What's top 5 most aggressive African Cichlids if size doesn't matter? Personally, I think Butterkoferi and auratus mbuna will make it to the top 5, but I want to hear about your personal opinions and experiences.
What's top 5 most aggressive African Cichlids if size doesn't matter?
- Thread starter Fanatic_Fish_Lunatic
- Start date
I meant, aggressive in general. I knew any fry guarding cichlid, no matter where they're from, are extremely aggressive.
It's hard to tell because it depends on how you define aggression.
For example a male Opthalmotilapia ventralis will put everything in one corner of the tank if he wants to. I have seen one cornering a whole group of full grown Petrochromis with ease. I even would not be surprised if it tried to challenge a full grown buttikoferi. O. ventralis are just nuts. But they will not do much physically harm except of ramming and fin nipping.
A totally different thing is Neolamprologus pectoralis. It just goes from flaring fins to killing other fish in seconds. They normally do not do any comment fights. They straight go all in.
For me a good contender for meanest cichlid overall pound for pound. If they could only grow to half the weight of a P. dovii they would make the dovii look like a lamb.
Then there is Mbipia mbipi from lake Victoria which has crazy intraspecific aggression. I guess it outcompetes most Mbunas in aggression easily.
Another fish worth mentioning is Telmatochromis dhonti. They rarely show any aggression but if they want to it's mostly over for the other fish. I would not consider it as overly aggressive compared to other big Lamprologini but definitely as one of the most dangerous.
Also worth mentioning are most Petrochromis, Shuja horei, Lobochilotes labiatus.
H. buttikoferi can be quite aggressive too but that's mostly because of too small tanks. I have seen them kept in groups successfully.
For example a male Opthalmotilapia ventralis will put everything in one corner of the tank if he wants to. I have seen one cornering a whole group of full grown Petrochromis with ease. I even would not be surprised if it tried to challenge a full grown buttikoferi. O. ventralis are just nuts. But they will not do much physically harm except of ramming and fin nipping.
A totally different thing is Neolamprologus pectoralis. It just goes from flaring fins to killing other fish in seconds. They normally do not do any comment fights. They straight go all in.
For me a good contender for meanest cichlid overall pound for pound. If they could only grow to half the weight of a P. dovii they would make the dovii look like a lamb.
Then there is Mbipia mbipi from lake Victoria which has crazy intraspecific aggression. I guess it outcompetes most Mbunas in aggression easily.
Another fish worth mentioning is Telmatochromis dhonti. They rarely show any aggression but if they want to it's mostly over for the other fish. I would not consider it as overly aggressive compared to other big Lamprologini but definitely as one of the most dangerous.
Also worth mentioning are most Petrochromis, Shuja horei, Lobochilotes labiatus.
H. buttikoferi can be quite aggressive too but that's mostly because of too small tanks. I have seen them kept in groups successfully.
I'd already owned a butterkoferi already if my country didn't ban them. What a shame.