Shrimpy Posted September 3, 2007 Report Share Posted September 3, 2007 Ive got a 270l tank with 5 africans (OB zebras, ice blues and a orange malawi i think) and a large golden algae eater and have had them since they were juvaniles and all was good. They have all started to get there colors which is cool. Recently though a bully has emerged and started chasing the others constantly. To start with it was quite interesting to watch him dig around and claim caves as his own but now hes claimed the whole tank and confines the others to the top third of the tank away from the rocks etc. I tried moving everything around hoping that they might all settle to there own areas but that seems to have made it worse! Whats the solution? More fish? Remove the bully? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegemite Posted September 3, 2007 Report Share Posted September 3, 2007 my thoughts... more fish you could easily cope with more than 5 in a 270l tank. change the pecking order enjoy the scrap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 3, 2007 Report Share Posted September 3, 2007 More fish but don't add them one at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted September 3, 2007 Report Share Posted September 3, 2007 Yeah id add more fish should help to break things up a bit, make sure they're of a similair size or else they will be ignored.. You can try putting the in a "naughty tank" hope someone else takes over his position, but then you'll probably end up in the same place. Good luck Mbuna can be aggressive little buggers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted September 3, 2007 Report Share Posted September 3, 2007 Which fish is the bully? I am with pretty much as above said.... I would remove bully to a spare empty tank or if no room place it in a breeders net. I would re arrange the tank, add 5 or more cichlids of different colours, similar size. Re introduce bully after a week, see what happens. Some cichlids are head strong, some can come around. Trial & error. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpy Posted September 3, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2007 It's the male OB zebra, just noticed hes started to nip the ice blues fins too :-? so gonna definatly have to do something. I put him in "jail" for a bit by putting a piece of glass in the corner of the tank and putting him in that but he broke out! Don't have another tank (except a 34l community tank) to put him in and theres no decent fish shops that supply cichlids in Dunedin so kinda have limited options. Might just quarantine him in the corner again a bit better untill I can get some more off trademe or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted September 3, 2007 Report Share Posted September 3, 2007 You can buy a breeders/fry trap. Some are of a nice size. Not for a cichlid, but it will hold him. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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