Cichlid Aggression

[AustinT]

I’ve had some aggression lately in my Cichlid tank and am trying to figure out why. I have a 40 gallon tank with a OB, Dragon Blood, Sulfur, Lemon Jake, Electric Yellow cichlids. I’ve tried separating some seeing if that helped but I noticed the sulfur head chasing the dragon blood and the OB and the dragon blood would actually lip lock some times so I’m trying to figure out what is going on.

 

[OB Guy]

Mixing African Cichlids can be tricky especially with a small aquarium like your 40 gallon. What kind of decorations do you have in the tank? Your going to need some hiding spots to help with the aggression. Are all of the fish close to the same size? Is there males and females in the tank? If the Sulfur Head Peacock is starting most of the aggression try moving it to another and see what happens. Also overstocking can help with aggression but seeing how you only have a 40 gallon aquarium you're pretty limited on how many fish you can have in it.

 

[AustinT]

I have some places for them to hide, they are close to the same size, and I’m not sure if there is males or females. I’ve tried venting them but I still think they are to small to tell.

 

[AustinT]

I found my problem it was the OB I think it’s a female because I had all the other fish in a different tank and everything was fine then when I transferred the OB into the tank with them my electric yellow started fluttering in front of her and then they started chasing her and the other fish started chasing each other and when I took the OB out it all stopped!

 

[OB Guy]

I'd leave the OB out for a while and see if everything remains calm.