Question About Sudden Aggressive Behavior

[suji]

Until recently, my parrot cichlid and severum cichlid have been living peacefully together in my 55 gallon tank along with an algae eater and a couple of smaller sharks (bala and iridescent). I had a large tinfoil barb in there until I donated him because of his super-fast growth and agression toward the smaller sharks.

Once the tinfoil barb was gone, the parrot and the severum started biting and chasing each other, even 'lip-lock' fighting. Not only are they more aggressive to each other, but also to the other fish! Will this behavior continue? I don't want either to get hurt or killed.

Should I add another larger cichlid or fish to balance out the territorial aggression? If so, what kind of fish would go well with them? Please help!

 

[Davo86]

Hi suji
sounds like the fish are maturing and naturally becoming more territorial,
Also the tank is simply too small IMO and that is increasing aggression further

 

[england]

thats a lot of big fish for a 55,,,,,
i deffo would not add nothing elser, but concider trimming alot, agreed with above comment
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=136530
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=123786
cichlids are aggresive fish and boy do i know, had lost some to fighting and parrots can be evilish, sounds like it could get worse

 

[suji]

well, all I have in there right now are:

-the 2 cichlids both medium sized, 5-6"...
-1 bala shark and 1 iridescent that are both young 3-4".
-the algae eater 8"
-yoyo loach 3"

once I learned that the iridescent can grow HUGE, I found a suitable home for him and am planning to donate him shortly (unfortunately I live in an apartment and can't get another tank much larger than a 55.. I already have 2 tanks with fish and one with a large turtle)

so I'm most concerned about the 2 cichlids obviously. I just rescaped the tank after the tinfoil barb was donated and there is a lot more room for swimming. I will post pictures when I get home from work.

 

[ReMz]

well, all I have in there right now are:

-the 2 cichlids both medium sized, 5-6"...
-1 bala shark and 1 iridescent that are both young 3-4".
-the algae eater 8"
-yoyo loach 3"

once I learned that the iridescent can grow HUGE, I found a suitable home for him and am planning to donate him shortly (unfortunately I live in an apartment and can't get another tank much larger than a 55.. I already have 2 tanks with fish and one with a large turtle)

so I'm most concerned about the 2 cichlids obviously. I just rescaped the tank after the tinfoil barb was donated and there is a lot more room for swimming. I will post pictures when I get home from work.

the "all you have in there" is overstocked.....

that is what ppl are getting at. overstocked grossly imo.

 

[suji]

grossly overstocked? seriously?

the iridescent is going to be donated...

the algae eater is hiding behind some plants...

is it recommended for 1 cichlid per 55gal?

 

[Davo86]

well, all I have in there right now are:

-the 2 cichlids both medium sized, 5-6"...
-1 bala shark and 1 iridescent that are both young 3-4".
-the algae eater 8"
-yoyo loach 3"

once I learned that the iridescent can grow HUGE, I found a suitable home for him and am planning to donate him shortly (unfortunately I live in an apartment and can't get another tank much larger than a 55.. I already have 2 tanks with fish and one with a large turtle)

so I'm most concerned about the 2 cichlids obviously. I just rescaped the tank after the tinfoil barb was donated and there is a lot more room for swimming. I will post pictures when I get home from work.

when you stock fish its their maximum size that you need to take into account, not their current size,
Severums reach 8-10 inches on average
Parrots can get anywhere from 6-12 inches depending on its genes
Balas get to 13inches
assuming the algae eater is a plec that will be anywhere from 12 to 18inches+ depending on species
and the yoyo could reach 4-6inches,

Obviously that is assuming that they have the space to grow into, if there is a limitation on space territorial species such as cichlids will show a lot more aggression than what is considered normal

-the 2 cichlids both medium sized, 5-6"...

You will usually find most cichlids start to mature once they get to this size.

 

[Davo86]

grossly overstocked? seriously?

the iridescent is going to be donated...

the algae eater is hiding behind some plants...

is it recommended for 1 cichlid per 55gal?

Now I have seen your setup,
I would advice you to be breaking the lines of sight in the tank by adding some large pieces of bogwood etc, so that the fish don't see each other all of the time.
Your current setup is too open and there isn't really any boundaries for the fish to set as territories,

Ultimately this won't stop the problem but may be a short term fix to minimise the aggression being shown

 

[ReMz]

grossly overstocked? seriously?

the iridescent is going to be donated...

the algae eater is hiding behind some plants...

is it recommended for 1 cichlid per 55gal?

Now I have seen your setup,
I would advice you to be breaking the lines of sight in the tank by adding some large pieces of bogwood etc, so that the fish don't see each other all of the time.
Your current setup is too open and there isn't really any boundaries for the fish to set as territories,

Ultimately this won't stop the problem but may be a short term fix to minimise the aggression being shown

You're too kind imo...

I look at him as a cheeky know-it-all that was trying to say "na na na... look! it's just fine"

When people genuinely want advice and take it, that is fine. When people are here with an attitude, I don't appreciate snappy comments intended to prove that they think they know better than everyone else (when there is no basis for it of course).

We all know he won't break up the territories in that tank....

 

[Miss Wiggle]

also bear in mind that the bala shark needs to be kept in a group, and a group of balas would be waaaaay too much for the tank so you also need to re-home the bala.

 

[ChilliPepper]

Why don't you try and rehome all the sharks, the plec and one of the cichlids?

I don't know what the minimum tank size is for a severum or a parrot but keeping just one would maybe be OK, then get some larger (2-3") shoaling fish maybe?