Red zebra hiding.

[darksheep]

hi

i got 2 red zebras, they use to swim around, do a little kissing dance. the problem is now one of them goes up and lays on the filter til tucker time, i dont know the sex of either it has been doing this for about a week now, and i dont no what wrong with it doesnt look sick, i can take a picture of it, and post here if anyone think it would help

 

[Mogo]

You we're probably right in bringing up the sex. It's possible you have two males or two females and one has become super dominant to the other. This is more common when two males of the same or similar species are kept together, but have seen it happen when two females of the same species are kept together with no male of the same species present. Determining the sex would help in finding a resolution. Post a pic of both of the fish, and I'm sure someone here will gladly help in determining the sex. Try to get pics when they are not fighting, as the colouration can change quite dramatically in times of aggression. HTH

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Yup. Everything mentioned in the previous post is the reason why harems are recommended for most mbuna, or at least higher numbers. They are very aggressive and it doesn't matter what gender they are, the dominent only has one other mbuna to take his aggression out on. The reason your fish is hanging out at the top is because it's the only spot where it doesn't get noticed.

What else is in that tank? What size is it?

 

[darksheep]

My tanks suppose to hold 29 gallons but i havent got it full to top bout 5 cm from the top where i usually keep it up to. Ive got one blue acara, one silver shark 2 yellow electric both male(but so far they seem to get on good if a problems arise ill find one of them a new home), and 2 algae eaters, i dont think my tanks over stocked.

i got a couple of pics but cant work out how to upload them. i click the img button and i want me to put in an url its on my hard drive lol??

 

[darksheep]

yes i have a heaps of little caves and spots for them to hide in. Im gonna vent(think thats the word for it ) to see what sex both are, because the one thats going on top of the filter is considerably larger ( best part of 3 cm) if some thing doesnt improve in the next couple of day i might b forced to move one to a smaller tank, (only an emegerncy tank, not set up all i need is the heater bout foot long no idea on much water it holds) or get give it away. any info i should no bout venting them before i do it?

 

[Mogo]

If they are a decent size, venting mbuna is quite easy. The size difference in the vent in zebra's, is quite noticable. But if one of yours is larger than the other by 3cm, they should be at a size where you should be able to sex them by colouration and finnage alone, in that case you could save yourself the hassle of trying to catch them.

 

[darksheep]

i caught both of them and checked them out man they are quick needed two nets and a lot of pateince lol, the one that hide behind the filter has a slightly oval shaped hole, the other has a round holes and a darker kinda of a blacky colour section towards the back fin suppose ud call the anal fin looking at the diagram im looking at. so i think the one that hides up on the filter is a female and the other a male, so im guessing the problem is he wants to mate with her but she doesnt wanna mate? , that and ive created more hiding spots and moved the filter so its in the middle of the short side of the tank and kinda built a little fence stright to the back with plastic plants see what happens, i dont think ive got enough room to add nother zebra.