Problems encountered when keeping Cichlids

[Aaronlee8647]

Have you ever kept any cichlid before? If you have, I am sure you have some difficulties keeping them. Come, share your problem. As for mine, this is the difficulty. I didn't know why at first a few of my mBuna kept biting each other off. But soon I learned that these fish, as aggressive as they are, will never leave the others in peace. Thus, to solve the proplem, first of all you should have a large tank. The minimum size? I'll tell you later when I've read the books And your tank must be decorated with pletty of rocks. When I say 'decorate with pletty of rocks' it does not mean that you just simply have them scattered in your tank. The ideal way of decorating them is to pile them up, make as many caves as your tank can allow for them. Yes the caves are what you need, I mean, are what your mBuna need. These caves serve as the hiding place for your fish from the other aggressive ones. You should also crowd the tank with these fish. The reason is that since they are agressive you cannot stop them from harming the others. But you can reduce the attack on the same fish by introducing other fish for the agressive ones to attack. So the chance for the weak ones to escape from the aggressive ones is higher, at least for that some moment. I hope that this give you some ideas if you plan to keep the mBuna. please correct me if I made any mistake. thank you

 

[Lupin]

There are thousands of species of cichlids. The diversity is very wide and not all cichlids are really aggressive and as problematic as the others are. Keyholes, discus, uarus, rams and apistogrammas to name a few pose little problems in terms of aggression.

 

[Aaronlee8647]

Yeah I agree. it's just that I forgot to mention 'some of the Cichlid'

 

[ShadowBass]

Mbunas themselves vary in aggression level. Some species are extremely aggresive, some don't usually cause too many problems. My yellow lab could be kept with just about any fish (as long as he can't eat them), no issues.


You also don't have to overcrowd mbunas necessarily. I had 3 mbunas in a 55g and it worked out just fine, none of them were aggressive, they all had enough territory that they weren't worried about the other fish.
Your male female ratio will also factor in with aggression levels.

 

[AMG]

The one thing interesting about cichlids is they have a wide variety of personalities, even among a single breed.

My two Electric Yellow Labs (which are considered relatively peaceful for cichlids) are some of the meanest mbunas I own. They are the number 2 & 3 guys in the African tank. One is so vicious I named him Psycho because of his wild aggressive nature and tendency to stalk other fish like a blood hound.

 

[Wackamole]

ive had no problem with them! only problem ive had was euthanizing them and not dying!

 

[ShadowBass]

The one thing interesting about cichlids is they have a wide variety of personalities, even among a single breed.

My two Electric Yellow Labs (which are considered relatively peaceful for cichlids) are some of the meanest mbunas I own. They are the number 2 & 3 guys in the African tank. One is so vicious I named him Psycho because of his wild aggressive nature and tendency to stalk other fish like a blood hound.

Yeah, I had a male Melanochromis auratus and they're supposed to be extremely aggressive. He was the most docile one in the tank, lol.

 

[Aaronlee8647]

Thanks for the info guys i really appretiate it

 

[skateboardmuseum]

I have 2 Jags - (4" & 3") and the larger was the definate bully of the tank, that is until I added 2 Piranhas. The larger Jag was the first to go hide in a cave and my little Jag has stepped up to the plate and has made a definate claim of his territory and is now demonstrating a very strong presence in the tank. It made me quite happy to see, as I had and still have some reservations about having the piranhas in the same tank. But only time and bite marks will tell.

 

[arowana man]

my only problems so far are malawi bloat