Male Aggression

[fishlover500]

In my 65 gallon mbuna tank I have to many males fighting for dominance, one I bought 2 days ago
got beat up on by the others constantly, so I moved him to my 30 gallon community tank. Surprisingly
he is doing very well and isn't being picked on or picking on other fish. He is very passive.

Dominance Order:

Ice Blue Red Top
Maingano
unknown species (grey)

I would like to add this fish back into the malawi tank after his fins are healed but I will need to get rid
of the males that are threats, is this a good idea? He is extremely passive and if these fish were removed
he would be the biggest male (by far) I got him out of the assorted africans tank, and a realiable staff member
told me he would be a nice blue with a vivid red line on the top of his body, any idea what fish??

 

[fatheadminnow]

Do you have any females in your 65 gallon tank?

You want at least 2-3 females for every 1 male.

If you do this, it will most likely even out the aggression issue, and your fish will most likely be fine.

If you dont have/want to get females, you could remove the dominant males and add him back. Bit you might find out that, if the fish you add back to the tank is the biggest one in there, that he might pick on the smaller ones.

With Mbuna Cichlids, each fish will find their own "level" or status within the tank very quickly.

So by taking out the dominant males now, you are only going to put another cichlid("next in line") in the dominant place. There is always going to be a dominant Cichlid in a Cichlid tank, and the other Cichlids will follow suit under the dominant Cichlid.

You can click the Cichlid Index in my sig to try to I.D. your type of Cichlid.

EDIT: Your Cichlid might be a Labeotropheus trewavasae?

-FHM

 

[fishlover500]

I have some females in my tank, well at least one that I know of (has had fry)
I know you should have a Male:Female of 2-4 but it seems like every time I go to the
pet store I buy a few fish hoping to disperse aggression and I end up with almost
all males, I would guess I have a Male:Female ratio of 1:1 or 1:0.75
I have taken back a male before and know about how the new male steps up and takes
his position. What I am trying to do though is take out the other males to let him be the dominant
male, him being fairly gentle.

 

[fishlover500]

It looks like one of the deeper blue varieties of a labeotropheus trewavasae
EXCEPT it has a normal mouth, not a weird one

 

[fatheadminnow]

I have some females in my tank, well at least one that I know of (has had fry)
I know you should have a Male:Female of 2-4 but it seems like every time I go to the
pet store I buy a few fish hoping to disperse aggression and I end up with almost
all males, I would guess I have a Male:Female ratio of 1:1 or 1:0.75
I have taken back a male before and know about how the new male steps up and takes
his position. What I am trying to do though is take out the other males to let him be the dominant
male, him being fairly gentle.

That probably will work then, but really it is trial and error.

So I would say give it a shot and see what happens.

-FHM

 

[ntK]

I have some females in my tank, well at least one that I know of (has had fry)
I know you should have a Male:Female of 2-4 but it seems like every time I go to the
pet store I buy a few fish hoping to disperse aggression and I end up with almost
all males, I would guess I have a Male:Female ratio of 1:1 or 1:0.75
I have taken back a male before and know about how the new male steps up and takes
his position. What I am trying to do though is take out the other males to let him be the dominant
male, him being fairly gentle.

You weren't very specific about what species of cichlids you have in your aquarium. However, from what I read in this post you definitely need to add more females for each of the species you have in your tank. Like I said you didn't exactly say how many total fish you have or what types, but from what you did say the obvious answer would be more females.

 

[kj23502]

If you have really aggressive fish, just because you remove them for a bit doesn't mean they won't regain their hierarchy when you put them back in.