Rearranging everything in the tank weekly

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tedisabum

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I decided to rearrange all of the tank decor every week at water change time. I take everything out, brush it down in my bucket of dirty tank water, and put it back in a new arrangement each week. I have 3 yellow labs and a kenyi and an auratus. They have to establish new territory each week. I also notice that the dominant male changes from one week to the next. I have a ton of decorations. I cut up a length of pvc into 4 6 inch pieces and they all have many places to choose from. It's one of my favorite aspects of the hobby. Does anyone else do this?


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My tank maintenance usually takes me two hours every week. I have a 20 gallon, but I like to keep a clean looking tank. I do water changes every Sunday. I leave my light from 7:30AM - 8:30PM. I usually have a lot of unsightly algae on my fake plants and other decorations. I brush them off in my dirty tank water with a paintbrush. It also allows be to hit what would otherwise be dead spots in the tank. The main thing is it keeps fish from being bullied because by the time each fish has established it's territory, it's getting changed around anyway. Funny how a fake hollow log can belong to a certain fish and once it's sitting on the other side of the tank, it's no longer that fish' log.
 
Why are you doing this?
What is your tank size?
If you have aggression issues in the tank, could be due to the small population you have.
From my experience in my 55g, anything under 8-10 mbuna spells trouble.


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tedisabum said:
I decided to rearrange all of the tank decor every week at water change time. I take everything out, brush it down in my bucket of dirty tank water, and put it back in a new arrangement each week. I have 3 yellow labs and a kenyi and an auratus. They have to establish new territory each week. I also notice that the dominant male changes from one week to the next. I have a ton of decorations. I cut up a length of pvc into 4 6 inch pieces and they all have many places to choose from. It's one of my favorite aspects of the hobby. Does anyone else do this?


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Click to expand...


Re arranging the decor is often suggested as a way to curb aggression in african cichlid tanks. As you've seen it forces the fish to establish new territories and changes everyone's role. So long as its not too time consuming for you theres nothing wrong with the idea!
 
Except that it's not addressing why the aggression is there in the first place...aka 5 cichlids that reach 6" (two of which are of very aggressive species) inside a tank that is absolutely way too small. Mbuna have no place in a 20 gallon, unless temporarily growing out (and even then issues can arise)...


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Ok, I missed the post that mentioned the tank size, 20 gallons.
Yes, way too small of a tank for African cichlids unless they are very small juveniles and you were going to keep them there temporarily.
The smallest that could work would be a 40 gallon breeder or a 55g as long as you carefully select the population in the tank but even for those sizes, you'll need at least ten or twelve to keep the aggression down.
 
IMO, I'd go with at least a 55g, and add a few more fish. I seldom rearrange the decor in my cichlid tanks, unless I have to catch a certain fish, in which case most of the decor gets removed anyway. I'm way too lazy to do it weekly, but I don't think there's anything wrong with doing it.
 
I would love a 55, but I don't have the room. I know I can fit a 30 and I think I can cram a 40 gallon, but definitely not a 55. When I get my 40, how many fish should I buy? I have 3 yellow labs, a kenyi, an auratus, a clown pleco, and a juvenile common pleco (I'm aware he'll get huge, but I have an arrangement with my LFS where if I bring him back, he'll give me a smaller one free when he gets too big). Most tanks have a dominant male fish, but when I rearrange my decor each week, it's like pushing the reset button. Everybody claims new territory all over again, and the fish that seems to be dominant is different from one week to the next. I'll talk to my LFS today about upgrading my tank. I really want an acrylic, but I'm not sure if it's more expensive than glass. When I get my tank, how many more fish do I add?
 
Reason I mentioned a 40 "breeder" vs the 55g, the 40 breeder has more area than a 55g but you lose a little in height. I think if you can fit a 30 long, you probably fit a 40 breeder.
How many to get is a good question, there's nothing written in stone or a set rule how many would work. For that mentioned size I would start with around 10.
Anything I'm saying here is from personal experience so results may vary.
There's lots of trial and error when choosing Africans, obviously you want to keep their size down so fish like haps won't work here, some of the less aggressive mbuna and I would keep the coloring different since they seem to be more aggressive towards their own color/type, at times what might seem like aggression to us could be mating and even that can be stressful on the female. I've had to remove or add fish to my mix in order to achieve a somewhat peaceful tank, so keeping all that in mind, you might find the hobby a bit more enjoyable.
Keeping a "balanced" tank full of colorful Africans, is a nice sight.
 
Let me start out by saying thank you for this informative post. I definitely agree with the fact that they seem to be more aggressive toward their own colors. I'll look for colors that I don't already have. I'll post an update when I get my new tank. I pull all of my decor out each week because I clean it with a brush. I started simply rearranging the way I put it back in one time and never quit. I would love to crowd 10 more fish in to establish "peace amongst the chaos". Not to mention it looks so much cooler that way.
 
I'm actually re-starting my African tank, the process is fun but how it got there, not so much.
I had a very well balanced peaceful tank with 12 African cichlids going well for about 3 years till a recent water change (issues with the tap water) killed half of them. That sort of offset that "balance" and the fish started fighting, eventually killing a couple of them.
I've been adding fish where I'm up to 7 right now and will eventually increase the residents to 12-15.
I prefer fully stocking the tanks as soon as possible and once everything is settled I stay away from adding new fish to prevent diseases.
Keep us posted.



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Numbers of fish are a relative thing. I have friends who heavily stock their tanks so that no fish is able to establish territories, and thus fighting stays minimal. I think those tanks look crowded, but many people like them. What other species were you thinking of adding? Some do well as the only fish of their species, and some do best as part of a group. Demasonis are my personal favorite; I like the colors and small size. But, they can be very aggressive and should be in groups of at least 8.
 
I'm sorry if I'm coming off as a bad fish keeper but I really like having these fish. I don't have any room for a bigger tank. I have a ton of stuff and like too many people living in my house. I would love to get a 55 gallon, but I only have 30" x 12" of space. I'm guessing I probably shouldn't add any more fish, but I hear that crowding is good for cichlids because they get less territorial. I really don't want to get rid of them. My kids and I have grown quite fond of them. What's my next step?

P.S. My eight year old daughter says for me to tell you, "You're not the boss of me." Lol?


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Not trying to be bossy, but the over-crowded tanks I've seen were larger than a 29g. IMO, I wouldn't add any more fish to so small a tank.
 
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