nudge Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 All #%$& has broken loose in my male hap/peacock tank. It has been pretty calm for a year or so, but all that has changed within a week. It is a 5ft tank, 500mm wide and 450 high about 90g. 1xredfin kadango14cm 1xprotomelas steveni taiwan 10+cm 1xplachidochromis electra 10cm 1xfryeri9cm 1xcopadichromis azureus 8cm 1xhaplachromis brownae 6+cm 1xmaleri red peacock 6cm 1xal baeneschi hybrid 8+cm 1xdragonsblood peacock 8cm 1xalbino auratus 1xdemasoni Where do i start. There hasn't been any real fighting, no damaged fish a few with fin rips but no one has been beatup yet. There is alot of aggression and constant chasing and i am at a loss as to who to remove. The kadango is constantly chasing the steveni. The electea is constantly chasing everyone. The brown gets pretty aggro but he just flares up doesnt really chase anyone that much, i think hes just all show. My fryeri and electra are giving the azureus heaps every morning he is up in the corner of the tank. After i feed them he comes out and swims about a bit but he looks uncomfortable and is pretty timid. Right the peacocks. The baeneschi has decided he doesnt like anyone but has singled out the maleri. He chases him constantly and the maleri kinda just hangs out in the corner or at one end of the tank. I removed the baeneschi on the weekend but that just caused the dragonsblood to flare up and he started to fight with the maleri for dominance. I was hoping by removing the baeneschi it would give the other 2 peacocks some time to recover but it just caused more probs for the maleri. I have put the baeneschi back in as the maleri was copping a lot of grief from the dragonsblood. My tank has gone into meltdown. It seems whenever i remove a fish another one just steps up and causes havoc. I rearranged the rocks but that made things worse the baeneschi had the whole tank backed into a corner. I am thinking i will have to pull out the fryeri the electera the kadango the brownae and 2 of the peacocks the auratus and the dem. That leaves me with 1 peacock the azureus the steveni and i have a growout tank with 3 small crytocara moori and 6 rusties. Any thoughts? Quite a lot to take in but i am at aloss and would value some input. I have posted on cichlidforumn and have a few people say the tank is to small for these haps and i just recently upgraded, so a bigger tank is not really an option. Hoping i Don't have to can them all and start again but i am thinking this is my best option. Don't really wanna leave them to it as i don't see how this will help, i'll have a whole lot of dead fish and the survivors will be super stressed and may get sick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firenzenz Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 Yep about 340ltrs, and fine for that stocking -honestly. If these guys have been alright for some time then the constant is -lack of change. the lack of change means the fighttfor tank heirachy is probably fairly one dimensional and also affecting whole temperament I'd be adding more rather than removing. If anything I'd be looking to source 2-3 other peacocks, preferably yellows. Let me know I have a couple of cobue males you can have free, An all male tank needs a benign dictator, so if you could find something like a medium-big giraffe to try could also be worth a try. Sounds like a nice setup and yes, eventually you may need to weed out but by the size of your fish this is just a case of adolescent chest bulging, and it's just a case of altering tank dynamic. But extending territories, and boundaries to naughty boys doesn't achieve any more in the fish world as it does in many other situations Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 Yep about 340ltrs, and fine for that stocking -honestly. If these guys have been alright for some time then the constant is -lack of change. the lack of change means the fighttfor tank heirachy is probably fairly one dimensional and also affecting whole temperament I'd be adding more rather than removing. If anything I'd be looking to source 2-3 other peacocks, preferably yellows. Let me know I have a couple of cobue males you can have free, An all male tank needs a benign dictator, so if you could find something like a medium-big girafee to try could also be worth a try. Sounds like a nice setup and yes, eventually you may need to weed out but by the size of your fish this is just a case of adolescent chest bulging, and it's just a case of altering tank dynamic.. I agree and yeah the 5ft tank is a good size for those fish that you have.. I also have a few random bits and bobs I could give/lend to you to see how they go, more fish mean more targets means less aggression and more chance of it working long term... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted October 10, 2011 Report Share Posted October 10, 2011 i have always had success with the "throw more fish in & leave them to it" theory. you have 11 fish in 340L, i used to have around 24 in 200L. granted they weren't quite as large as those or had the potential to get as big as they will but if one angry critter has 20 fish to chase it becomes an impossible task. have you considered adding some additional fish of the same species as what you have? just my thought.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted October 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 Cheers for the replys and advice. If I can source some bigger fish I would like to give them a go and see if it helps, prob is its hard to find bigger haps/peacocks, theres alot of fry about but no adult males floating around. like i said no ones been beat up yet but there are a few fish cowering in the corner and the chasing is non stop, maybe I am over thinking this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 Your problem is fish are chasing like type of fish. ie; Kadango can fight with Steveni, Red Empress etc. Electric Blues, can fight with peacocks, azerus.... excuse spelling. Victorian cichlids can just be buggers full stop. Have had problems like this in the past with cichlids as they have grown. Males are mature/ maturing, trying to claim part of a territory. & will chase away males of same/similar looking species. This electric blue I had one time, best looking bast ard... he wanted this one cave & the half tank it was in. Face cave in, put big rock in front. Take him out for a week..... :facepalm: You can try moving around rock work, taking out the odd fish. I have tried smaller Kadango to replace larger one, as I have with electric blues. With varying results. I found the best way with mixed tanks. Is find a few species I liked that were pretty timid. Aceiis, Yellows,{keep as colonies & at least with these, males & females are nice} then mixed in the odd different nice fish of different types. Good luck. Can be frustrating indeed! Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted October 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 Thanks frenchy, I am thinking i will take the mbuna approach. I have 6 rusties and 3 dophins growing out. I think i will take out the kadango, electra. brownae, and fryeri and put in the rusties dolphins and a colony of 8 or so yellows. I'll leave the steveni and maleri in the tank with the azureus as i have found these guys to be the most mellow and let the mbuna put on a bit of size. Then i may add a few more haps and peacocks and see how things go. Hopefully the extra mbuna will create a few more distractions. With the limited amount of haps and peacocks available in nz it is kinda hard finding fish that arent similar looking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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