Aggression Problems in Hex Tank

[Stevekerr]

I have mix african cichlid tank and the smaller ones have be missing I lost 2 The bubble bee I have 3 of them in my tank and they are out growing the others and are killing smaller fish I feed them 2times a day should I feed them more ? Or try more hiding spot ? The tank is a hex vertical tank so the bottom is about full

 

[snowman17]

Tank Is too small, mbuna are territorial you need at least a 55 or 40 gallon. They are most likely to fight and kill each other without enough room. And I see you have auratus and bees really aggressive type.

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[Stevekerr]

It's a 110 gallon tank should of sayed that

 

[snowman17]

How long Is it

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[Stevekerr]

28 inch

 

[snowman17]

Yea they need more room for territory and for fish to retreat when being chased. A 55 is 48 long and that's minimum for mbuna. I'm sure you could sell or trade for a 55 that hex looks nice just not right for mbuna I've seen angel fish in those tanks and they look pretty nice.

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[squirrilah fish]

If your set on that tank you could rig some shelves to put more rocks/caves on. A grow out tank could also help you. Allowing fish to get up enough weight to defend themselves. There is also the theory of overstocking to help with aggression, but it has it's pro's and con's.

I once saw a hex tank where the guy had build an elaborate system of cross crossing/ descending rock towers. Making the up/down of the tank like a maze. It looked really cool, but also very difficult to manage/maintain. There was no room to get a siphon to the bottom.

I think your best options are getting a long tank, finding a way to make more hiding spots, (maybe you could stack a pillar of rocks going halfway up the tank that they could also swim through) switch out the more aggressive fish, or overstock the tank so there is not room to really fight.

 

[squirrilah fish]

Looking at your pictures, seems like you have a good stock. I would try stacking a rock pyramid in the center going about halfway up, with lots of caves and swim throughs. Might help with aggression and would look pretty cool.

 

[snowman17]

Overstocking that tank won't help that will just make the water quality go down. He needs a longer tank more hiding spots might ease things but with a tank only 28in one fish could claim the whole tsk o leaving the rest to the top like it looks in one of the op pictures.

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[Stevekerr]

I will try more rocks and hiding spots . And the reason they all come to the top it was feeding time in the photo

 

[jahonnimyfav101]

Make sure you always do research before buying a fish. Also make sure you buy more females than males the males have dots on there anal fins and always flash the tank with a flashlight then turn on the light since fish don't have eyelids have a nice day.

 

[Stevekerr]

Add more hid places and they seam too have gotten better

 

[squirrilah fish]

I have 20 of those same caves. I only use about 12-15 of em, but I change it up often. Growing all male tank, they start claiming turf every week or so.

Looks good.