[pdub]

I have a Metriaclima estherae. Since the beginning of my set up, he has been the dominant fish in the tank. Recently, the last couple of weeks, he has been hiding in the rocks and not swimming around the tank much. This seems like odd behavior for him. Actually, as I'm typing this message, he's finally swimming around in open water a bit. Well, now he's back in the rocks. Wierd. There has been some extra aggression in the tank recently too.

I have a rectangular 75g with plenty of filtration. I did recently add more rocks to the tank too.

Any thoughts to why he's acting so shy now?

Thanks.

 

[DJRansome]

What are his tankmates?

 

[pdub]

I knew I should have posted his tank mates I am going to be to restocking the tank to include only Dem's, Acei, Met. Caillanos, and/or maybe Socolofi's.

Current stock list is:

Labidochromis caeruleus (Yellow lab) 1
Psuedotropheus Demasoni (Pombo Rocks) 1
Psuedotropheus sp. “Aceiâ€

 

[DJRansome]

Are they all male? Is the estherae eating? Could it be a female who is holding? Who is the dominant fish now? I don't have experience combining those haps with mbuna, but if you can eliminate stress, injury or illness, I'd wonder about adding more fish. I know the Fryeri and Proto are large fish, but there are only 12 fish in a 75G.

Maybe someone with more experience with a setup like this will chime in.

 

[pdub]

DJ,

The wierd thing is I haven't had this problem. I'm wondering if he's sick. I'm almost positive he's a male. The others, not sure.

I think the new dominant fish may be the Ruby Red or maybe one of the German Red Peacocks I have.

As far as adding more fish, I'm getting ready to add about 12 more demasoni to join my single one. I'm actually going to be redoing my stocking list to only include 3 or 4 species. Maybe that will tone done the agression a bit too, that's if I'm getting the right mix.

I'm thinking Dem's, Acei, Yellow Labs and either Metriaclima Caillanos or Socolofi's.

Thanks.

 

[cichlidaholic]

I really think it's stock related. That doesn't mean that the fish isn't sick from the stress in the tank, though.

Keep a close eye out for white stringy feces, refusal or spitting of food, along with the reclusive behaviour you're already witnessing.

Kim

 

[pdub]

I don't know what's happened. All of a sudden there is above normal aggression in my tank. I wonder if it's a coming of age thing. Most of these fish have been in here about a year now. They're all adult sized for the most part.

You know, I also added more rock recently. Do you think that has anything to do with increased aggression. I added the rock about 1 week ago.

Thanks.

 

[DJRansome]

Rocks could have caused a need to re-establish territories. If they are coming up to one year old it definitely is coming of age. I think I'd remove the other fish first if you are switching over to mbuna breeding groups before adding the new Demasoni.

 

[cichlidaholic]

Everything changes as they mature...

The new rocks may have triggered it, but I bet the maturity level of the fish plays a huge part in the stress in the tank.