Fighting Cichlids?

Question

My cichlids(african) are fighting and i dont know how to stop it. I had one big striped one and i just added a orange one and the stripped one is attacking the other one. What should I do?

Answer 1

Rearrange your tank again so that they will all have to get new territories
A

Answer 2

Basically, your tank is improperly stocked in regards to keeping african cichlids. Most african cichlids DON'T do well in small groups (small groups encourage the most dominant fish to assault tankmates at will with little to no opposition).

They're best kept in larger groups (8+). An african tank with balanced aggression (which is what you want) will have an alpha fish (which rules the tank); a few sub-dominants (which are the rivals and competitors); and several lower-'ranked' fish. African cichlids are hierarchal and a pecking order will naturally be established.

When kept in larger groups, aggression is 'spread out', so each 'target' is only subject to a fraction of aggression rather than being a recipient of 100% of the punishment as is the case with your orange cichlid. Aggression in african cichlid tanks can be balanced and even minimized if stocked properly.

To solve the problem ADD more african cichlids. A 55-gal should be considered the minimum with these types of fish and you could probably add 10 more...add them in groups of 4 or more (due to their nature, african cichlids are exempt to the '1 inch of fish per gal' rule of thumb).

Answer 3

There are two solutions, the first is to take them both back to the pet store and ask to trade them for two new fish. These new fish will not have territories staked out in the tank and should co-exist with only minor problems.

The second solution is a little more involved. Here goes....

Take them both out of the tank and put them into 2 different clean buckets or containers that have had no detergents or any cleansers used in them. If you must clean them, use salt.

Now move all of the plants and decorations in the original tank so that nothing is in the same place. If you have a large decoration, place it in the center of the tank to break the line of sight. That way, they will probably end up in opposite ends of the tank.

The first cichlid had taken over the tank because there was no other fish to challenge him. When the second was introduced, he became the intruder that needed to be chased away.

After changing the look of the tank, put both cichlids back into it and turn out the lights for the night. In the morning, they should both have staked out territories and will not venture into the other's area.

I hope your tank is at least a 30 gallon, anything smaller than that is a bad choice for cichlids unless you have only one male and a group of females.

In my 23 tanks, 20 of them have cichlids. In my experience, unless you have dwarf cichlids, anything smaller than a 30 is just asking for dead fish. My smallest tanks are 10 gallons, but they only have one pair of dwarf cichlids each or babies that are growing out to be placed in 29's, 30's and 55's.

If you plan to keep cichlids, I suggest you go with the first solution and add all the fish you plan to have at the same time. Remember, one inch of SMALL, SLIM fish (do not count the tail) per gallon of water. The bigger and heavier the fish, the more water it will need.

Just imagine ten one inch neons versus one ten inch oscar. There is no comparison. The neons will happily exist in a ten gallon tank but the oscar will need at least a 55 gallon tank because when he is full grown, in about 12-14 months, he will be in the neighborhood of 15 inches long and seven to eight inches tall. The amount of bio-load he puts out compared to the ten neons is about 100 times as much.....per day!

Answer 4

Whenever you add a new cichlid you must move the rocks or other ornaments around to prevent fighting over territory. The striped cichlid is only protecting his territory. Moving the stuff around in the tank will give both time to establish their own territories.

Answer 5

Those two fish will keep fighting each other until they decide to either live in peace or fight to the death. putting a couple of large rocks in your tank will help the fish find seperate hiding places so they can have they're own territory. You can always buy a tank separater .it slides in and divides the tank in half.

Answer 6

Seperate them!! Trust me,, their not going to get use to each other. Only when their smaller can you put them together. Their very dominate as they grow.Is it a Albino(orange one)?They usuallycan only be around other albinos that have grown together. Your probably going to wake up to one of them dead! Seriously,, Don't take the chance... You could even end up with them killing each other!! I had 2 Albinos that grew to about 12" I woke up one am and they had eaten the placo that was about 10" that had been in there with them since they were little! They were in a 55 gallon tank and were about 6 before they died. I had to clean the tank by hand.. But trust me, don't take the chance,, seperate them!!! :) good luck!!

Answer 7

How large is your tank? They are very territorial. Try adding extra caves in your tank this can calm them down a bit and give them their own living space. Remember that they are aggressive fish and need more space than other types.

Answer 8

Sounds to me like the only thing you can do is seperate them. Cichlids are aggressive fish, some get along and some don't. When they don't one may kill the other.

Answer 9

remove the fishes in the tank and place it i a pail... rearrange your decoration in the tank... then place the fishes back at the same time not one by one so it will help .... chilids is a Territorial fish... by placing in at one time will even arowana from fighting each other.. it will work for chilids as well

Answer 10

how on the earth are you able to call your self a fish lover while "the excellent DAYS" of your life become battling fish?!? that doesn't make any considering that. quit being so merciless! that is not any distinctive than staring at 2 canines rip one yet another aside and combat till ultimately the loss of life! quit harming fish you fish abuser!