i've been keeping an eye on the situation and now the red zebra seems helpless. he has been sitting at the surface of the water and and never goes more than 3 inches from there, if he does he is chased around again. thoughts?
mbuna bully
- Thread starter Bobtastic6
- Start date
bcpits;4066820; said:
so get rid of all my fish......? i'll keep that on on the back burner for now
I never said get rid of all your fish.
The goal is to work with what you've got. i think i read yellow lab, acie, kenyi, zebra and aratus is what youve got in a 45 gallon and your having aggression issues. Some of these speciies are difficult to maintain regardless and some do better with certain male to female ratio...So if you have mutiple males of some of these species, expect alot of trouble. ( with labs and acie male/female ratio isn't so much of a deal - though there are always exceptions lol)
IMO, if you have an agreesive kenyi and an agressive zebra in your tank, dont go buy one more kenyi , zebra and aurtus or what ever, drop them in and expect results.
Long turn, these species wont thrive in a 45, but you did say you were upgrading.
I'd do some reading, pick 4 species, do proper male\female ratio of your 4 species, and if mbuna, add lots of rock/territory and you should have a great tank.
The goal is to work with what you've got. i think i read yellow lab, acie, kenyi, zebra and aratus is what youve got in a 45 gallon and your having aggression issues. Some of these speciies are difficult to maintain regardless and some do better with certain male to female ratio...So if you have mutiple males of some of these species, expect alot of trouble. ( with labs and acie male/female ratio isn't so much of a deal - though there are always exceptions lol)
IMO, if you have an agreesive kenyi and an agressive zebra in your tank, dont go buy one more kenyi , zebra and aurtus or what ever, drop them in and expect results.
Long turn, these species wont thrive in a 45, but you did say you were upgrading.
I'd do some reading, pick 4 species, do proper male\female ratio of your 4 species, and if mbuna, add lots of rock/territory and you should have a great tank.
OP - it seems like you are asking for advice to reduce aggression, but then you don't want to hear it. You don't want to get rid of your fish, but you have very aggressive fish in a tank that is not quite big enough.
If you want to keep the fish that you have, then increase the numbers of each species and drastically overstock your tank. Increase your filtration and water changes. You will still have high levels of aggression, but maybe one fish won't get picked on.
If you want to have a fairly balanced 45g Malawi tank, my advice is to remove all of your fish and add a group of 12-20 of one species of dwarf mbuna with 3-6 of the smaller synodontis catfish.
If you want to keep the fish that you have, then increase the numbers of each species and drastically overstock your tank. Increase your filtration and water changes. You will still have high levels of aggression, but maybe one fish won't get picked on.
If you want to have a fairly balanced 45g Malawi tank, my advice is to remove all of your fish and add a group of 12-20 of one species of dwarf mbuna with 3-6 of the smaller synodontis catfish.
i didnt mean to be rude in my previous post but if i we're to get rid of the suggesteed fish i wold only have my on yellow lab and one acei left. also, earlier in the thread it was suggested to me that to curb some of the aggression i should slightly overstock my tank, which i have done. unfortunately that has only led to more aggression, so of course i don't want to hear "you should remove some fish" after i followed up on "you should add more fish". now that the red zebra is no longer the dominant fish things have settled down somewhat and everone knows their place, hopefully this will continue and i will update as time goes by.
empty head has some good suugestions.
Generally when you over stock, its of same species. So if you have 1 aggressive lab and 1 lab getting bullied, add 3-4+ labs to spread out the agression between them, just for example.
However you have 5 species and having a minimun 5 of each type is too much in a 45 gallon. Consider trading or returning 2 species (personal recomend aurtus and kenyi
)into your lfs for more of the remaining species and plan to upgrade tank size to minumun 4 feet.
Its quite normal, you'll read many mbuna owners, pull out excess males, overly bully fish from there tank. I've over stocked my tank with lots of juvies with intentions just to do this! ANy fish hiding in the top corner of the tank , is not a happy fish, regardless if he has a plant floating up there.
Please keep in mind, these are only suggestions. I completely understand the frustration with -
i don't want to hear "you should remove some fish" after i followed up on "you should add more fish".
Everyone on the board has not only different opinions, but different levels of expereince with fish and species.
If i would of said, everything in your tank will be fine, over stock your tank with all cichlids ,its ok to add a frontosa and a ventus cichild they will all get along great, would you have listened?
The point is, these are just suggestions, it is ultimiately up to you to do the final research
Generally when you over stock, its of same species. So if you have 1 aggressive lab and 1 lab getting bullied, add 3-4+ labs to spread out the agression between them, just for example.
However you have 5 species and having a minimun 5 of each type is too much in a 45 gallon. Consider trading or returning 2 species (personal recomend aurtus and kenyi
)into your lfs for more of the remaining species and plan to upgrade tank size to minumun 4 feet.Its quite normal, you'll read many mbuna owners, pull out excess males, overly bully fish from there tank. I've over stocked my tank with lots of juvies with intentions just to do this! ANy fish hiding in the top corner of the tank , is not a happy fish, regardless if he has a plant floating up there.
Please keep in mind, these are only suggestions. I completely understand the frustration with -
i don't want to hear "you should remove some fish" after i followed up on "you should add more fish".
Everyone on the board has not only different opinions, but different levels of expereince with fish and species.
If i would of said, everything in your tank will be fine, over stock your tank with all cichlids ,its ok to add a frontosa and a ventus cichild they will all get along great, would you have listened?
The point is, these are just suggestions, it is ultimiately up to you to do the final research
