phoenixb Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 Hi I have a tank that is about 80l, and I have 15 demasoni in it. I have loads of rocks and caves etc.. I started out with 8 - that were all the same size - with no problems. But last week I purchased another 7 and added them. A couple of them are bigger than the ones i had. So they have been co-existing for about a week. Today I have had two deaths - with one poor little demasoni with its tail ripped off! Do I need to take the bigger ones out? - or will they sort themselves? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 im hoping you re arranged the tank when you put them in? if not, that is your problem AFAIK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 Hi. Did you re-arrange the rocks etc before putting in the new fish? African Cichlids are territorial and will beat on any newcomers. Try removing everything from the tank and put it all back in a different layout to create new territories. Also, a new tank may be in your future 8) 80 litres may be a bit small for 15 fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 What are the dimensions of the tank and how big are the fish? As above did you rearrange the tank and do a water change when you introduced the new fish? Is it just the smaller fish that have been killed, and did they exhibit any other symptoms before they died (ie are you sure they were bullied to death?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 +1 to all of the above Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elusive_fish Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 I know dems are smaller than most mbuna... but 15 in an 80 litre? Thats packing them in like sardines, so to speak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixb Posted October 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 Yep - I completely rearranged everything. Everyone seems in perfect health - swimming and eating etc.. - (aside from being dead LOL) - the ones that were killed are both the brighter ones, so I am guessing they were males? As for the size - they are all pretty small at present - most of them are about 3cm long. But there are a couple that are about 5cm, and I wonder if they are the bullies? The weird thing - is that generally speaking - the tank looks empty - when you go into the room, you have to watch for a while to see them darting out and around the caves etc.. - there are enough crevices and caves that everyone seems to have one. So - do you think I can assume that they will sort out some kind of a pecking order, and stop the killing? - or will it be a last man standing kind of event? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixb Posted October 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 Yep - I completely rearranged everything. Everyone seems in perfect health - swimming and eating etc.. - (aside from being dead LOL) - the ones that were killed are both the brighter ones, so I am guessing they were males? As for the size - they are all pretty small at present - most of them are about 3cm long. But there are a couple that are about 5cm, and I wonder if they are the bullies? The weird thing - is that generally speaking - the tank looks empty - when you go into the room, you have to watch for a while to see them darting out and around the caves etc.. - there are enough crevices and caves that everyone seems to have one. So - do you think I can assume that they will sort out some kind of a pecking order, and stop the killing? - or will it be a last man standing kind of event? RIGHT - measured tank - it is 75long x35high x35deep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 It is very hard to say what will happen or what has happened so far, are any other fish looking beaten up? You can usually tell when they have been severely beaten as half their fins are hanging off and they tend to sit up at the water surface looking sad.. Have you seen any major aggression from any of them? I re did one of my african tanks that had my young dems in it and they all decided to hide, that was when I noticed they were their most aggressive for some reason. But once I moved them into a tank they were happy in it seemed to settle down, I think it may have been fighting in amongst the rocks for hidey holes maybe? I would also say your tank is probably too small for them, they really need to be in a large 3ft tank especially when yours are reaching breeding size as that is where they start getting aggressive.. As these fish get easier to come by I think people are just going to have more and more problems with them, people selling them in smaller numbers and not recommending descent tank sizes etc. I have heard (and would never recommend it) of people keeping 20 dems in 2ft tanks in an attempt to overcrowd them and give them so little space they have none to fight over, apparently it worked but doesn't sound ideal to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
si_sphinx Posted October 9, 2009 Report Share Posted October 9, 2009 I agree with everything above. Bigger tank would help and more rocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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