Dominant Malawi

[rocknurworld2006]

HI i have a tnak of malawis and i got them all as young ones, one of the borleyi i have coloured up quite quickly and now rules the tank and is most dominant, but he has prevented others from colouring up

what can i do?

 

[aaronnorth]

once they know they are boss, they continue, i took a crabbro back as he was too aggressive. He has now started on the shop fish but he was ok before i took him home. Try seperating him if possible.

 

[fishyfreak]

Ya you'd have to separate him to get any color from another male, he's obviously king of the tank there. This is typical in a lot of male Cichlids, such as the Sunshine Benga Peacock, you can have 5 males in one tank but only 1 will delelop the brilliant yellow that they're famous for. This is what I've read anyways.

 

[dthoffsett]

You could try removing the dominant male and see if the others color up, you'll likely only have one male fully colored though. Once you remove the current dominant, another will just move in his place.

That's why a lot of hap keepers keep only one male of each species, though sometimes that doesn't work out.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

You could try removing the dominant male and see if the others color up, you'll likely only have one male fully colored though. Once you remove the current dominant, another will just move in his place.

That's why a lot of hap keepers keep only one male of each species, though sometimes that doesn't work out.

other species arent colouring up either i thought that other species would colour up

 

[dthoffsett]

What other species do you have in there, I can't remember. Although, that does sometimes happen with a super-dominant male, you said all your fish are young, so you may just have to give them time and see if they color up.

 

[rocknurworld2006]

the fish that arent colouring up are pseudotropheus sabardi

the dominant fish is a copadichromis borleyi "kadango"

 

[rocknurworld2006]

this is him here

 

[dthoffsett]

He's a beaut!

 

[rocknurworld2006]

He's a beaut!

he is still gt a bit to grow yet he is 9months old -F1 copadichromis borleyi "kadango"

 

[kj23502]

he is stunning!!

 

[rocknurworld2006]

he is stunning!!

he may be but he is a pain in the ####! lol

 

[Geordie]

I have the same situation in my tank, though my male has 5 females to chase around and he does this 10-12 hours a day non stop he is hyper aggressive at the moment to them literally chases any female that comes into sight, he doesnt bother with any other the other fish at all, he is totally hyper today as he just bred again with one of the females, my peacock male isnt fully coloring he just has a blue face and light blue sheen on the body he also has 4 females to breed with but he doesnt seem interested I have the tank heavily stocked though with all sorts, but the kadango females look like they have been in bar fights ;/

Here he is:

and he hates me!

 

[dthoffsett]

He does look rather evil.

 

[Geordie]

To the OP; Id basically suggest removing him taking him back/rehoming him, cos he wont get any better, when you say he is dominating the tank is he beating everything up/chasing it around? only other suggestion would be getting alot of females to keep him busy and ignoring the tank mates ive never seen a fish as aggressivley active as this non-stop everyday for the last 5 weeks, cant see him slowing down, very annoying fish to keep but so colorful