Overall help with my aquarium and fish?

Question

I have a 10 gallon. Aquarium has 4 fake plants, small black gravel, and 3 caves. Heater is at 78 and there is a 70 gallon per hour filter. I have 2 african cichlids and 3 cory cats in my ten gallon. Africans are only about 1/2 and inch long as I have raised them since fry. Cory cats are 1 inch long. I know in the future I will be far overstocked. I will be able to buy a larger fish tank in the future. So my questions are, 1 cichlid is very dominate over the other fish and is territorial. With the size of the fish and the aquarium size, I was not anticipating this so early in my cichlids life. How do I make this cichlid less aggressive?? Any old tricks or anything? I know cichlids are territorial by nature. Also, can I feed all my fish sinking African cichlid pellets. I figure these would be ok for my cory cats too as they are bottom feeders. Also, If I put a betta or a type of fast swimming fish in my aquarium would that help even out the aggression of my cichlid. Thank you very much!!

Answer 1

i would advice against putting anymore fish into your tank especially a silver dollar, they are schooling fish and do well in groups of 4 or more, they also require lots of room to move about in (which you dont really have) and they nervous fish.

Unfortunately there is no real way to lessen the aggression of cichlids as you know they are very territorial fish and can be aggressive, your cichlids are starting to mature and this is why they are starting to get aggressive.

You could take them out and move the tank decor about, when you put them back in they wont be as aggressive but this will be short lived once they settle in again.
Its alot of hassle and stress to them and the other fish.

Just get your new tank a.s.a.p and put lots of caves and rocks in so they have their own territory and the other fish have other places to swim rather than being kept on the boundary of the cichlids territory and being subject to attacks.

Answer 2

You may want to look into a divider for your tank. They come in clear plastic and are easy to install. That way you can seperate your agressive cichlid yet still leave him in the same tank. Most dividers for 10 gallon tanks are under $10.00

You could also try adding a larger fish to the mix to put your cichlid in it's place. Not too large, maybe an inch or so. Don't add a betta, it will just end up bait for your cichlid. Those fins will get snipped off in a hurry. Try something like a sliver dollar or freshwater puffer. Here is a link with some more ideas for a semi agressive addition
http://www.auspet.com/fish08.html

As far as feeding, the pellets should be fine. Just make sure to give a varied diet, not just pellets. Mix it up with some bloodworms, brine shrimp, and flakes. Feeding the same food every day can lead to health problems in your fish.

good luck

Answer 3

Cichlids tend to establish a clear dominant individual fairly early in life. I would recommend removing the corydoras as they will eventually be killed. You can replace them with some sort of Syndontis specie (upside down catfish, lace cat, etc.) as they are from the same regions and environments in Africa. My recommendation for the aggressive behavior is
A. add some rocks with holes (to add additional areas in which to hide)
B. Larger tank (30 gallon or larger to grant add. room)
C. Feed Ghost shrimps (to wear out and occupy the aggressive ind.)
Hopefully they will calm down though Africans are renowned for their aggressive behavior (compared to South American Cichlids). The Cories will not be able to last after your fish reach 3-4 inches and they grow fairly rapidly. The Syndontis of Africa are just slightly larger and lack any plates, but they don't seem bothered by them at all. They are just ignored completely.

Answer 4

Try adding 3 zebra danioes they are small and fast and can be used as a chase or dart fish if you have room and two caves or more rocks or small flower pots broke in half for them i know you tank is small but they like having territories of there own. you could try rearranging the tank sometimes it changes things around and they need to make a new (house) so to speak hope this is helpful

Answer 5

yes there is a trick actually,

take out your cichlid with the tank water in 2 different buckets just before you turn off the light

Rearange all the decor in your tank completley, leave nothing untouched

Put the one that is less agressive in first an then the other



Hope that helps
Good luck



EB