Melanochromis auratus is MEAN

[feinhorn]

I just bought a Melanochromis auratus because my girlfriend thought it was cute......He is kicking every other fishes "butt" in the tank. I have thoughts of getting rid of him. I changed to African's to have a relaxed, slow, happy tank. What should I do?

[TankGirl]

These fish are extremely aggressive and will tend to kill any other fish in the tank (as you may be discovering) unless you have a really, really large tank. They are a small fish but slightly difficult to keep. You can keep him by himself or trade him in for labs or something less aggressive.

Here is a useful link http://www.cichlids.com/info/Melanochromis_auratus

[davoz]

What size tank? How many total fish? Auratus are extremely aggressive but if you have a juvenile you haven't seen nothing yet. Once a male matures and changes to his black coloration it becomes intolerable. Most who keep Malawi cichlids overcrowd them to avoid aggression. The more fish the less territories and no one fish gets picked on.