hey! im new and have aggression problems

OK, I've got a 75gal

2. Fire mouth (about 3in)
1. Frontosa (about 4 mayyybe 5in)
1. Blue alli ( blue peacock 4in)
1. German red (orange peacock 4in)
1. Kandee cichlid (about 4in)
1.cylintricus (about 5in)
1. Sunshine peacock (about 6in)
2. Synadonis cats (3 and 4 in)
1. Fresh snowflake eel ( maby 18-20 in)

its mainly the sunshine and the kandee that's getting picked on.

What's my problem?! Any ideas?

Where to start...

A mix of Central American, Malawi and Tanganyikan cichlids...with an 18" eel thrown in for good measure...isn't ideal (or even close) for any othem.

I'd focus on one type of fish and build from there. Which do you like the best?

Matt

Ohmigoodness. Matt is being kind. This is a mess of a tank!

Initial recommendation: you can do a nice malawi tank in a 75.

Keep all peacocks and the synodontis and get rid of everything else. Then you need to talk genders and landscaping. If these are all males, then you're OK. If some are females then you're in danger of crossbreeding and will need to settle on which peacock you like best and build a colony with maybe also a colony of labs or p. acei.

I don't know what a kandee cichlid is. Maybe kandeense? If so, these are particularly timid for a peacock and generally need a colony of their own to do well.

right on, like i said im NEW

i got my tank about 4 months ago, and have been adding what i think looks good ( obviously this is not a good idea )

i really like all the peacocks. as well as the frontosa.

im okay with getting rid of the firemouths,eel and the cylintricus, but would it be possible to keep the frontosa?

basicly what is a good number of fish to keep in the 75 gal. to keep everyone happy?

i belive all the peacocks are males, the colors are crazy bright.

as far as lanscape, ill see if i can post a photo but its motly slaterock with a 2 big roots. i have a decent amount of hiding spots both large and small.

DNRpaintball said:

right on, like i said im NEW

i got my tank about 4 months ago, and have been adding what i think looks good ( obviously this is not a good idea )

i really like all the peacocks. as well as the frontosa.

im okay with getting rid of the firemouths,eel and the cylintricus, but would it be possible to keep the frontosa?

basicly what is a good number of fish to keep in the 75 gal. to keep everyone happy?

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Are the synodontis are petricola, lucipinis or multis? It probably would be a good idea to get 2 or 3 more. You should see more cruising and less hiding if you do that. If they are a river species, you want to replace them with one of the Tanganikan species listed above.

The Frontosa doesn't fit long term(full size is 12+"), but probably won't have issues in the short term unless the more aggressive peacocks are bullies.

Well..you definitely need to decide which direction to go..if you want keep both CA/SA cichlids and African cichlids you're gonna have to separate them..keep them in different tanks and keep in mind CA or SA cichlids grow really big.. I like the fronts as well..I'm new to the fish keeping hobby as well..welcome to fish world and have fun!

-aldrich

the synadonis' i have the smaller one with the "lepord spots" and the larger one with the "polkadots" lol hopfully this helps with the discription, also i had just taked a synadonis with the stripe pattarn on it (erperis?) beacuse he was getting in fights with the polkadot cat.


lol again, sorry for the lack of correct terms im trying to learn still.

ok, i think ill take yalls advice and stick to just peacocks. would you say 3-4 cats, and 5-7 peacocks should be a full tank?

One of these are the Synodonotis species you want:

http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=103

http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=95

http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=857

http://www.planetcatfish.com/common/species.php?species_id=239 (very unlikely this is what you have, but they would work)

looks like i have a multi. a eupetrus, and a ocellifer.

ok so just to recap. leave the cats. leave the peacocks.

remove all over livestock.

add a few more peacocks. any other options as far as tank mates?

DNRpaintball said:

looks like i have a multi. a eupetrus, and a ocellifer.

ok so just to recap. leave the cats. leave the peacocks.

remove all over livestock.

add a few more peacocks. any other options as far as tank mates?

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You can never trust a cichlid as to whom they will get along with ..you could really just learn by experience..try mixing a few other African cichlids..best bet for stocking is a gallon for every 1" of fish..that's the "rule of thumb" although it really just depends who's gonna be the dominating fish..have fun with them..just observe their behavior and see of you need to add more or just stay with what you have already..

Here's a link I found from one of CCA's sponsor..check it out..

http://www.cichlidsarespecial.com/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=28

Hope that helps you man..

-aldrich

Ading522 said:

You can never trust a cichlid as to whom they will get along with ..you could really just learn by experience..try mixing a few other African cichlids..best bet for stocking is a gallon for every 1" of fish..that's the "rule of thumb" although it really just depends who's gonna be the dominating fish..have fun with them..just observe their behavior and see of you need to add more or just stay with what you have already..

Click to expand...

The inch per gallon is often too simplistic. The things that really matter are tank surface area, filtration, water changes, body mass and activity.

This website gives you at least a sanity check:
http://aqadvisor.com

great guys,

id say mission complete. im glad i joined this fourm, i appricate all the help.

thanks again

When I recommended you keep the synodontis, I assumed (obviously wrongly) that they were all the same species. I recommend multipunctatus or lucippinis/petricola. Both are very pretty, very mild mannered and have small spots. Google them to find pictures. The primary difference is mostly size. The multipunctatus will get larger and in a 75, I'd get 5 or 6. They can be expensive, but members might have some or order online. I'd get ride of the occelifer and eupterus.

For the peacocks, it appears you are on your way to an all male peacock tank. These are wonderful show tanks but can be a bit tricky to deal with personalities. A few rules of thumb:

buy males that do not look like each other
stay away from the males reputed to be more aggressive i.e. the jacobfriberghi species. Check out www.cichlid-forum.com for information on different species.
Buy the males when they are just starting to show color but are not mature. You'll get less aggression that way.
Always add at least three at the same time or the newbies will get beat up.
get a small second tank for peacocks that might get stressed or beaten up and need to be removed and rehomed. Trust me, you will need this.
Get a sponge filter in addition to a good canister or HOB filter so you can move the sponge filter into the smaller tank when necessary
Landscape well with lots of hiding places
Over filter
Keep up with water changes.
You can add a few mbuna with peacocks notably p. acei and labs -- gender doesn't matter

I'd recommend a total of 12-15 fish plus the cats.

The one inch rule doesn't apply to cichlids

How about that

DNRpaintball said:

hey! im new and have aggression problems

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Me too and I've been here for years. My fish get along fine, me and other humans not so much, but welcome to the Forum.

If you're going to go the African lake route you really should look into stabilizing your pH at 7.6+ or thereabouts. Teaspoon of baking soda per five gallons will put you in the ballpark, and crushed coral and/or some sort of alkaline substrate (dolomite, oyster shells, limestone, etc.) will keep it there. If you haven't already done this, make the change slowly over the course of a few days so as not to subject your fish to undue distress.

Just my two cents -- I don't do anything to the tap water in either my peacock colony or mbuna tanks. I do have crushed coral in the substrate and lace rock,though. I have no idea what the pH is but the fish are thriving . . .

These guys put you on the right track, for sure.

One thing I will add is that you can also throw smaller Malawi haps the mix. Good peacock tankmates would be smaller blue Placidochromis (phenochilus, electra, etc), Copadichromis (not borleyi), Scianochromis fryeri (blue ahli), Lethrinops, and just about any Otopharynx species.

Good luck and keep us posted. Welcome to the forum.

yes, that's right Tony. I forgot he said he had a 75. Most definitely get a Taiwan Reef -- one my favorite haps!!