Concerned About My Multifasciatus

[mislisa]

 
I posted this in the emergency section yesterday, but I haven't had any replies and I figured you may be able to help me.
 
I have a 20g with 7 multifasciatus cichlids, as well as a few endlers and various snails.
 
One of my male multis has taken to wedging itself between my thermometer and the tank glass. His fins are a bit ragged, and he seems quite stressed. He is constantly being bullied by my other males as soon as he tries to move from this spot.(they will dart from the other side of the tank to chase him back into his spot). I believe the problem may be that I have too many males with too few females (I believe I have 4 males and 3 females that were bought as juveniles, so i didn't know the ratio until they grew) so I was planning on picking up some more females this weekend, to try and ease the tension. He will come out to eat, but only if I drop food right above him, but is then chased back to his spot by two of the other males. I've tried moving shells around, to try and allow for new territories to be formed, but it didn't seem to matter.
 
Tank stats are great, everything as it should be for these fish. I did an extra 50% water change yesterday, just in case there was something I wasn't testing for, but it hasn't seemed to help.
 
All of the other fish seem healthy and happy, and I just don't know what to do. I've tried taking him out to take to my LFS, but he won't hide in a shell as they usually do and bolts into a hole in one of my rocks. It's impossible to get him out of there and I've tried tricking him, but he's still very fast and active.
 
 
Sorry for the long post, but I just don't know what else to do. Do you think adding females may help? any and all advice welcome.
 
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[bullit]

How many shells do you have in the tank?

 

[mislisa]

I have tons of shells in there. I'll post a picture of the tank when I get home, but the floor of the tank is covered.

I did think that more shells may help, so I ordered more escargot shells that should get here in a few weeks. I'd buy shells locally, but no stores in my area sell the right kinds.

Is there anything else I can do to help him?

 

[webbie]

Mislisa,I had the same prob with my multis a few months ago ,I had 2 males 3 females along with sub adults and fry,the 2 males got along,but not without the odd scrap ,when one night they had a right  ding dong sand flew everywhere,when I came home from work the next day the loser like yours was up a corner all tattered sadly after acouple of days he was gone,naure taking its course I,m afraid,tangs more than most are very aggressive,apart from re-home him I dont think there is a lot you can do

 

[bullit]

As above. You could maybe make something high in a corner of the tank so he has somewhere to go. A pic of the tank would good. cheers

 

[KevM]

Just remove him. There's next to no chance he will be allowed back into the group. Any more females added to the tank will simply be claimed by the colony. Find him a new home as quickly as you can or he'll likely be killed.

 

[Tizer]

^^ what dogs said, has happened to me in the past too.