This cichlid needs help!

[bcurlacher54]

he will heal up just fine..my small auratus had all of its tail fin taken off by my bully female auratus. i caught the small guy in a small beta tank and stuck it to the side of the regular tank for a couple of weeks and let him back out after the tail had regrown.

 

[Lady_Alia]

He seems to be doing much better. I have isolated him in a 20. His find are looking better but he still looks like he had a really bad haircut.

Here's mine, all healed up now

 

[Mcass]

Now this is frustrating! So he is all healed up now and I decide to try introducing him into the big tank again. I think I'm smarter this time so I completely remove everything from the tank so that it breaks up any established territories. I also go and get a small female livingstonii and a ventustus to put in at the same time thinking that the aggression will be spread out.

Within about 2 minutes, the livingstonii has a gash ripped in his side. I yank him out and put him in the hospital tank and turn back to the big tank. The fuellbornii is getting the full brunt of aggression while none of the fish even notice the ventustus. AARGH!

 

[Mcass]

Any idea whether at some point he will just be accepted in the tank? Will the others give up or keep this up? He has plenty of hiding places but they keep finding him. I can not believe that they won't even look at the ventustus.

 

[Mcass]

This is the tank. You would think he could hide somewhere wouldn't you?

 

[Mcass]

The last fish I introduced were a male and female flameback Hap. They are half the size of everything else in the tank, and were accepted immediately.

 

[garfy]

I'm afraid he is a very placid fish compared to the others and it doesn't look as though he will be accepted.I think you should set up you 75 gallon and start it with him and others of his kind preferably females.Also add some yellow labs with him they are generally very peaceful cichlids.Your other fish are just too aggressive and by the sounds of it will kill him in the end.

 

[Mcass]

Well let me ask this. Of the fish I have, how would you suggest they be split if I were to set up another tank? What I have right now are:

(1) jack Dempsey - he is 8" and much larger than the Africans. They won't even get near him.
(1) male livinstonii and (3) female livingstonii
(1) auratus
(1) male red zebra and (1) female red zebra
(1) male Fuelleborni and (1) female Fuelleborni
(1) male ventustus and (1) female ventustus
(1) male flameback Hap and (1) female flameback Hap
(1) pleco

 

[Mcass]

The other thing I have noticed after observing for about an hour now, is that it essentially only the two zebras that won't let up. Occasionally, the male Fuelleborni will get in on it but not as continuous as the zebras.

 

[garfy]

Ok here goes:
First of all the jack dempsey shouldn`t be with any of these fish he`s from another continent entirely and you shouldn`t really mix african`s and american`s.
That said if you had to house all these fish in 2 tanks i would go for:

Tank 1

Jack dempsey
Auratus
Red zebras.

Tank 2

Livinstonii
Ventustus
Flame back haps
Fuelleborni

The pleco can go in any of these tanks.Thats up to you

Tell me was which fish attacked the newcomer?

 

[Mcass]

Ok. I had introduced the female Fuelleborni, the female ventustus, and another female livingstonii (about a 2"). I did not see who took the gash out of the livingstonii. Got it back out within 5 minutes. The red zebras and the male Fuelleborni are the only ones going after the female Fuelleborni. The ventustus is not being bothered except very occasionally by one of the female livingstonii.

 

[Mcass]

All the others seem to not care one way or the other.

 

[garfy]

The peacocks should go in with the haps.
Red zebras can be pretty mean.They have been known to take on fish twice their size and win!!
Fuelleborni are quite mellow for mbuna and it surprises me that the male went for a female in that way.The red zebra not so much.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

i do agree on the stocking division that has been suggested. but i see a large part of the problem here. do u realise how much agression u have there? there should be 1m 3f for the zebras, auratus, fuelleborni, venustus, livingstonii and haps. lets do the math and see what ur missing... 9 females in total. 3 for auratus and two more for the others except livingstonii which already has the right ratio.

imo theres too many guys as they are polygamous and are competing for all the girls, so i think with the tank division they need their proper ratios.

its just too many balls not enough game in there

 

[Mcass]

i do agree on the stocking division that has been suggested. but i see a large part of the problem here. do u realise how much agression u have there? there should be 1m 3f for the zebras, auratus, fuelleborni, venustus, livingstonii and haps. lets do the math and see what ur missing... 9 females in total. 3 for auratus and two more for the others except livingstonii which already has the right ratio.

imo theres too many guys as they are polygamous and are competing for all the girls, so i think with the tank division they need their proper ratios.

its just too many balls not enough game in there

I agree completely which is one of the main resins I was trying to add the three females (unless I've sexes them wrong?)

 

[garfy]

Mouthy has a point guys need plenty of girls lol

 

[Mcass]

I am pretty sure the blue one is male, and the white/orange/black peppered one is female. Agree? Disagree?

 

[garfy]

Hmmm i can`t tell from those pictures and mbf has much more experience with fuelleborni than me so maybe she can tell

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

defo blue is male unless you are feeding it radioactive peas
and the orange would be female due to rounded belly, larger top fin and the fact in almost every pic what appears to be a male is attempting to 'love' her lol.

the ones u may have mis-sexed, can we have a profile shot or a basic outline of who they tend to chase or are chased by? xx

 

[Mcass]

Alrighty. Well l thought maybe I would try posting one pic of each fish in the tank to see if the sexes can be determined just to make sure I am right. So here it goes! Let me know if I'm off on what I think I have.