Restoring the Peace!!!!!

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

hey, i have a pair of leleupi housed in a 45 gal. by themselves, for awhile now the pair bond has been perfect. Sure the would "argue" and have the ocasional "domestic dispute" but for the most part both male and female got along great w/ eachother, even gave me 3 batches of fry!!!first time i removed the fry when they got decent size, and the second time the fry were about a quater an in when one day i woke up and noticed a good 20 or so brand new fry at the entrance of the fm's cave. Seeing as how neither the male, female or older fry really cared too much that these new fry were in the picture i decided to just leave them in there a bit longer. Well everything went about normal for a good 2-3 weeks then all #@# broke loose for some reason over night!!!went to bed all was good, woke up and the fm was at the VERY upper most portion of the tank(and this is a 23in tall tank here) w/ torn fins and the male kept coming up after her i guess just to make sure she didn't even think about coming back down. Well i imediatly moved both the male and the female, each to different tanks for a week and let the fry grow a little more before i moved them to their own tank and added the parents back together into their own tank, this time i added TONS of caves and large shells, and a few places that only the female could get into, ( i even had to break my natural look for a clay pot right in the center w/ a hole small enough that only the female could get in) So the female still stays at the bottom but stays mostly near the places only she can get to, and when the male see's here he basically flips out untill she enters one of the caves that he can't follow here into. SO now to my question, would adding maybe a few zebra danio's that would for the most part stay in the upper portion of the tank bring peace back to my pair and maybe evenget the leleupi back on the path of givin me some more fry??? I was just hoping that the danios would kinda distract the male a little bit and possibly even kinda give the male and female a "common enemy" to bring their pair bond back together??? Plus i figured the way the danio's move so quickly non-stop kinda the leleupi really wouldn't even be able to bother them TOO much. Well does this sound like a good idea? or should i just let the leleupi settle this themselves and just kinda keep my eyes on things to make sure it doesn't get out of control???

Thanks in advance for the advice,
-matt
BTW
male is allmost 3in and the fm is about 2.5

 

[smb]

45g is the minimum I would suggest for N. leleupi. It's commen for the male to take on the female and show a lot of aggro. What you are seeing is normal.

I never like to put community fish as dithers with Africans because they are so dang quick that they will make short work of them. I actually use Mbuna as dithers for my CA's because they can't catch them and Mbunas are mean as all get out and can handle themselves.

I would make sure, like you did, to add as many caves and hiding spots for the female and you should be ok. I would try that before adding dithers or more females.

 

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

Well it's been a little over a week since i added all the caves and a few days before i added the male i added the female so she could get used to the tank and be comfortable before i added the male. But still the male tries his best to keep her out of ANY caves, fortunately, there are several that only she can get to. I just don't get how this same pair, just a few weeks ago spent months together VERY peacefully in a tank by themselves. Just don't know what could have happend to push the male over the edge?

thanks,
-matt
oh the only thing about using mbuna as dithers is well, leleupi really really suck as parents. They just let the fry go where they want and if they get eaten, they get eaten, that's why i have the leleupi in a tank by themselves.

 

[smb]

oh the only thing about using mbuna as dithers is well, leleupi really really suck as parents. They just let the fry go where they want and if they get eaten, they get eaten, that's why i have the leleupi in a tank by themselves.

Sorry, I didn't explain myself very well. I was saying I wouldn't use community fish as dithers because Africans are so quick and that I use Mbunas as dithers for my CA's. I don't suggest you use Mbunas as dithers.

I hope it all works out. You did exactly as I would have done and added the caves and then give the female a few days headstart to find all the caves to hide in.

What is it like at feeding time? Does the male eat or is he more worried about harrassing the female?

For cichlids to get along for a while and then all heck breaks loose is actually pretty common.

I wish I had your solution. Maybe someone else might have a better idea, but what you did is exactly what I would have done.

 

[Xxzsdrklakdfj]

well actually feeding time is neither, both the male and female don't really care that much about eating, they will just kinda casually go grab some food then take a break, then go back in a few minutes, but the male doesn't turn down food to chase her, so i guess that's a good sign though.

-matt

 

[smb]

The fact that he doesn'tmess with her is a great sign.

Also, remember as soon as this aggro came on after a couple weeks, it can sometimes disappear also and everything will work out.