Murminator Posted October 13, 2007 Report Share Posted October 13, 2007 OK I'm getting at my wits end with cichlids I have a 48 gallon with 11 fish I have been trying to over populate to keep down the fighting they are all ripping each other to shreds and I just don't know what I'm doing wrong. I am not a cichlid expert by any means so I begging for some advice. I have rearranged the tank a hundred time trust me it doesn't work I have giving a couple time some time outs in pails for a few days ( another wives tale) to drop them back in and within a minute attacking the rest. All fish are around the 3-4 inch mark maybe touch bigger maybe touch smaller here is their cage, you can only see 2 out of 11 because the rest are hiding Sorry for the crappy pics Not sure of all the names but I will try Most all are Aulonocara's except 1 borleyi possible 2 1 has the same attitude and same dots on the anal fin excepts its yellow/orange and 1 orange/pink I think he is a mbuna his body is similar to a lab except different color he will chase but not rip to shreds Here are some other pics The last 2 are now living in a 20G and will be for sale/trade How many should I have? do i have the wrong fish? wrong size? I do have 65 pounds extra live rock living in tubs I could easily change it to saltwater and make all my headaches go away.......trust me saltwater is much much easier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted October 13, 2007 Report Share Posted October 13, 2007 (edited) The problem lies in the species of fish, the decor, and the size of your tank. The C. borleyi will grow far too large & boisterous for this size of tank, and as you are already seeing can become quite dominant. The "yellow' fish both appear to be hybrid crosses (one more peacock looking, and one more mbuna), so behavioural wise almost anything goes with fish such as those two. My advice would be to stick to a single species of peacock (if it's peacocks that you want) or go with an all male group of some of the more docile peacocks. (which means no jacobfreibergi) But keep in mind that in an all male peacock tank some males may not reach their full potential of color, or in some cases may not color up at all. I would also lose the clay pots, as they will serve almost no purpose in that tank. Sand is also a far better substrate for most African's (and easier to maintain), but that's your call. If you want to go with Mbuna, consider one of the smaller less aggressive species, such as P. saulosi, L. caeruleus, etc., and use rocks & sand for the decor. Life will be far easier than your current mixed bag of fish. With Malawi's, the larger the tank, the more options you have. As far as numbers, that will depend on what you decide to go with. Mbuna typically do better with larger numbers to spread out their aggression, but this does not apply to peacocks, and your tank is too small for most of the hap species. HTH Edited October 13, 2007 by RD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishy Posted October 13, 2007 Report Share Posted October 13, 2007 Your tank is definatly to small for your Hap and that amount of peacocks mixed with what looks like some hybrid mbuna. Haps and Peacocks need some open space for swimming. Mbunas can be kept in a smaller tank (3 foot) if in small numbers but I would suggest a 4 footer for them to with sand and rockwork. You will have to move some fish out if you want to keep your fish alive and healthy. Either a small group of Peacocks (1m-3f) or some less aggressive mbunas as Neil suggested. The Hap is just to big of a fish for this size tank in my opinion. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murminator Posted October 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2007 Well thanks for the advice I took out the 3 bad ones and tanks has calmed right down they are all moving about exploring there is a little chasing more like a darting at each other, but no biting just moving each other out of their space. As for the clay pots they seem to love them they are always going in and out of them and they like to dig all the gravel out them to make them deeper then claim it as there own so right now we are going to keep them for a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murminator Posted October 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 OK big changes took out 3 bad ones and redecorated....better??? Sorry I suck at taking pics doesn't help when the is 500W of MH is the same room and I just noticed in the 1st pic you can see the relection of my reef and yellow tang from across the room Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 better but once they all settle you might have another bad fish or 2 but it is definatley an improvement :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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