Not Eating

[Wildfire]

I have one of my cichlids that was the bully of the tank before I added the Johanni. Since I have added the johanni he seems to have lost his appetite and is no longer the "bully" and tends to hide alot?? Why the sudden chnge of attitude?

 

[mostanks]

I have one of my cichlids that was the bully of the tank before I added the Johanni

that'll do it!! he was the man and now he's being punk'd by the johanni did you rearrange anything before adding the johanni?is the johanni bigger than the "exbully"?what size tank are they in...?

 

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

the best succes i ever had adding new fish into an mbuna tank was to do a water change, them completely change the decorations, then throw some food in, and while everyone is eating, add the new addition on the opposite side of the tank, Everyone else will be so busy eating the won't notice the newbie slink to the bottom of the tank and find a good hiding spot.

-matt

 

[mostanks]

yup!! thats pretty much what i do except for the water change part,that usually get them all crazy

 

[Wildfire]

They are in a 20 gallon but I did not add any decoration the first day but I did add some as days went by. They have plenty of caves to hide... The Johanni is really a bully thaugh, I think I will have to add females to lower the aggression level. My only concern at this point is how many more can I add... I heard you have to be carefull with Cichlids as they are very territorial. I currently have 6 cichlids in a 20 gal. Some people told me to over crowd the tank to lower the aggression however I wouldn't want to stunt the groth of my little firends....

 

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

which size 20gal are we talking about?

 

[craw]

wildfire,

what species is the ex-bully?
do you have more than 1 johanni male?

ading some fish would help,but like you say,you don't want to overcrowd too much in a 20 gal.

craw

 

[fishdude]

hey dude get a blue gourami they are a real leader and don't bully. So I mean they'll prolly be the leader but they are peaceful.

 

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

if your johanni is remotely like my male johanni was i'd give a gourami 5min. tops in a 20gal. w/ 5 other fish BESIDES that johanni. And that's if he was lucky .

-matt

 

[smb]

hey dude get a blue gourami they are a real leader and don't bully. So I mean they'll prolly be the leader but they are peaceful.

Letters is right. Well, partly. I don't think the gourami would last even 5 minutes.

You are in a strange situation here. Like craw said, you don't want to overcrowd, but with Mbuna it's best to not just have 4 or 5 or you'll get the hyperdominance the johanni is displaying. OTOH, a 20g limits you putting much more in there and in a tank that small it will make them more aggro. You can't just take the bully out with cichlids because the next one will just step up and be just as bad.

What are the other fish you have in there and app. what size?

 

[Wildfire]

Unfortunatly I got them at my LFS and they were in a generic tank as assorted Cichlids so I don't know what kind thay are except for my Johanni and my 2 yellow labidos. As for the size the Johanni is the largest one followed by my electric Orange chiclid they are no bigger than 2 1/2 inches long.

Craw as for the Johanni I don in fact only have 1 male. So I am a little confused as of what to do at this point.

The problem is the ex-bully is not eating at ALL anymore and he is always hidding which really suprises me and starting to get me worried. He doesn't even bother chasing the other fush anymore?? It would really be sad to see him go!!

 

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

SMB i said 5min. IF he's lucky

if your having problems still i'd just take all the decorations out, then add more than were in there in the first place in a completely different order. Maybe things will play out a little different since they've all been in the tank and would have ABOUT the same chace to set up territories since the "bully" fish would be searching for new territories too.

-matt

 

[craw]

wildfire,

the reason i asked (and not being cheeky) is are you 100% sure its a male?

the reasoning is that if the fish looks healthy enough,then this is very typical behaviour of a pregnant female. but since the johanni is only male then that cant be a possibility,unless the ex bully is a johanni female?

what is name of ex bully? or whats the colouring?

craw

 

[Wildfire]

He is really colorfull so that is why I suspect him to be a male! He is not a Johanni that's for sure... He is blue with an orange line on the fin and he's got strips on his body. So it would be light blue with darker strips and an orange line on the fin... He is my favorite and don't want to lose him... Or is it a her?

 

[craw]

wildfire ,

it sounds to me like a male red top zebra.There are plenty of indexes you can use to check up to make sure,and since posting on this topic i've noticed my red top male has been shy lately too!

weird!!!

craw