12 replies to this topic

[shane78]

Ok I still need help these cichlids are driving me bonkers, I keep seeing tanks the same size as mine with a heap of cichlids all swimming together out in the open and come out when u look yet my tank just looks like a bunch of rocks with hiding fish,

I thought I had sorted it after getting rid of my 20cm monster and replaced with 3 juvies, all was good for two days now its the same,  I am still learning and just want to have a really nice happy cichlid tanks.

So this is what I have, its a 3 foot tank 91 x 35 x 45cm with a aqua one cf1000 canister.

I have a

15cm red empress

10cm electric yellow

5cm electric yellow

5cm tangerine peocock

and what I think could be a eureka red peocock 5cm

 

oh and 2 adult apple snails.

 

That 15 and 10cm guys swim around the most and the red empress seems to have taking over the bully roll, could the others be hiding because they came in the after those guys.

 

What can I do to make this an active one, I am thinking of getting another 5 or 6 maybe 7 juvie cichlids bout 5cm and putting them in what do u guys think

I know the tank is kinda small but it is all I have at the moment and am not upgrading any time soon.

 

Any advice and tips will be greatly appreciatted.

Edited by shane78, 22 October 2013 - 06:37 PM.

[Dylan Simmons]

maybe take out some hiding spots, turn lights off? dont feed them for a few days get them following you for food?

[TheTexasCichlidMasacre]

the bigger ones are gonna be bossy to the little ones... you cant just expect them to get along straight away... give them time... if you are expecting things to happen within a day or 2... i find the more i change things the more unsettled some fish become ...

Edited by TheTexasCichlidMasacre, 22 October 2013 - 08:49 PM.

[burnsy]

I had the same problem with my fish hiding whenever I walked up to the tank.

I got them out of the habbit by feeding them whenever I walked up to the tank. They now associated someone looking through the glass as food time and all come out. I only feed them twice a day now tho  .

[shane78]

Ok thanks guys maybe I should give em a week or so and see.

[malawiman85]

Generally the more hiding spots the more confident they feel about coming out... They can take a while to chill out... dont worry might take a couple weeks... Burnsy's advice is worth trying.

[shane78]

so do u think another five small cichlids would be to much for this tank, they seem to all get along apart from the two bigger ones.

[Furnix]

I found my fish were the same when i first start up a tank. Give them time and they will feel more comfortable n swim more freely. Like malawiman said leave the tank as is so they can claim their own hiding spots and they will be more confident.

As for adding more fish. Doing it gradualy add one or two every few weeks. For one it will help give your filter time to catch up if there is any spikes (not likely with juvies, but still good practice) and 2ndly so they can all get used to each other without freaking out about 5 new fish to worry about.

[MrLeifBeaver]

It's taken 8 weeks for my EY's to start swimming out from their hidey holes. Do not worry they will get used to you.

[shane78]

ok will have to wait then thanks for all your input guys, will keep u informed on the outcome.

[Pat]

They may liven up by themselves but they may not.

 

I move my fish around a bit through my tanks for various reasons and I've seen a previously lively Malawi tank become very skittish overnight by just removing a few fish.  My Malawis seem to be more confident in numbers and more fish distract and dilute territorialism. A safe option could be to add two or three Clown Loaches. They will help with cleaning duties and they won't interfere in the pecking order of your cichlids. They are quite active, colourful and may give the other fish some encouragement.

 

Adding some Malawi juvies is all well and good but you may have problems when they mature. But then again you may not. I overstock my 3 footer with Africans and it is awesome. Lively as and very little aggression. But I have other tanks to move any problems to.

 

The size desparity in some of your fish wouldn't be helping. 15cm to 5cm in a 3 footer would be quite intimidating

Edited by Pat, 02 November 2013 - 01:00 AM.

[Redevilz]

In my heavily stocked 4 foot this was also the case.

I had

2x Jack dempseys 7cm
2x Firemouths 6cm
2x red empress 7cm

And they were hiding a lot and only sometimes darting up to get food.

I then added

1x Pakistani loach
1x Pictus
2x oscars

These guys were super active and I guess the others were jealous of the new guys getting all the food and swimming around freely. After a few days all of the fish were swimming around the tan.

Cheers

[shane78]

update I have been feeding them as burnsy suggested and it has worked pretty good the little guys coming out a lot more often, there still a little skitish still but Im sure it will get better, as for the size difference the 15cm and 10cm only seem to bother with themselfs and leave the smaller guys, and they are the ones that are hiding the most, the 15cm is a little girl!!!