Snoozie Posted March 14, 2006 Share Posted March 14, 2006 Seems like every time I post I have a problem .... Anyway getting to it, I seem to have a very aggressive tank with aggressive tank mates. For instance.... The 2 pearl gouramis squabble with each, when they're not squabbling with each other they're having a go at the golden penchax and are just outright mean to them. The golden penchax are getting fed up and having a go at the gouramis... The Blue's brothers (my 2 Blue Cobalts - who could be the same or opposite sex) are constantly harassing each other and when not harassing each other they are bullying any fish that is smaller. The electric yellows are pretty happy, except they tend to pick on the bristlenose baby which is the only fish currently smaller than them. The Bristlenose hang out with the other fish okay but get cranky with each other. The Kribensis basically have a go at anything that comes near them... The poor little rainbow is confused as to his species so he gets a beating from the other fish when he tries to "show" to them. My rainbow sharks (2) spend all day everyday chasing each other and nipping at each other while my 2 bala sharks just try to avoid being caught in any of it. All up I have a very active tank to say the least and while noone has been seriously injured, i worry that someone is going to be taken apart. I have cave structures and rocks everywhere, my tank is planted and I really believe that there is enough hiding spaces and areas that they can get away from each other. It's almost as though they enjoy the fighting. Is this normal behaviour from them...Or have I just managed to get the "mean" fish of every type I have??? Any suggestions as to how I can minimise the "water rage" would be appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 less different species but more individuals of whatever species? eg: keep the gouramis, panchax, all sharks, kribs & maybe the little BN on one tank & put the africans in another. Not totally sure but I think the first group are all neutral to acidic soft water fish whereas the malawians are hard alkaline water fish - so perhaps thats having a bearing on it? ie: fish annoyed cause the water isn't what they want? Other thing is what temp is your water? If you've got it up near 28, driop it down to 24-25 or so - sometimes temp affects agro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakes Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 As Ash suggested you might want to check the requirements of each species regarding water parameters. I know rainbows like similar conditions as Africans but I’m not sure about the others. Separating out the Africans from the rest is also a good idea – keeping fewer but compatible species in larger groups will help spread the aggression between more evenly matched fish. On the other hand if this is a ‘display only’ tank an alternative is keeping just one of each species. Often keeping 2 of each species results in aggro because if they are the same sex they will fight each other for dominance and if they are a pair they will fight other tankmates for breeding territory. Don’t worry too much about the b/n’s. They are tough but if they are getting harrassed too much will soon learn to venture out to open spaces mainly at night when other fish are less active. My b/n’s do this and I make sure I feed sinking pellets occasionally at night when the lights are off so I know they are getting enough to eat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.d.m Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 and with any malawi cichlids (which yours are) keep them in large groups i.e 2-3 males with 10-12 females keeping them in pairs is asking for trouble imo, the electric yellows are a lovely fish in a group but most of the p.zebra sp. (cobalts etc) are psycopaths unless crowded, you have been lucky up to now but when one of the cobalts becomes dominant it will cetainly kill the other Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozie Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 Oh Geez, Looks like I have created myself a fine mess I will have to try and persuade the other half to let me get another tank so I can keep a group of Africans and then try to keep the current one as a community tank. My only other alternative is to keep the community tank and find homes for the cichlids and the 2nd fish of each species which is fighting.... Ash, The temp thing could be part of the problem but I can't lower it...I'm not even presently using a heater and it normally sits no lower than 27 (my house stays really hot during summer cause it has no insulation). I've done the whole ice bottle trick thing when I had axolotls and it didn't work, one of the reasons why I moved over to tropicals... I'm gonna have to do some serious hard thinking about how to go about this. Thanks for the advice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 About lowering the temp on the cheap --> DIY fan install The other thing you could do is not fix what ain't broke - as in nothing's died or been really bashed so why change? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoozie Posted March 15, 2006 Author Share Posted March 15, 2006 Good point Ash... I may just sit back and monitor the situation for a while. If I notice any that look as though they've taken a heavy beating then I'll have to action. I am so looking forward to Summer being over...I'll finally be able to regulate temps again. In the meantime, I'll check out the DIY Fan. Cheers for that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted March 15, 2006 Share Posted March 15, 2006 try a pedistal fan with the lid open first if you have one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taksan Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 You think thats bad ? I've got a big old Male Dovi in a 6x2x2 by himself that tries to attack anything or anyone that walks in the ROOM ! So far he's killed so many tankmates and destroyed so many dividers I've lost count and now keep him strictly in solitary confinement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 *sobs* why can't I have a tank bigger than 4x2?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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