# Cichlids issues



## Rufus' Mom (Jan 2, 2012)

I have a 46 gallon bow front that we stocked with mbuna cichlids a little over a year ago after a vacation disaster killed the previous residents. As most people do before they are educated by sites like this, we just we to PetsMart and picked two of each of the prettiest. I had just enough knowledge to be dangerous. 

Now a year later, aggression issues have depleted the number significantly. I know I either need to restock to stop the aggression, or rehome those that are left. My husband likes them, and they're in his office, so I guess we restock but I'd appreciate some advice from the experts. 

I currently have an Acei pair, a yellow lab female (mate murdered yesterday), a Kenyi male, and a bumblebee, one solid yellow, and two red zebra all sex unknown. I'd like some advice on additions that will create more harmony, or at least a better balance of power. 

I've had lots of rocks with lots of individual spaces, more than one per fish, but it doesn't seem to help. Finally today, I took out all the rocks and left just a few on the bottom for the fry to hide under. They seem to do better this way, at least so far. One of the red zebras is actually in QT now because he became the next target after they took out the male lab.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

The survivors are rough characters, except for the reasonably gentle yellow lab.
I'd consider getting three or four of each species - not adding any males. I wouldn't add new species, but more kenyi, etc.
I don't keep mbuna anymore as the aggression annoyed me too much and I moved on, but I found single males especially nasty, and found they worked best in 3-4 social groups by species, with a dominant male and 2-3 females per species. 
You might get different advice from someone currently keeping the group, but I kept and bred them for several years and that worked for me. I didn't have deaths from aggression - I just got sick of watching them bash each other.


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## RonB (Nov 7, 2011)

Just like navigator black don't add males and you should have 3 or 4 females to 1 male. The kenyi and bumblebee are very agressive. I would get 2 or 3 differnt species. With more females than males and only have 2 or 3 males total.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

this is what aquadvisor says:

Aqadvisor.com - Introduction to mbuna species

i got rid of my mbunds as i didnt like the aggression either. plus one turned really nasty and tried to kill everyone!! think if i was to do it again is get a hareem of orange blossoms or even just females. or go with white and yellow labs.


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## Rufus' Mom (Jan 2, 2012)

Thanks for the great article. Based on advice received I've decided to add females and try to avoid males. Easy for the Kenyi and labs, not so much for the others. To date, the red zebras have been the most aggressive. The bumble bee is as large as any of the others but hasnt really been aggressive, so maybe it's a female. 

I also replaced the large pebble substrate with sand, and the behavior change is amazing. They're digging like crazy and even more active than before. Maybe if I keep them busy digging, they won't spend so much time beating up on each other. I'll keep the QT tank up just in case.


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## RonB (Nov 7, 2011)

Funny how each fish is differnt. I had to get rid of a couple of Bumblebees as they were the meanest fish in their. My Cobalt blue zebras are fairly peacefull.


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