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I have a 30gal mbuna aquarium that has 3 pseudotropheus socolofi(1m/2f) and 3 yellow labs(1m/2f). They are all fairly younge and are relativly peaceful. The male socolofi is almost 4 inches, and the females are about 3 inches. The male yellow lab is 3 inches and the females are just under 2 inches. The male socolofi has taken over. He spends the whole day swimming around the tank. If another cichlid comes in his sight he will stick his fins up and the other will hide. The only time he does not allow this is when I feed them or I rearrange the tank. I want to get all of the cichlids to stay out at once. What can I do to improve the situation?

lose the socolofi and get Aceis. problem solved. the yellow labs have the same markings as the socolofi so he sees them as a threat to his food. the socolofi is the more agressive fish so he becomes king.
there is another way to solve the problem if you absolutly cant live with out the socolofi. crowd the tank.
you have the exact same problem i had with my mbuna. same fish everything. its the reason i got out of mbuna and went to south american. the best thing you could prolly do is get rid of the socolofi and either get more yellows and make it a species tank. OR replace the socolofi with a couple Aceis.
i have 1 socolofi with 5 yellow labs and hes king. i took a ton of pots cut in half and tossed them into a 29g tank. agression is almost nonexistent but i never see the fish.

Last edited by Sin in Style at 30-Nov-2004 08:46

Thanks, I think what I might do is find a really good setup and get some more yellow labs. I rearranged the tank last night and now there are a couple that I can see but they are not in the front. For overcrowding the tank what should I add to get a peaceful set up? more of the same species or a third species?