Aggression - expand please?

[Metermaid]

Still planning stocks for first Mbuna tank - posting and reading lots ! - this is probably a daft question but just what form does all this aggression take? - I mean can I expect the fish to try and rip each other apart over territory - will I come down to carnage every morning - will fish get ripped fins etc etc. or do they settle their disputes with posturing etc as many other territorial animals do? Also will they bite me when I intrude into their tank

Just not sure what to expect !

 

[Oddball]

Hiya Metermaid, I've been following these posts of yours with interest and im happy to see the right questions asked

First off the cichlids will most probably bite you, mine do, they are just curious and want to see if you are edible, also i hand feed mine at times so go figure i must look like dinner!

Most of the cichlids will resolve disputes with posturing i.e. raising fins, flaring gills etc. Often if this fails, they will fight and bite fins, with the loser hiding in a pot/cave for a while. The thing with cichlids is that they are territorial, and try to pick the best breeding spots, so it is best to get them small and all together, so they can sort it out right from the start who gets what cave.
Unfortunately in many species of these african cichlids we can only keep one male in the tank, if not these combats will continue until one fish is destroyed, or worse case scenario both. Another option is that the more dominant one will prevent the lesser from feeding, therefore it will sstarve and waste away..........
An important thing to do is not to move the tank around or add new decoration when it is set up as these fish will start to quarrel over it.
Also in some cichlids, the aggression factor can go through the roof when they begin to spawn, turning a nice and placid fish into a homicidal maniac, but thats why we love em eh?
I have noted that by keeping a larger fish than the rest of them can break up many fights, i keep a large female livingstonii with my alunacarras, and she barges into any fight. This breaks them up and prevents them from doin any serious damage to each other.
I hope this helps, im sure other people have other methods and they are all just as valid, after each cichlid is an individual with its own temperment

 

[vantgE]

Hi, in my experience it is more of terrritorial thing with africans as i9 have heard with central or southamericans fights could break out over food, this doesn't happen here, and there are likely to be some actually fights as oddball said they experiment with their pecking order, but this doesn't continue long, and mbuna agresion devolpes more into a chase, with minimal amounts of ripped fins because the fish are mostly too fast to get bitten, this agresion is not a death match, but simply a chase, the agresive fish chases the other fish tell it loses site and returns to it's territory, the risk though hereis not a dead fish in the morning but fish becomeing much to stressed out due to lack of cover and agresion againcts them, this however shouldn't be a problem with souliosi and acie, to sucha extent

 

[freddyk]

It really depends on the tank size (think big), and the species involved. Some of the nastier types will rip each other to shreds, a fate avoided by overstocking with many females for each male, and only one male of any species, on top of that big tank. It helps if their colors differ too. A few of the more... evil species are all too common in stores.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/reducing_aggression.php

 

[Metermaid]

Freddy, I totally agree with you - I am a complete beginner where cichlids are concerned - I have been going to the lfs, checking out the fish I like the look of and then coming home and looking them up/posting questions here - I am so glad I have because there are some really aggressive fish just offered alongside everything else with no warning - if a beginner just picked by the look of the fish I can imagine they would come unstuck pretty quick!

 

[vantgE]

Thats what happened to me i bought two lab caeruleus, two, electric blue haps, one nimbochromis venustus and one maylandia lombardoi for a ten gallon tank A nice little start to the hobby had them in my tank for at least a month before I even considered doing internet research, 4 of the six fish are dead

 

[Metermaid]

Oh...that's a rough start - you would think the lfs would be better informed, I think lots depends on who serves you on the day and their level of knowledge - it can certainly be a steep learning curve

Hope things improve in your tank

Rita

 

[Oddball]

I totally agree metermaid, i worked in an lfs and loved the catfish/oddball side, if anyone even asked about the cichlids i would be like...........er........erm.......just a minute ill go get someone else

 

[Metermaid]

Well at least you went and got someone else Oddball !! - how many times have I heard people ask - will this fish be ok in with my so-and-so, and the reply is 'yeah, I should think so !' - and you just know they haven't a clue - but someone else is waiting to be served ! In lfs yesterday a member of staff was catching a Tiger Barb for a customer - only it was a Clown Loach...customer kept telling his daughter - the man's catching the Tiger Barb for us now - I so wanted to put him straight but the member of staff never said a word - hey, maybe he thought it was a Tiger Barb too !! - apologies to all knowledgeable staff - of which there are many !!

 

[Oddball]

lol wow thats bad, black stipes and yellow body always amounts to tiger X, thats really depressing you know? At least i knew all of them by type or family so could offer basic help, such as can this black fish with white spots (tropheus duboisi) be kept with my tetras?




NO!

Anyway, any shop worth its two cents hires staff who have kept fish or have a large base of fish knowledge. Theres one not too far away from here, in Mastin Moor, who always has a member of staff for each category of fish, i.e. cichlid (african) otrher cichlid, catfish, community and oddities! one in a million eh?

 

[Ferris]

Funnily enough the only time i don't see agression in my Mbuna tank is at feeding time. One or two of my Mbuna do not particularly like each other and either face off (never seriously) or avoid each other. At feeding time they all appear together and there is never any problems, oncxe the foods gone, its back to normal!