Tank mates for an aggressive african cichlid (X posted)

Can you post a picture of your fish? Maybe that would help if we knew
exactly what type of cichlid you have. Were all the fish about the
same size/age when you added them to the tank? When adding a new fish
to a tank with aggressive fish already living there it helps to
rearrange the tank decor. It keeps them busy by trying to find a new
territory rather than bother the new fish. Hope I am making sense, its
getting late and I am very tired....
 >> Stay informed about: Tank mates for an aggressive african cichlid (X posted) 

bettasngoldfish wrote:

> How big is your fish? How big is your tank? Are you sure the other
> fish died as a result of this fish picking on them? Have you checked
> your water perameters?
>

In the order asked:
3"
50 gallons
positive
yes, all normal
 >> Stay informed about: Tank mates for an aggressive african cichlid (X posted) 

Sunshyn wrote:
> I have one aggressive African cichlid all alone in his tank. He has
> killed off all of his african tank mates. He's gorgeous but foul
> tempered.


You sure it's not female?

:)

steve (ducking)
 >> Stay informed about: Tank mates for an aggressive african cichlid (X posted) 

"Sunshyn" <user.RemoveThis@domain.invalid> wrote in message
news:_BPVd.3835$gT3.2972@fe09.lga...
>I have one aggressive African cichlid all alone in his tank. He has
>killed off all of his african tank mates. Not exactly sure what he
>is... kinda looks like a metriaclima zebra. He's gorgeous but foul
>tempered.
>
> Can anyone think of some other creature I can put into the tank w/ him
> that he can't/won't kill? Or am I just out of luck?
>
> Sunshyn

The bottom line is that he/she is a mbuna or a farmer. In the wild, how
well they survive depends on how much rockwork they can defend, because
the algae & bugs living in the rockwork are their source of nutrition.
Any fish added is a potential competitor to this food supply.
Ironically, they often tolerate Plecos even though they go after the same
food, because Plecos are not indigenous to African lakes and in our
aquariums, the mbuna don't actually have enough algae to compete with
other fish (and learn about Plecos). Their territorial behaviour is
instinctive and directed at similar bodied fish.

Knowing this, some possible options are to introduce non-territorially
threatening fish (a lot of dither fish at the same time, bottom crew
etc), or remove the mbuna and stock the tank with other fish for several
weeks. Then introducing the mbuna into what appears to be a new
environment with established territories may put him/her on his/her heals
for a while.

It is Steve's fault that I'm on this 'his/her' stuff ;~)

Personally, I think that if you try to territorially reset the tank, this
will be an ongoing problem. Your fish is in prime condition, and
newcomers will likely be smaller, weaker, less aggressive, less
assertive. Alpha fish smell weakness. My approach would be to pull the
mbuna out for a week, introduce a lot of similar sized but not similar
bodied, fast swimming dither fish. If you want to populate the bottom of
the tank, either choose innocuous targets (cats), or multiple targets (a
half dozen Labs), and be sure to change up the rockwork, as much as
possible.
--
www.NetMax.tk
 >> Stay informed about: Tank mates for an aggressive african cichlid (X posted)