Dwarf cichlid recommendation

[TropicalBarnacle]

No, adding more will not help. And given what you describe, they should be separated ASAP or the loser will soon be dead.

We frequently read of having caves, plants, whatever to break up the sight, but that rarely solves the problem. Fish communicate via chemical pheromones and this alone can be highly stressful to a fish that factually is not wanted in the tank by the aggressor. In nature this is not a problem because the territory is defined and given the extent of the watercourse the submissive fish (for lack of a better term) can easily get away from the danger. In an aquarium this is not really possible. The dominant male is exercising his inherent right to set up his territory, but the submissive male (can be a female too) is prevented from taking the cue and leaving due to the space restriction.

Thanks. I asked my LFS their opinion and they said I can try adding 2 more Borelli's which I did. What ended up happening was the aggressive one became aggressive with all of them...looked like he was trying to murder them lol. So I actually separated the aggressive one for a week. In the meantime, one of the newer Borelli's took its place and became the aggressor, although significantly less aggressive than the one I removed. It chased the remaining two but stopped when they were further away. After a week I put the one I removed back in the tank and it is no longer the alpha. The one that took its place as the alpha still chases but not to the point where I need to worry it would kill the others.

 

[Byron]

Thanks. I asked my LFS their opinion and they said I can try adding 2 more Borelli's which I did. What ended up happening was the aggressive one became aggressive with all of them...looked like he was trying to murder them lol. So I actually separated the aggressive one for a week. In the meantime, one of the newer Borelli's took its place and became the aggressor, although significantly less aggressive than the one I removed. It chased the remaining two but stopped when they were further away. After a week I put the one I removed back in the tank and it is no longer the alpha. The one that took its place as the alpha still chases but not to the point where I need to worry it would kill the others.

May have lucked out, but be vigilant, this can change literally overnight. It happened with my Bolivians.