[Unit134679]

I have a 55 gallon fish tank with 6 fish. One of which is a catfish (not sure what species) and have no problems with and another cichlid that is so hidden I cannot find him. The bluish-white cichlid I pictured attacks this fish frequently and has actually gnawed off all its fins to a bare minimum. The other fish are constantly bullied by this one bluish-white fish. This fish chases, vibrates, and twirls around the other fish. Frankly I am not sure whether I should be concerned with this erratic behavior or not but I am certainly concerned for the fish barely having fins. What should be done to minimize this behavior if needed? Perhaps the temperature? I feed it regularly in small amounts although lately they have not seem to eat as quick as they use to. At the moment the chemicals seem to be fine but the temperature only seems to be a bit high. Thanks!

 

[Unit134679]

By the way if the pictures are too small, I'll update them

 

[Rift485]

The pictures say "No thumbnail available"

 

[Unit134679]

Sorry about that. I'll update them later this morning

 

[etcbrown]

Yes, the pictures are too small. Camera phone pictures are normally very difficult to use for this purpose.

 

[Rift485]

In that first pic I can see a Pseudotropheus Acei

And by your description and their typical temperment the blueish white fish is probably a Metriaclima Callainos

 

[Unit134679]

Here we go, better pictures. Catfish still not pictured, electric yellow, or gnawed-off-fin fish

 

[danielratti]

from the looks of things the 3rd is a female peacock of some sort soo you are mixing males with females and aggression is going to be hight plus zebras are naturally aggressive and adding a female to the mix will boost it.

 

[Unit134679]

The 3rd I'm not having any problems with. Its mainly #1, #2, and the gnawed-off-fin one

 

[etcbrown]

#1 is a Psuedotropheus socolofi

#2 is in an orange blotched (OB), likely a Metriaclima but tough to tell from that angle. It isn't a Labeotropheus so the other common OB species are Metriaclima and Tropheops, doesn't really look Tropheops either. There are hybrid peacocks that are pretty common in OB form also.

#3 Too blurry to tell but likely another Metriaclima red top or maybe a Cynotilapia red top.

 

[Rift485]

#2 looks like a female Metriaclima Greshakei female. Which one has gnawed off fins? The likely problem with the mix you have is common for Mbuna tanks. The fact that there are only 6 fish allows a hyper dominant fish to hastle all the others nearly non stop which is why many people will overstock tanks like this with 3x as many fish so that one can't pick on any other fish too often. That, or get rid of the one that is causing the issues. Mbuna are tough little buggers!

 

[danielratti]

Yeah not that i look at the fish closely 2 of them are females. Generally the male will not hassle the female if there are other males in the tank to show whos the boss its pretty much going to be a pecking order to show who the dominate male is.

 

[Unit134679]

#2 looks like a female Metriaclima Greshakei female. Which one has gnawed off fins? The likely problem with the mix you have is common for Mbuna tanks. The fact that there are only 6 fish allows a hyper dominant fish to hastle all the others nearly non stop which is why many people will overstock tanks like this with 3x as many fish so that one can't pick on any other fish too often. That, or get rid of the one that is causing the issues. Mbuna are tough little buggers!

You believe my tank is overpopulated? At the moment my electric yellow picks on my zebra red top and my socolofi picks on my orange blotched lombardoi (although it seems to be more of a mating ritual). I have one unidentified fish that isn't bothered as much (and his fins healed as well).

 

[Rift485]

I was saying it may be underpopulated. Is the chasing only chasing or are fins still being nipped? Usually fish can handle getting chased pretty well, it's when they start getting attacked and injured that their health becomes a concern.

 

[Unit134679]

What is a good size population in a 55 gallon tank then? Also what about hiding spots? I don't think I have enough of those, although one of them made a little crevice in the coral with a log hovering over it. A while ago the chasing was only chasing except for one fish who's fins were 85% nipped off. That fish has its fins back and all the chasing involved is simple chasing.