Behavor and Desease

Question
I have a fifty gallon tank at my office and this one chilid keeps picking up the rocks from the bottom and moving them leaving a bare spot in the middle of the tank. Why does it do this? It is purple with black strips running the length of the fish. I think it is a African Chiclid. The question is this fish has become very aggressive toward the other fish. he has grown biger than the others and pecks at the others so that they are loosing their fins. is there anything I can do about this?

David  

Answer
Hi David,
  The bad news is that he is going to keep doing this.  The good news is that he is doing it because he wants to mate. What  you have there is a male African cichlid who is trying to make a courting area so he can impress the females.  

 To deal with the aggression, be sure that you have lots of plants, rock and/or wood to create structure in the tank; structure will allow other fish places to hide when he gets extra aggressive.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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