aggressive bumblebee cichlid. help!?

Question

male bumble 6 inches has become aggressive with male yellow lab, have recently put in 2 young female yellow labs hopin this will calm him down. any other suggestions?

Answer 1

You have two varieties of fish that are in the same family called maylandia. One is crabbro (the bumblebee) and the other is estherae (yellow lab).

The bumblebee is taking control of the tank because that's what cichlids do. The bumblebee will probably interbreed with the female labs (not good, nobody wants hybrids). The yellow labs are one of the least agressive of the Lake Malawi cichlids and will get picked on by con-specifics (fish that look like them).

The bumblebee sees the yellow and thinks it is a young male of his species (it is not, only the same family). He then asserts his dominance over the other fish so he will be the male that spawns with the females in the tank.

By adding the two female yellow labs, you have inadvertantly given the bumblebee something to fight for. Hopefully, your tank is big enough and has enough hiding places so the male lab will not get killed.

You may have to decide which fish you like better, the labs or the bumblebee... The store where you bought them will probably take them back if you explain the problem. Personally, I like the labs, I have a group of them in a 55 gallon tank with some red zebras and a couple perlmutts. They get along fine.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Your bumblebee (pseudotropheus crabo) is a more aggressive african cichlid than the yellow lab (labidochromis caeruleus).

To properly house these fish, you'll NEED a 75gal aquarium or larger because the bumblebee will grow a couple of more inches, (maxing out at 8"), and an aggressive fish that size needs room, as well as the other cichlids it will chase)

To ease the aggression in the tank, and provided you have at least a 75gal tank, you need to add a few more fish. When kept in small tanks and/or small numbers these particular fish can get extra aggressive, and the bumblebee will eventually kill (or continuously attempt to kill) the labs. Small tank=anything less than a 55gal.

You can start by adding 3-5 female bumblebees (after which the bumblebee won't harass the labs as much). Alternatively, you can add a few more labs (6 or more) and other types of mbuna. The 75gal should have 12-20 mbuna (which are the type of fish your bumblebee and labs are); if you have a 55gal then you'll need 10-16 mbuna. Add new mbuna in groups of 4 or more...the bumblebee will target individual new fish if you add them one or two at a time.

Lots of rocks for caves and territories will help as well.

Answer 3

www.thinkfish.UK Best Site I've found for Tropical Fish! The data base is likely to have the answer you need. I think the ratio of males and females could be wrong! He is aggressive because he sees it as HIS tank and he will see 2 females as His too. One way to curb aggression that worked with Angels (Chichlid) was to take the aggressor out and rearrange the tank. Hope this is useful to you.