if my chiclid fish are fighting, should i seperate them or is this just play fighting?

Answer 1

If they just chase each other around and nip at each other but do no severe damage to each other I would not worry about it...by severe damage I mean losing a large amount of their fins, bloody spots on thier body, or even a missing eye...
They are aggressive fish so naturally they will smack each other around a bit, just need to take a few steps to make sure they don't smack each other around TOO much.

If they are fighting to the point where thier find or scales are getting damaged then action needs to be taken.

1. Make sure the tank is big enough...I'm not sure how big your tank or hwo many fish you have is but I would say you probably need about 5 gallons per chiclid if they are 3-6 inches...but I would not keep Chiclids in anything smaller than a 20 gallon even if you only have 2.

2. Chiclids are territorial and NEED caves...make sure there are plenty of caves in the tank. They dont really need plants...but they make the tank look nice.

3. After the 2 things above are satisfied...make sure they are fed enough! Mind you...I do not mean feed them MORE food...I moreso mean you may need to change how often you feed them. I used to feed my fish once a day, regardless of the type of fish (docile or aggressive) they always nipped at each other. I started feeding them smaller portions twice a day and it fixed this problem.

Chiclids can also be very picky when mixing breeds...especially if you mix American and African Chiclids together. If you follow the 3 steps above and they still fight too much, that means they shouldn't be in the tank together.

EDIT: As Tunish stated above, it is also a good idea to re-arange the caves and such whenever you clean the tank to 'break up' any territory the fish may have established. This is especially important if you add new fish...

Hope this helps

Answer 2

Try this - it has remarkable results and it is what we recommend to cichlid owners that are having trouble introducing new fish into a tank. No matter how big your tank is, sometimes new members are not well received. Often this is because fish establish territories and then tend to defend them (some fish just fight, but that is probably not the case with goldfish like yours). What you need to do is 'reset' the playing field so that everyone can establish some space of thier own and the fish that came first don't feel invaded. The easiest approach to this is to just rearrange some of your decorations - and see if that helps. If not the more drastic approach is to take out your decorations (might as well clean your tank at this point) and let the fish swim around for an hour or so then redecorate with them in other areas of the tank.

Answer 3

What specific cichlids do you have?

Maybe you have fish that shouldn't be mixed with each other, hard to say exactly without knowing what type of fish, like someone previously said possibly not enough hiding places or too small of a tank.

If you recently changed the set up or something the fish might be fighting to show who is boss and mark there territory and fight suitable hiding places etc.

Try lowering the temperature over a few days and it will slow the fish down and settle them down. Make sure the reduction in temp is gradual and spread across a few days, any sudden change in temp might cause stress to the fish and ultimately kill them.

Answer 4

I have 2 convicts among a few other fish, and one of the convicts chases the other one non stop. I thought they were playing at first but now I know that the mean one is just being a bully. He wont ever give the other one a break and it stresses the poor thing out to where has to hide all the time and I have to be there to make sure the little one gets to eat. What I would do, wich Im going to do is trade it in or give it away. You could put it in a seperate tank if you have one.

Answer 5

Fish don't really play fight. Cichlids can be highly aggressive and very territory - they should be mixed very carefully, and many types should be kept in species tanks.

Cichlids are fish that can range immensly in absolutely every possible way a fish can differ, and so referring to 'cichlids' does little to clear up what kind of fish you have. If you want good advice you need to give something to work with. Maybe the cichlids shouldn't be mixed at all. Maybe you just need to add more of them. Maybe you should have a bigger tank. Maybe some dither fish. Maybe more hiding spots. Who can know at this point?

So at this point I can only say - a fish will need to be removed - either the fish getting picked on, or the fish doing the bullying, depending on the tank setup.

Answer 6

I would rearrange the ornaments and plants in your tank, then i would change the water, check t make sure the pH is 7, and then i would look and see if there fighting is just flaring its OK, but once it gets physically biting and hurting your fish i would isolate the fish that fighting.

Answer 7

The tank is too small or, provide more hiding spaces, as this is natural with all cichlids. Plants that float on top like horn-wort, also make great hiding places and will lessen the tension in the tank.

Answer 8

Start by giving them a "time out." if that doesn't work dangle them by the tail fin over the toilet and flush it. They'll get the message in a hurry.

Answer 9

How cute ........... sorry but i do not have any answer.