Matto Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 i have a tank with these fish 3x snow whites 2x electric yellows 1x male peacock 3x lumpheads 3x young ice blues 2x giraffe cichlids i have lost several fish lately they were 2x female peacocks 1x electric yellow i looked at my tank this morning and there is a severally beaten up female yellow who is the culprit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 could be a few of them, two at the top of my list would be the giraffes or lump heads but it depends on size. It could also be the peacock male & snow whites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 I think its the male peacock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 what size is the fish & tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 We really need to know the size of the fish and tank to determine the culprit Also is there alot of hidey holes or just afew? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 Tank size would be a biggie here.. Ice blues are probably the most agro fish you have in your list but you do mention they are young, are the males coloured up at all? I am not surprised the peacock females got it first alot of people in the know do not recommend mixing peacocks with haps/mbuna as they are too aggressive for them and kill them.. Also are you positive the fish were killed by the other fish and not just sick and were picked on or eaten as they died? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matto Posted October 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 it is a 80 liter tank the fish are young as in not fully grown the biggest fish would be the male snow white, peacock, and the male lumphead ,there is caves and pots every where .the giraffes are small 5/6cm probably and one of them is looking a bit munched as well. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 with this type of fish the best way to determine the culprit is to line them up once lined up look along the row, walk up and down twice, turn and face them and say "you are all under arrest for homicide" sitting and warching your tank for a long period will give you some idea of the agressor trouble with removing the main agressor is another usually steps up to fill the space Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 The tank is too small for those fish if the smaller ones are 5/6cm.. I would say there is no one main culprit probably a combination of all the fish picking on the smallest/least dominant ones the female peacocks would be the first to harassed as they are quite submissive the male peacock would give them a bit of a hard time by himself then all the others join in the poor fish get harassed to death... Just for a guideline I do 1m and 3+ female peacocks in an 80L tank and some of the females still get a hard time that is just with one male in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matto Posted October 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 im going to get a 180 liter tank made soon hope that is big enough does any one have any peacocks for sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 From my experience, snow whites are quite aggressive towards other fish and because yours is one of the biggest, im gonna guess it would be him. Ive recently added snow whites to one of my tanks and all fish are 2x - 3x bigger than them. And the snow whites are constantly harassing the other bigger fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 Generally all mbuna have it in them to be agro, ice blues are particularly nasty, I have seen an ice blue male take over half a 6ft tank to himself before so I would watch them as they mature the 180L tank may not be big for them.. Also giraffes can and will get to 15-20cm long, are your lumpheads blue dolphins? As they get pretty big too.. What type of peacocks are you looking for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matto Posted October 8, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 i don't like ice blues terribly much so i am going to get rid of them. the lumpheads are normal lumpheads not blue dolphins .i might need some new peacocks as i dont know what type they were and i only have a male now. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 Yeah if you want to breed from them then it is best to start again and get some known good ones from a good source then at least they are worth breeding.. I would probably wait until you get the bigger tank and then you can use the 80L for a breeding/raising tank and it gives you the ability to buy younger fish cheaper from breeders to grow out for your big tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matto Posted October 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 i have put my whites in a 60 liter tank by themselves and all seems to be well in the other tank so does anybody have some nice peacocks or electric yellows for sale in hamilton? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 What is a snow white? Problem with mbunas is it could be any of them, or a couple. With peacocks, as with above comments, they can be hit & miss with mbunas. You could try peacocks again, but wait to you get a bigger tank, allow for a good open area in the tank & try & get the peacocks at a bigger size. Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sicklids Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 Yep bit of a miss match with species I think. I would rule the Humphead/Lionhead [steatocranus casuarius] out they are quite happy to get along with other species, infact I have them with my Electric Yellows no probs at all. I would suggest the mbuna are the main contenders as trouble, they really can be nasty characters when they wish to be. As was suggested if you are going to get more Peacocks, try to get some at a reasonable size. Two reasons for this: 1. Peacocks can be very slow growers 2. they will be less likely to be harrassed Cheers :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 I would rule the Humphead/Lionhead [steatocranus casuarius] out they are quite happy to get along with other species, infact I have them with my Electric Yellows no probs at all. i would ahve to disagree, last week my lump head bashed my much larger & dominant red zebra. i saw it so i am sure, they are very teritorial IME. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sicklids Posted October 17, 2009 Report Share Posted October 17, 2009 OK, maybe he has an attitude problem! I can only say that none of the Lionheads I have ever had have been agressive, infact most have been quite intravert, show you that fish are their own people hey :lol: Cheers :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firenzenz Posted October 18, 2009 Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 I have juvies of yellows, plus a number of hap species and a few peacock species. Live in Bombay hills. As ryan suggested getting juvies and growing out into a big tank is great if you can be patient for the results. lumpheads will be very territorial with their hidey holes particularly if adversary is something like peacock or something that wants to hang out around the rockwork. A friend had a 200ltr tank with yellows, dolphins, lumpheads, a few dems and a few random mbuna and it was disaster area. a tank full of fin nipped fish continually bashing each other. About 3 mths ago, he sold off those fish and put in 4-5cm juvies( all males) of jacobfriebegi(x2) red rubins(x2) chilumba red flush(x2), copadichromis azureus(x2) and electra(x1). Also put in 8x 2cm Dems. The results are great with most of these fish colouring up really well and while they are still young there potential to coexist well when older is enhanced I believe by the tank set up as juvies and then leaving them alone and not messing with tank dynamic. There will always be some aggression levels in such a tank, but it shouldn't be hell on earth for some little bugger hiding behind a filter intake. back to your original question. I'd say it is a combination of things that would lead to peacocks dying. They would want to find a nice quite place around the rocks but continually chased off by mbuna/lumpheads. Then the bigger haps were probably scaring them off any open water you might have in An 80ltr tank and to a corner. I would say your male peacock was too busy staying uncoloured and try to stay incognito to be responsible for the girls death, unless they were trying to get into to his corner of the tank to hide also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matto Posted October 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 about to days ago my giraffe got beaten up and the whites are in there own tank so i wasn't them .i found it in a tunnel under some corral with nipped fins and damaged scales so what can i do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 18, 2009 Report Share Posted October 18, 2009 have you been able to see the culprit it can take a long time watching the tank to observe the total dynamics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matto Posted October 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 it looks fine you cant really see any aggression but the other giraffe is much bigger than it so maybe it was him and he is always by the breeding trap with the beaten up in it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 19, 2009 Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 my big kadango took a beating yesterday don't know who did it as there is no apparent agression in the tank sometimes any female in breeding condition can spark any male to become territorial Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matto Posted October 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2009 they are 5 to 6 cm so i don't thing they are breeding size ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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