressor (who was mouthbrooding fry at the time and couldn't defend herself properly). Had to separate them after that.
 
I used to have a 40B with a group of L. trewavasae. Had too many fry, so moved the parents out into the 150 and there were a few remaining 2" female juvies that survived, so I left them in the tank. They fought like crazy with each other and even beat on my much larger male P. pheonchilus out of the group that inherited the tank. They can be brutal little fish.

I also have a few breeding groups of peacocks in their own tanks. Besides the male beating on the females, the females will fight in the same manner you describe... lip locking, sneak attack pecking, the whole nine yards.

Shoot, I've even had adult female Protomelas do the same thing in a species tank.

While it may not happen in nature, all bets are off when you throw a bunch of fish into a small glass box. Which, compared to open water, even a big tank is still a small glass box.
 
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