[CichlidWhisperer]

So I just added 4 new guys to my all male tank. Three are doing great (the little ones) and not being picked on much at all. To my surprise it is the 4 inch Metriaclima (formerly cynotilapia) Mbweca that is getting picked on, but only by my 3 5/6 inch Lab. Hongi (barely smaller than the new fish.) The Lab Hongi is the official boss of the tank though and was the biggest fish until now.

The Hongi has never been super aggressive and usually would only chase fish that were similar in color to his (mostly the lab mbamba, but also a red top zebra when I had him in there.) I was worried about the new fish being big and so too agressive, but now he is simply hanging at the top as quietly as he can so as not to be beat up. He also is not eating (I am sure due to stress, was eating fine until added to this tank.) I have the lights off and that has helped some.

I really want both these fish in the same tank, but am not sure it will work out. What I was planning on doing is to take out the Lab. Hongi for a week (or maybe more.) When the new fish gets used to the new tank, I was going to try and add the Hongi back in. I figure it will make him the new fish and so maybe things will be better????

What do you think?

It is a 60 gallon all male mbuna tank with intentional overstocking:
Labidochromis (6): L. hongi, L. mbamba, L. perlmutt, L. pallidus, L. caeruleus, L chisumulae
Cynotilapia (3): C. afra Cobue albino, C. sp. 'Lion' Mara Rocks, C. sp. 'Hara' Gallireya Reef
Pseudotropheus (3): P. acei Ngara, P. acei Msuli, P. sp 'Williamsi North' Makonde
Metriaclima (2): M. esterae OB, M. sp. 'Mbweca'
Synodontis (4): S. lucipinnis

 

[cichlidaholic]

Are you sure it's all male? :lol: (Sorry, couldn't resist...)

Time out may work in this case, it's worth a try. No guarantees, unfortunately, but that is what I would do, too. Removing the established fish and allowing the others time to settle in is a good idea, IMO.

 

[CichlidWhisperer]

LOL... I am sooo hoping it is all male... I have had to get rid of 9 girls so far! I simply can't believe they were all ladies. And I have one little one to prove it too. I thought my C Afra girl swallowed her batch when she began eating after only 2 weeks of holding. Well to my great surprise after getting rid of her I noticed something moving in the 10 gallon tank (a full 2 weeks after I thought she swallowed them.) I now have a 3 week old mutt... I am glad it is only one fish because my husband is so attached to it taht I am going to need to hang on to it! He named it guppy. The mom is a C. Afra and I am sure the dad is a cobalt zebra (watched them do the naughty dance) so it might turn out to be pretty.

 

[CichlidWhisperer]

So the L. hongi is in a 10 gallon for the time being. The M. Mbweca finally came down from the top tank corner where he was actually head up vertical for almost a day. He is a bit beat up, but doing much better and in fact, the entire tank seems so much less stressful that my husband is saying we should not even add the hongi back in at all. In any case, I want to let the mbweca heal his injuries first, so it will probably be at least 2 weeks or a month before I consider adding the hongi again.

Honestly, I am not even sure he is a Lab. hongi... I really suspect he is some sort of a hybrid. I was not concerned because I have the all male tank, so no breeding. But it could explain why he is a little more aggressive than I would have thought he should be. He is a really pretty fish though.. he is the fish in my icon picture.

 

[edouthirt]

you could also try redoing the rockwork and letting everyone re-establish dominance/territories at the same time.

 

[CichlidWhisperer]

:lol:
Actually every time I need to catch a fish I have to take out all the rock to manage to catch him... So I redid all the rockwork last night.... I think my fish are so used to that by now it doesn't seem to phase them much...