Too aggressive?

[Smithder]

So I put my first goup of fish in my 90 gallon about a week ago. All fish seem to be doing well. My issue is the biggest fish I put in (red sun peacock) is running the tank which I'm fine with, but it seems that he is getting more insistant that the second biggest fish (Blue Neon Flavescent) stay in the corner of the tank. He chases and flares is fins up to almost all the fish but is especially grumpy toward the blue neon. Should I be worried that he is too aggressive or will this get better as my stock increases? This may be normal but I'm new.

I have kind of a mix of guys in there at this point. Biggest to smallest.
Red sun peacock
Blue Neon Flavescent
juvinial electric blue hap
Small Hap Obliquiden
3 small yellow labs

Thanks for the input

[Austy16414]

Do you know if any of the fish are females? I think once you add more fish they should calm down


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[morpheus]

nice looking male. sounds like typical behavior really. there will always be one dominant male in the tank. the fish he is pushing around is probably another male, and since the group is small with a lot of space, he is being singled out. as your stock increases, the aggression will diminish some. just introduce a group at a time so nobody is singled out.

chasing is one thing, but if you start to see torn fins and scales missing, then the fish is just flat out getting beaten up. my dominant male mbuna does the same stuff. my male yellow lab is typically hiding near the filter of in some plants, but gets chased when he ventures out. never gets injured. make sure there are enough caves and areas for each to call their own. adding a power head helped for me too. gives them exercise and more oxygen in the water.

[Smithder]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm going for all males and with the exception of the yellow labs I think I have all males so far.

[morpheus]

i have heard of peacocks breeding with labs. so they could compete for females anyway. all you can do is keep an eye out for injuries right now and keep stocking over time. if nobody is getting hurt, and they are all eating, i wouldnt worry too much. even in my tank during feeding time everyone eats together then its back to the pecking order.

[Smithder]

Any issue selectively mixing peacocks and haps together?

Any additional issues by stocking with larger fish that are already colored up or best to stick with juveniles?

Do do I need to always add in groups or can I add one fish if I see something I like? I have read turn off the lights and do the release while you are feeding.

[morpheus]

i dont think there is anything against housing peacocks and haps together...someone else will correct me if i am mistaken.

everyone will have different methods of stocking. i personally stock new fish of around the same size. on the other hand, if they are smaller, sometimes the dominant fish dont see them as much of a threat and leave them alone. you will see how newcomers are accepted and treated over time, and make a judgement call when looking for fish. if you have all adults, i wouldnt recommend throwing juvis in that may not be able to run/defend themselves as well. most newcomers will just be running anyway, no matter what size, as they adjust from a stressful move. you can mitigate that by slow acclimating the fish in the bag as best you can.

you dont HAVE to add in groups, just in my experience adding a group gives better results. many cichlids will stake a certain area as theirs, and if one newcomer is introduced, they may gang up on it. the newcomer does not know which fish "owns" what spot, and will get chased away repeatedly (sometimes aggressively pursued out of the area). adding a few fish just spreads out the chasing so they wont continually go after one...changing their attention with each newcomer in their section.

you never really can tell. it happened to me recently. i added one fish of comparable size at night when the lights were off. i was awake a few hours after and monitored. nobody was bothering the newcomer much at all. i woke up the next morning, after the fish had about 7 hours of darkness to adjust, and the newcomer was beaten badly. fins torn, scales missing, etc. fish didnt make it, so it was a bummer.

its the rough part of the hobby. no matter what experience level you are and what precautions you take, sometimes fish just dont work out.

[ptran]

Do you know if any of the fish are females? I think once you add more fish they should calm down


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Agreed that adding more fish will spread out aggression to keep it under control

[ptran]

Any issue selectively mixing peacocks and haps together?

Any additional issues by stocking with larger fish that are already colored up or best to stick with juveniles?

Do do I need to always add in groups or can I add one fish if I see something I like? I have read turn off the lights and do the release while you are feeding.

Every time a new fish is added, they are going thru a pecking order again. IMO, it's best to add a group of 3-4 new fish at a time to spread out aggression. Adding fish of same size would also help with aggression.

[Austy16414]

All good advice above. As far as mixing peacocks and haps, you're good as long as they're close in size. I would not mix adults with juvies as the adults will outcompete and dominate the youngens. It's hard to say now, but you may run into issues with females labs. As morpheus said, there is the possibility of crossbreeding, which means you could see males competing for females, even if they're not the same species. When it comes to adding new fish, definitely best to add at least 3. I always add fish with the lights off and don't feed for a day after the addition

[Smithder]

Very much appreciate all the input. I'm starting to zero in on what I hope to have this tank look like. Just have to figure out how to best get there without doing anything too stupid.

[Austy16414]

No problem at all, we're all more than happy to help. Just post here if you have any more questions

[ptran]

All good advice above. As far as mixing peacocks and haps, you're good as long as they're close in size. I would not mix adults with juvies as the adults will outcompete and dominate the youngens. It's hard to say now, but you may run into issues with females labs. As morpheus said, there is the possibility of crossbreeding, which means you could see males competing for females, even if they're not the same species. When it comes to adding new fish, definitely best to add at least 3. I always add fish with the lights off and don't feed for a day after the addition

Yellow lab is monomorphic so it's hard to tell male from female. Recommend to remove from your group.

On the feeding, the guy at LFS told me otherwise. He recommended to feed existing fish before adding a new fish. I thought it make sense because they will be full and won't complete for food, hence won't beat up the new guy.

[morpheus]

Very much appreciate all the input. I'm starting to zero in on what I hope to have this tank look like. Just have to figure out how to best get there without doing anything too stupid.

glad to help. trust me there is no such thing as a stupid question. even if i think i know the answer, i still ask people on here for suggestions and tips.