FishFolk

I copied this from my other thread as it really needed a new one:

I have a 55 with 6 sub adult /juvie female greshakei , and 1 wild adult msobo male and 1 farm female (had 3 one died in shipping, another fish killed the other).

Here's the situation/question:
I found a beautiful albino male greshakei at the ACA convention. He is a show quality fish and quite large. He was from and excellent fishkeeper, so no worry of disease. I put him in with the msobos/female greshakei and the little msobo male was not pleased. The alb greshakei male was so stressed from the show and the trip here that he couldn't defend himself or get away very well. Even though he is at least 2 xs the size, he was coming out the underdog.

I am now in the midst of trying to make the tank work. I tried several rock reworks Sun night without success. So, I pulled out the msobo and set him up on his own for a couple days. I reworked the tank with some space in the middle - As I took out rocks to be able to catch the msobo, the more space in the middle seemed to help - figured it was worth a try.

I also found a person at the convention who has msobo deeps - but didn't bring them. So may try to get those females.

The albino has herded the females to one side and lets the msobo female have the other. He prefers to hang out with his ladies but does take the occassional swim across the tank. He hasn't started eating much yet, so will wait til he has a bit more strength before reintroducing the msobo male. (He started eating a bit today - Tuesday)

Should I try to catch the female msobo and put her in with the male so I introduce them as a pair or keep her in the 55 and reintroduce him alone? they may have been trying to spawn which would account for the SOME of elevated aggression. I am going to order the other females today. I plan to add those later after quarantine.Or should I wait and put all msobos in together?

I know it may not work and I may have to house them as species until I decide which one to keep...Some have made it work - so I want to try. One more question - How long should it take them to settle into territories - if they are going to make it together?

Chief_waterchanger

I will be the first to admit that I am not as heavily stocked on knowledge of african cichlids, but from what I know about the fish that Dino and I keep...

When a fish becomes too aggressive and you remove it for a couple of days (2-5 days) the "chain of command" tends to switch up and when reintroduced the aggressor may try to fight for the position back, but if the other one is 2x its size the larger may have a newfound confidence.

I would leave the male msobo by himself, rather than putting the female in. Most africans, to my knowledge, are kept one or two males to as many females as will fit in the tank because you want to spread the aggression. (Bad analogy, but if you have 5 people to beat on you are less likely to go overboard and kill any one of them as you would be if you had just 1 or 2.) So for the safety of the single female msobo I would, I suppose, leave her with the greshakei unless that situation becomes overly physical.

Sounds like you did everything right with the rearranging rock work and removing the aggressor to allow the pecking order to change around. Good job.

Again, I know a lot less about african cichlids than I do about livebearers, so someone with more african experience may have a better answer.

FishFolk

Thanks - Update: the albino male is ripping into the romaine with gusto - he must feel better! I haven't been able to link up with my msobo source, so if anyone has any females, please pm. Thx. I plan to move the male back in the a.m. unless someone has a better plan. He will have been out since Sunday night. wanted to try today but had kitchen deliveries today so I was worried I wouldn't be able to watch him.

MissMTS

Hi,
What I may do is remove all of the fish from the tank and re-arrange the rocks. This way nobody has any territories anymore. You can re-introduce the fish all at once and they will probably all be on more even footing.

I had a similar problem with a fish that was 3 times the size of my other cichlids. They picked him apart. I removed him for a few days and put him back and the same thing happened. Things didn't work out until I did what I stated above. Maybe it will work for you. Its worth a try

FishFolk

Miss MTS, Thanks for the great idea. If this attempt doesn't work, I will try your idea. I just have to find somewhere to put that many fish for a few days. The msobo has not seen this set up so maybe, just maybe...The albino really didn't need another move, but he seems to be okay now. So he can surely handle it if I have to move him for a day.

Cichlids - gotta love 'em!

The WED Update:
Okay, I got brave this a.m. I fed everyone and then moved the msobo back into the 55g. I don't want to jinx it or anything, but I may, just may have a combination that works. The two males do chase each other but not at top speed and no nipping. They swap sides and caves but seem to have a pattern down. The greshakei females stick to the left side and the msobo female to the right for the most part.After a few hours, I decided I needed more height for the roxks on the left and added those...of course everyone had to investigate but they seem okay, The no rock area seems to be sort of neutral area where both males allow each other to pause. There are a couple spots it looks like the greshakei may want to spawn and he body shake sand chases the msobo away from those.

I still want to add a few msobo females. Thanks for the help and cross your fingers P

FishFolk

Here's the current set up and they seem to share close spaces - Odd - and there's a free rock pile on the other side!

Attached Images

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	DSC05953.jpg (312.3 KB, 4 views)

Chief_waterchanger

African cichlids are crazy. I hope that works out well for you. (If they start fighting again you should break out the belt and threaten them with it. )

MissMTS

I'm glad they are getting along so far. Keep us posted

Ahhhh, if only that worked. Maybe in my next life

Allie

You have observed right and yes that works.
Mr. msobo should be kept a close eye on until you get more females. Our male was alone and killed two of our larger fish a few months ago. We sold him b/c there were no msobo for us to get He was my favorite.
Since msobo and greyshakei are the same metriaclima species they will fight over any females until you get more for all.
Greyshakei are pretty aggressive too, constantly digging.

FishFolk

Thanks-greshakei guy has six of his own - so his harem sould be good. Was out looking at garnite this a.m. - need to call my msobo source again!