Female peacock passed today.

[Fdsh5]

Got home from work today to find one of the female cichlids in my tank floating upside down. It appears the alpha male in the tank had literally badgered her to death. I may have to rehome him. It seems the bigger he gets the more defensive and aggressive he gets. Any suggestions? I am at a loss.

 

[neilanh]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

RIP fishie. I'm sorry for loosing her.

 

[WendiDell]

My condolences on your loss.
It's not easy to lose a fish. We all put a lot of time, energy and love, into these elegant creatures.

 

[Fdsh5]

Thanks everyone

 

[jasurf21]

Sorry to hear about the peacock. Just be sure that the alpha male is really the one responsible. I had falsely accused one of my rams for what was actually a fin rot outbreak.

 

[Fdsh5]

It's definitely him. Had to break it up a couple times. All seems calm the last two days. When I add any more I will try to ensure they are females. Once the five babies get big enough, only the females are going back in.

 

[Fdsh5]

Quick question for the experts. How many cichlids can I have in my 56 gallon tank? There are now eight in there with the loss of the female. All of the are about 4 inches now

 

[melosu58]

Sorry about your loss.

 

[WendiDell]

Quick question for the experts. How many cichlids can I have in my 56 gallon tank? There are now eight in there with the loss of the female. All of the are about 4 inches now

Hi,
It's not just a question of how many. It's also about your male to female ratio. What type of cichlids you have ? What are their origins?
From all my research depending on the above, the max is 15. But, it's best to give each of your male Cichlids their own little harem, 3-5 Females for each male. It helps to cut down on the badgering and violence.
Being semi-aggressive/aggressive fish, you can't eliminate the hostilities altogether. But you can take steps to minimize potential damage.
Along with the M:F ratio, you can make sure that your tank has more hiding places than male Cichlids.
I have 4 males and 10 individual hiding places. Each having it's own entrance and exit that's camouflaged to help them feel secure. If a fish is being picked on, they can escape out the back unmolested. I've had only one bad fight over territory that required removing the 2 males.
Then by rearranging the hiding places and putting the male Cichlids back into the tank at the same time has eliminated hostilities for now.
I know that this is a lot more than you asked for but, with Cichlids it's not just a quick question of how many.
Of your 8 Cichlids, how many are male? How many are female? What kind are they? If from Africa, which Lake?
Or are they from South America?
In some cases, if you have to many males, you may be able to exchange your male for a female. It depends on your LFS and how well they know you. But it's always worth a try.
I hope this somewhat answers your question.
To see why you want to do all you can to prevent your Cichlids from wanting to fight, I added a Cichlid picture for you.
Check it out
Wendi

 

[Fdsh5]

They are all Mbuna cichlids. Right now the male:female is 1:2 approximate. We got all of them when they were very small. The LFS tried for the 3:1 f:m but I guess he was off. I have five babies in the nursery tank and when the females are big enough they will go back in. Thanks for all the info.

 

[WendiDell]

They are all Mbuna cichlids. Right now the male:female is 1:2 approximate. We got all of them when they were very small. The LFS tried for the 3:1 f:m but I guess he was off. I have five babies in the nursery tank and when the females are big enough they will go back in. Thanks for all the info.

No problem, I hope it helps. With the Mbuna, 15 of them in a 56g tank is supposed to be the max. Or so all the articles I've read have said so.
I have a 55 gallon tank with 9 Mbuna Cichlids and 3 new very small females still in quarantine. Although, I will most likely keep them in the QT until they get a little bigger.
After they go in the 55g tank I'll pick up the last 3 females and My tank will be done, finally.
I haven't had any babies yet, but they are all madly digging away in anticipation.

 

[Fdsh5]

Heres a pic of the offender. The second and third pics are some of the other fish. I love the blue one. The last pic is just to show the gravel. They won't leave it alone. I push it back under and big momma keeps redecorating.

