outlaw

As the title says. We have 3 Red Fin cichlids and 1 Male Yellow Lab. At first I though the other male was attacking the male red fin but I think it may be one or both of the females. The males fins are largely nipped and after last night I think I may have confirmed it.

Was sitting on the couch last night and heard splashing from the 20Gal they are currently in (being treated for the fins) because I thought it was the yellow lab attacking him. The two females looked like they were locking lips? but not in a nice way. They were chasing around. And for a 20Gal standard for 3 adults is not a lot of room.

Anybody have this issue with their cichilds and similar behavior?

Any help is appreciated.


Also, reason for not thinking it's the yellow lab now is after it looked like the females doing it, I put the 40 or so larger fry in the 46Gal with the yellow lab and they all seem fine. Obviously the smaller ones are a little skidish around an adult but who wouldn't be. lol

Allie

Our female cobalt zebra do that all the time.
With their aggression there isn't much you can do, but watch them for injuries. How big are your females? I hate to day it but they may need a bigger tank, males can get 9" if they are dominant. Red fins are more aggressive than yellow labs, so it it most likely the females fighting with male RF.

outlaw

The male is full grown I'm assuming. All was well until recently. The males seemed to leave each other alone or got along as far as I know (who knows when the lights are out though). I did just finally get the nitrites back to 0 in the 46Gal. Do I just say the **** with it put them all in the 46G and treat the whole tank with Melafix? I was just hoping to use the 20Gal for that, but if it will reduce the stress and aggression, that's what I'll do.

Thanks.


BTW, with a bigger tank, it's not going to happen until we move at least. We are already in an undersized apt. and my wife wont let me get a another tank, let alone a bigger one. Everything was fine with them in the 46Gal until recently.

Almost forgot, the females are probably about 3-5 inches. Guessing one is in the 3.5-4" range and the other one is a little bit bigger in the 4-4.5"

Allie

I add Melafix directly to the main tank. It doesn't hurt the bio load at all.
The females will probably get to 6" at the most. Try feeding them more...sometimes I have to feed ours 4-5 times a day to keep the crankiness at a minimum. This is where extra or double filtration is really handy. Not that there is every any food left with Malawi cichlids...but there is lots of pooping. lol

outlaw

lol, i agree with the pooping. You can never get it all out. lol I think I am going to look into the cost of builing another filter with my spare pump. Also, sometimes they don't even eat all of what I put in there. With the 4 I was usually puting 8-14 pellets in the tank for them to eat. They would go nuts for the first 1 and sometimes 2 but really didn't care after that, plus I was only feeding them about 8:30 at night. Maybe they were eating more once the lights went out.. I did see some rolling around in the gravel somewhat often though. I was just hoping to keep the melafix use down by using it on a 20Gal vs 46Gal due to cost of it (not that bad). So I will catch all the little guys tonight and put them in the 20Gal and put the whiners (red fins) in the 46Gal.

Thanks again!

FishFolk

Sounds like you have a plan. Let us know how it works. P

outlaw

They are seeming to get along ok so far. Probably still stressed out from the move. I guess we'll see how they are tonight after I get home.