African Cichlid bullying Blue Dolphin fish

Hi,

New to the forum I have a small African Cichlid that's been bullying my blue dolphin fish who's bigger than him. My two parrot fish are capable of handling the bullying no problem, but not matter what I try I can't stop the issues with the two other fish. There's enough food, space to swim around, places to hide, and all the levels in the tank are where they should be. Any suggestions?

 

African cichlids are very territorial and known for bullying tankmates. Some can be worse than others especially when maturing or near mating time. Usually it is recommend to overcrowd Africans in order to reduce territory to fight over and to have enough fish so one doesn't get picked on excessively.

 

Blue dolphins (Cyrtocara moorii) are also african, Malawi to be precise. Do you know the species of that aggressive fish?
If not post a picture for ID.

 

I believe he's a Pseudotropheus Saulosi. The dolphin is actually bigger than him. I don't really want to add any other fish to the tank right now. They're all juveniles and I'll be upgrading my tank to a 55/60 gallon within the next couple of months. As far as recommendations...I'll try cycling, can't handle any real plants in the tank (I kinda suck at keeping real plants haha) I've been doing water changes and won't be medicating anyone in the meantime.
Everyone gets along otherwise.

 

You might want to invest in 75 gallons. That's the least I would use for Malawi cichlids.

If you think the juveniles are bad, wait until they are grown out. Also live plants work in many setups, but sadly not in Malawi tanks. at least not when there are Mbuna in it.

I recommend looking at this website (you can choose english as a language there): Malawi-Guru.de - Home
They have great info mostly.

 

Great. Thank you If I opted for more parrot fish once I get a larger tank (love those little ones) would that help at all? Trying to not go with more of these crazy bullies

 

Keep Malawis with Malawis. Nothing else. Parrot cichlids don't work with them at all in my opinion.

Why is mixing cichlids so taboo? | American Cichlid Forum | 503528

I don't think Malawi cichlids of any species are crazy or bullies. It's their nature. That requires appropriate handling to keep controlled.

So if you think Malawi cichlids are not your's maybe think about rehoming them and keep the parrots.

 

Yep. I'm considering rehoming, which I've never done before. I've had experience with these fish in the past, but they weren't this extreme. I may just get my other tank up and going and separate him for the time being. Wish I could swap him with another fish where I got him. Thanks so much for everyone's input