African Cichlids

[HakimChef]

I recently bought 2 assorted african cichlids, and one started chasing the other. I read that I should add a few more, and got two but now the bully and the one who was bullied are attacking the new two. What should I do?

 

[Cichlid4life]

you should first show us picture of them as the correct answer to your question is dependent on what species they are. Cichlids always are aggressive by the way.

 

[HakimChef]

They're the orange, blue, and yellow assorted ones at the stores.

 

[Colin_T]

Most Lake Malawi cichlids are orange, yellow or blue so we need pictures of the fish to ID them.

How long has the tank been set up for?
If you are keeping Lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika or Lake Victoria cichlids, they need hard alkaline water and you want to cycle the filter before adding any fish. This is due to the high pH (7.6 being about minimum for these fish and closer to 8.5 for Tanganyika) causing any ammonia to become extremely toxic.

If the filter has been cycled, then you should add all the new fish at the same time so none of them have a home ground advantage. Cichlids are highly territorial and once they have been in a tank for a few days they will have established their territories. When you introduce new fish into their territory, the new fish usually get attacked because they are considered intruders.

If you can't get or add all the fish at the same time, rearrange the tank just before you add the new fish. This breaks up the old territories and gives the new fish more chance to established their own territory while everyone works out what is going on and where they are going to live.

Feeding the old fish before rearranging their tank and adding new fish can also reduce the agro a little bit. If fish are full they won't be as inclined to go after the new fish.

 

[Cichlid4life]

If they are Rift lake species, that is my biggest specialty in cichlids. I know more about Malawi and Tanganyika than i do about any of the rest of the African species. The Malawi cichlids are classed by three main groups, the Haps or Haplochromis, the Peacocks or Aulonocara, and last but not least, the Mbunas. Each of the three groups should be kept with others of only their group. While the lake Tanganyika cichlids has not been divide like the Malawi's have been, here are the most common scientific names out there fro most of the species of cichlids, they are: Altolamprologus, Callochromis, Cyphotilapia, Cyprichromis, Julidochromis, Neolamprologus, Tropheus, and many, many more.

 

[Cichlid4life]

They're the orange, blue, and yellow assorted ones at the stores.

that says nothing to me as all cichlids have bright colors, but if i am thinking right, you are talking about those mbuna species from petsmart?

 

[HakimChef]

Yeah, those are the ones I'm keeping. The tank has been cycled already, and I rearranged it.

 

[Cichlid4life]

This is a peacock cichlid, ob blotch, and does it resemble you fish?

 

[Cichlid4life]

Argghhh!!!!! These photos on this forum!!

 

[Cichlid4life]

Yeah, those are the ones I'm keeping. The tank has been cycled already, and I rearranged it.

did you get them form petsmart exactly, or somewhere else?

 

[Colin_T]

Argghhh!!!!! These photos on this forum!!

LOL

check the image size, the biggest issue with picture not working is they are too big. Set the camera's resolution to the lowest setting and take some more pictures and try again.

 

[HakimChef]

Got them from petsmart

 

[HakimChef]

 

[HakimChef]

That's how they look

 

[Colin_T]

Pseudotropheus species, possibly P. zebra or P. estherae on left (top and bottom), might be a pr too, which will make matters worse than just having all male or all female. This is due to the prs setting up a breeding territory that will be defended much more vigorously than just a territory for their home.

The fish on the right looks like a Pseudotropheus crabro, which is a bit more peaceful.