Acei Red Around Pec Fins

[mnemenoi]

Could also be that some are becoming sexually mature. Even without females sexually active males will become increasingly aggressive and start territorial behaviors. You just have some of the most aggressive of the many cichlids available. Malawis (especially Mbunas) are well known for their pugnacious reputation and hybrids also have their reputations. Perhaps separating the Blood Parrot might sort it out

[ptran]

Can you post a picture of your tank? I'm thinking maybe adding more rocks would help with aggression war.

[Beth777]

I had actually added more areas in the tank but, one thing I did was to move the parrots pot to the other side. I'm going to move it back where it had been for years. When the parrots were in that particular pot they couldn't see the acei hovering up above them but now they can, and they don't like the new bigger one that I put in the old ones place. Figures. And yes, they're blood parrots, I've had them for years.

Someone on a cichlid forum thought that maybe the acei had been trying to spawn with the lab and that's why he was always tormenting her. That's when I decided to pull them both out of the tank and look down their shorts. Sure enough the acei is a boy and the lab a girl. Then I add one male peacock and 5 female peacocks when I rearranged the tank and all heck broke lose. I thought that's what cichlid people do and everything is roses. LOL Can you believe no one picks on the male peacock? They all completely ignore him and if a fish can be full of itself it's certainly him.

A few days ago I actually saw the lab go up to the acei and shimmy in front of him. She has completely changed since adding the new acei and labs. Twice now I've seen her lip locking with the socolofi. My chin hit the floor on that one.

To my delight, this morning Big Blue (what my husband calls the acei) was at the front of the tank nearly jumping out of the water to be fed and the redness on one side looked better. I got home a few minutes ago and there he was jumping and splashing to be fed again and the redness on the other side of his body looks better. Wooo Hooo!!! Still a lot of missing scales but at least now I know that can be quiet normal for these little terrors.

No more new fish and I'm never rearranging that tank again.

its the rough part of the hobby for sure. the changing of the environment usually is not an issue as long as you keep the number of territories the same, or increase them. each fish wants their own part to call home, so if caves and areas were reduced, that can increase aggression to control an area. when chaos erupted in my tanks i increased the number of territories and added a powerhead into the tank. allowed for some added exercise. that seemed to calm things down a bit.

also introducing new fish can be hit or miss. generally african colonies have larger numbers to curb aggression. they swim in a larger school, so if a fight ever breaks out, they just get lost in the crowd and nothing really ever comes of the conflict. the parrots are not africans though.

another thing is labs will cross breed with many malawis. its possible there werent any females before, and if you introduced some, there could be fighting over mating partners. i assume the parrots are blood parrots, so they wont compete for the labs. they dont cross breed and the males are usually sterile. but the aceis and male labs will compete for females.

the fact that the acei is eating and doing typical behavior is a good sign. scratches, nipped fins, and missing scales are more common with africans. as long as you arent seeing blood/muscle, they should heal quickly as long as the water is kept clean. they are creating new territories and it takes time.

[Beth777]

I don't have any where to put the parrot on a permanent basis and I'm thinking since he and the female parrot rule the tank that by taking him out all heck will break out even worse.

The male peacock has spawned twice within the past month. He's a real romeo.LOL

Could also be that some are becoming sexually mature. Even without females sexually active males will become increasingly aggressive and start territorial behaviors. You just have some of the most aggressive of the many cichlids available. Malawis (especially Mbunas) are well known for their pugnacious reputation and hybrids also have their reputations. Perhaps separating the Blood Parrot might sort it out

[Beth777]

Can you believe that I'm really not up to date with technology? LOL I might see if I can get my son to do it. I don't have the patience for gadgets. If I plug it in it had better work, NOW. LOLOL

I have pvc, fake caves, a few plants here and there, a big fake hollow tree stump. The lab hides in the tree stump and tries to bite the other fish through a hole when they swim by. Cracks me up. LOL

Can you post a picture of your tank? I'm thinking maybe adding more rocks would help with aggression war.

[Beth777]

Hey Austin, I found this on The Planted Tank Forum. It also looks like a lot of reef people use vit.c in their tanks.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=100960

LOL I never thought about adding vitamin C to boost their immune system. It's good to know. I guess it works just like human. So how do you dose it?

[morpheus]

glad to hear he is coming back around now. just takes some time. people rearrange tanks and add fish all the time. i wouldnt discourage it. sometimes it works and sometimes it does not and you flip things back.

[ptran]

I rearrange my rocks and decor all the time without any problem. I feel bore after a few weeks LOL. Hard scaping is a forever evolving process for me.

On another note, sometimes rearranging decor is also a way to reduce and sub-size aggression.

[Beth777]

I'm thinking about getting some more caves this weekend. Walmart actually has some cichlid caves. Of course that will mean another turf war. Should I wait until he's all healed?

glad to hear he is coming back around now. just takes some time. people rearrange tanks and add fish all the time. i wouldnt discourage it. sometimes it works and sometimes it does not and you flip things back.

[Beth777]

A few minutes ago I was literally dropping spirulina flakes into Big Blue's mouth. Mercy sakes he looks like someone's been beating him with a sharp stick, but he's back to being a pig and splashing water. LOL

[ptran]

I'm glad that he is better. You might want to put some melafix to help him heal faster


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[Beth777]

I started using it and I guess that helped. Things have been unusually calm today. Guess they're resting up for tomorrows war.

Thank You, You're a Great Fish Buddy

I'm glad that he is better. You might want to put some melafix to help him heal faster


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[morpheus]

with the melafix, make sure to remove your carbon (if you use carbon)....otherwise it will just have removed all the antibiotics and burned the carbon out completely

cichlids are very resilient fish...chasing/rough housing is a way of life. adding more territories wont necessarily make more turf wars happens. when i added more into my tank, they essentially all took turns rotating in and out of the new areas for a few days. never biting just trying them on for size. all balanced out quickly. they usually stick close to their "home base" so to speak.

[ptran]

There are 2 ways that will work for African cichlids IME:

1. Load the tank up with a lot more fish. This will also require more filtration for heavier bio load.
2. Add more rocks / decor to create out-of-sigh line, more caves, more territories.

[Beth777]

What??!! You're saying that I can get more fish?!

There are 2 ways that will work for African cichlids IME:

1. Load the tank up with a lot more fish. This will also require more filtration for heavier bio load.
2. Add more rocks / decor to create out-of-sigh line, more caves, more territories.