 

[WendiDell]

I think they call your Bully Cichlid an Electric Yellow/lemon drop. Except it's suppose to be one of the most peaceful of the African Cichlids. If yours is an Electric, it really needs places to hide or it can get violent.
Check out the 1st pic. below, it looks like yours to me,but you would know best.
That gravel thing they are doing is annoying, I know. But I wouldn't bother putting it back if I were you. That is like their matting call. The boys are making a smooth surface to attract a girl to lay her eggs to be fertilized. The glass makes it easier for her to scoop the eggs up after he fertilizes them. That's what I meant by watch out for moving rock. Your babies are practicing for the real thing.
From what I've read, Cichlids start breeding younger than most, but they also have a less that 1% survival rate. Apparently Cichlids aren't very good parents.
I agree with you about the Blue Cichlids. They are my favorite too.
I have 5 of the Cobalt Blue. And 3 of the Red Top Cobalt's, that turn blue as they mature. They start out muddy gray with bright orange fins, then as they reach adulthood they fade to blue with orange fins. They are, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful of the Malawi lake Cichlids. Maybe you could trade your Yellow Bully for a Cobalt Blue or a Red Top cobalt. It's been my experience that the Cobalt's, either Blue or Red Top, are more mellow than the Red Zebra, or the Electric Yellow. Even if the literature says the Electric are the shy and peaceful ones.
I added the pics. so you can see if your Bully looks like the Electric Yellow.
And I added a pic. of an adult Red Top so you can decide if you'd like one. They don't look like this when they are under 6mos. old. They look kind of drab when young as you can see in the 3rd pic.
But don't let the temporary drab stop you. As you can see from pic. 2, they turn into that beautiful blue.
Sorry, off topic , again. I love talking about fish and no one around here, but me, likes fish. I live in cow country (I'm a vegetarian). So around here it's Dogs, Cats, Cows, Horses and the occasional Alpaca or Goat. No time for fish in this town. So, sorry about the ramble.
SORRY, FOR SOME REASON THE PIC. OF THE ELECTRIC YELLOW/LEMON DROP DIDN'T SHOW UP WHEN SUBMITTED.

View attachment 27515

View attachment 27516
PS. I thought I was getting bad with 4 tanks, then I read about all of yours. Thank you I feel better now. In fact I may get a larger (75g-100g) tank. I have one wall left where it may fit.

 

[Fdsh5]

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I admit I have a fish problem. It started with one tank and then the kids wanted their own. Now, we all have our own stocked with our choice of fish. My choice was the cichlids. The fifth tank is just a nursery or hospital tank. It is occupied by five cichlid babies now. They are growing fast and loving brine shrimp.

 

[WendiDell]

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I admit I have a fish problem. It started with one tank and then the kids wanted their own. Now, we all have our own stocked with our choice of fish. My choice was the cichlids. The fifth tank is just a nursery or hospital tank. It is occupied by five cichlid babies now. They are growing fast and loving brine shrimp.

This fish thing started as something to help my grandson with calming himself. He has Aspergers Syndrome and the Aquarium in his room helps him sleep.
Over the years we've had many different type of fish. But now we have a Tinfoil Barb tank in the living room and the Cichlids in Casey's room.
I must admit that of all we've ever had I really like the Cichlids the best. They have so much personality and each one is so different from the others. They are a hardy bunch and pretty easy to care for, compared to some we've had.
If I do get the larger tank (75g-100g) it will be entirely a Cichlid tank. I figure if you can have 15 Cichlids in a 55g tank. Then I could get up to 30 in a 100g tank.
My family already thinks I'm crazy with the fish I have. If I doubled the amount they may try to have me committed.
If you can, will you post a few pics of your fry? I'd love to see them.
Have a great weekend
PS Here is a pic. of three of my Cobalt Blue Zebra Cichlids, before they realized that they weren't suppose to share
View attachment 27529
From front to back they are Wisteria, Berry, and Marty. Casey named him Marty after the Zebra in Madagascar, because he has stripes and he is from Africa.
And as far as having a problew with fish, it's a good thing we both belong to AA (lol)