Electric yellow cichlids underseige

[Brianmontana]

Fishless cycle completed and ordered four labs and two demasoni cichlids and an albino long fib pleco from liveaquaria. sadly I have just noticed a lab swimming on the surface of the 50 gal bow-front. The specimens abdomen is torn open from an apparent attach. I just noticed two other labs with lacerations on fins ect. Tho not mortally wounded like the floater. What is going on? Just bought them new life spectum cichlid pellets. Water tested using API freshwater master test kit. pH @ approx 8.0, ammonia 0, same with nitrate and nitrite. Is it the demasoni's? Upset cause the particular lab that is dying would literally follow the demasonis around like a puppy dog and must have paid the price? What can I do???

 

[garfy]

Almost certainly it is.Here is a link you may find helpful.
Pseudotropheus demasoni - Greater Chicago Cichlid Association
www.gcca.net/.../Pseudotropheus_demasoni.ht...

 

[steez]

Demasoni tend to do much better when there's a bunch of them. 10+

I'm sure it's your Demasoni attacking the Labs, probably trying to take over the tank. Are they males?


I have Lab/Demasoni tank, but I have it overstocked with 20 juveniles, as they grow I am weeding out the extra males & troublemakers so I'll probably end up with a 12-15 fish count. This is in a 40g breeder tank.

The footprint of the tank (floor) is what's important for Mbuna cichlids, it's not so much the amount of gallons. If I only kept 6 fish in there, I would have aggression issues. The trick to a smaller tank is to overstock it (sounds contradictory to most advice). The overstocking will create a spread of aggression, and make it near impossible for the fish to establish territories. You just have to make sure to have good filtration and a strict water changing schedule.


Demasoni will be much more aggressive in lower numbers, you should think of increasing the amount of them that you have.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

+1, steez is good with this stuff and has the know-how!
sounds like maybe the lab is male and was attempting to spawn with these demasoni, but if the demasoni are also male or simply do not want it then they could have retaliated and associated the bad lab with the other labs, so felt they had to 'remove the issue fishes'.
its a bit of psychological input for ya x

 

[steez]

Mbuna's are tricky little buggers, they are mean fish.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

im always fascinated by their hyrarchies, friendship groups and pairing off, since they arent supposed to pair! lol. and their colours.

 

[Brianmontana]

Thanks a lot for the great advice!! I do believe the lab that had a chunk missing from his torso was male and the two demasonis are females. The lab would follow them around constantly and i think your right, He paid the price as I just removed him from the tank dead. I'm not quite sure about the sex of the demasonis to be honest but I believe they are females(?) i really like both species and would love to get the right set up. I'm on Craigs list now looking for a 150 gallon. Even a 75 for more territory for these awesome fish.

 

[steez]

Bigger the better, if I had room for a big tank for my Malawi setup I would have one.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

if i had room for a small river id have one
im guessing a demasoni has taken dominance in the tank? is there one particular brute among them?

 

[steez]

Nope. There's so many of them that none stand out as a dominant, YET.

My tank is very docile, not very much chasing or anything. As they grow I expect it to change

 

[Brianmontana]

One of the things that really surprised me was the way the demasonis navigate the caves and plants. They explode through the tank with blinding speed and loop around playing in the aerators. I swear they spiral around the tank like a tornado. I'm not sure if they are all like that in the cichlid family but it's a remarkable difference compared to my gourami tank. Should have gotten into these fish years ago.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

mbuna ime are very hyper, but its all about the fish. sounds like u may have males...