my auratus

[chrisgaucher]

I have a male and female auratus. The female is getting bullied by the male. Her fins are torn up pretty bad. This sounds like aggression. How do I fix it? I also have another female smaller auratus in the tank

 

[Wy Renegade]

The auratus cichlids are notoreously aggressive. You need a large tank with lots of rockwork to fix it.

 

[chrisgaucher]

Okay I already have lots ill try for more I guess. Its a 55 gal

 

[Wy Renegade]

IME a 55 gallon tank is not big enough for auratus, regardless of how much rockwork you add. In addition to the males picking on the females, they will also start picking on your other cichlids. The best course of action IMO is to remove all the auratus as soon as possible.

 

[chrisgaucher]

I think it will just last a little while cause the male is going through his color transform right now. Could just be temporary until his hormones call down

 

[Mumma.of.two]

No, it will only get worse. Soon he will start to pick your fish off one by one.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Sorry, but his hormones are not going to calm down. The color transition is occuring because the male is becoming an adult. As an adult he is going to establish a territory (in your case the entire tank), and he is going to do his best to ensure that no other fish come into his territory to compete for his resources. In other words, from this point on the aggression is only going to get worse. Cichlids establish territories, they do not go in and out of season like dogs or cats do.

 

[chrisgaucher]

Okay i know they are territorial so I just re arrange the tank every week. I'm not going to give them away unless he kills a fish. Which I don't think will happen

 

[Wy Renegade]

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you, but . . . if only I had a dime . . .

 

[chrisgaucher]

I trust your opinions are right I'm just hoping your wrong Haha thank you though

 

[isiah1820]

I'm lucky having a little success with my auratus I have 2 males one female the one male that hasn't change colors chases the one that is black but my female is very calm. Maybe try to add more fish or more females mine are in a 55 with a mix of other cichlids

 

[chrisgaucher]

Yeah okay. What type of fish do you have in there with them?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

If the females fins are tore up pretty bad then its only going to be a matter of time that she will pass on. He isn't going to stop, if your going to keep trying I would take him out and put him by himself till she heels and gains strength back. In the mean time you could try adding more females of the same size to help spread out the aggression.

I'm with the wy renegade (hope I spelled that right) with just rehome him.

Good luck

 

[phin]

Your options are to rehome the aggressive male, rehome the dominated female, add more female auratus (5 or 6 more), or add more species of cichlids. However, even if you are adding more cichlids, just having one or two females in there makes it bad news for her when you have a male of the same species attracted to her color patterns. You need more fish in there to help spread out the aggression and make a fish who may be an aggressor toward some fish be on the defensive against others.

 

[bcurlacher54]

He should calm down a bit once you take mating out of the situation. So it's either you want the male or you want the female.

 

[chrisgaucher]

Oh man. Maybe ill see if someone will swap a cichlid with me

 

[isiah1820]

I have a pretty good aggressive mix with mine idk y my female dosent get harassed with the 2 males in the tank granted one is still young but like I said he chases the male with the black coloring these fish are crazy and its diffrent in every tank. So like every one is saying maybe remove one of them or add more females.

 

[chrisgaucher]

I think I'm gonna try and trade the male with another cichlid

 

[isiah1820]

Is yours black

 

[chrisgaucher]

Right now the male is yes