Just Set Up My Cichlid Tank Again

[chr15_8]

hi all.

Will post some pictures tomorrow.

Basically Ive just re set it up and cant believe how much ive actually missed it!

Few bits of bad new though.

I seem to have lost one of my Labidochromis caeruleus. he/she was the smallest one and really stood out for some reason.
Ive also lost 2 of my female cynotilapia afra 'white top' which leads me onto my last problem.

One of my male cynotilapia afra 'white top' was in a bad way Monday night (moved the tank Sunday and he was fine) i noticed the other male was picking on him quite a bit. he fins have been torn quite badly and wasn't looking in good way when i moved him into another tank

to my surprise he has picked up a lot over the last day so i tried feeding him to my surprise he ate it all. currently i'm treating the 'hospital tank' with melafix to help with the torn fins etc.

i was thinking the other male was getting protective over the remaining females (only 2 left now) as the setup is new and all fish where added at the same time. but the other male cynotilapia afra 'white top' is still looking aggressive.

what would be the best way to play it?

i was thinking about leaving the injured fish in the hospital tank for a week or two (or until its fully recovered) then swap both males over so the aggressive one has a bit of a chill out time in the spare/hospital tank while the one that was getting picked on fully recovers and finds his territory.

is there anything else i should do to help out?

thanks and sorry for going on abit
Chris

 

[SharonCC]

That may work. When I had a very aggressive Zebra, I removed him twice, and kept him seperate for two weeks. When I put him back, he was OK for two weeks, and then reverted to his usual mean self. His name was Lucifer! He eventually was taken to a trustworthy LFS, with explicit instructions to advise anyone interested, that he needed aggressive tankmates...

 

[chr15_8]

well the aggressive male seems to be in acting alot better in the tank over the past day. so something might of been wrong with the male (maybe stress from being moved and put into a bath while the tank was set up again for 6+ hours?)

Before all this happened i was looking at buying another kind of cichlid but im thinking i should wait. unless it will help to disperse the aggression? (as said he dont seem to be as aggressive today)

 

[chr15_8]

well the weekend before last weekind i bought some rusty cichlids.

they look really good and glade i bought them. i also bought 2 small bristlenose plecs.

last night i got home earlyish so i put the other injured male back into the tank (2 weeks almost) so i could watch it. nothing much happend a few little attacks but o thought it was just warning it off. just got back today to find the male in the same condition as 2 weeks ago fins torn etc.

all the other fish are fine and havent been bullied so im now thinking it maybe breeding? it seems to be doing some weird looking shake and seems to be in its brightest of colours constantly.

could this agression be because of breeding?

if not i will have to re home one

 

[SharonCC]

They will do some damage to each other during mating...Are you thinking that one of these "males" is actually female?

 

[chr15_8]

nope im thinking there both males fighting for the females etc. as he (the bully fish) dont seem to bully the other fish in the tank.

there's also a female with quite a big belly so maybe full of eggs?

 

[kj23502]

That's why they say only 1M:2-4F ratio. The tank isn't very big either. I'd heal up the beaten male and rehome him. Your tank is about 49usg (assuming it's the 185l) which would be 14 fish to have in there.

Up your #'s a bit before going to another species. Looking forward to pictures

 

[chr15_8]

That's why they say only 1M:2-4F ratio. The tank isn't very big either. I'd heal up the beaten male and rehome him. Your tank is about 49usg (assuming it's the 185l) which would be 14 fish to have in there.

Up your #'s a bit before going to another species. Looking forward to pictures

cheers kj will rehome him as soon as he's all healed up.

yep will post pictures have been so busy at work working near enough 7 days a week for the last few weeks so havent had time.