newbie

Question
I have a 20 gallon wide tank. In it i have 1 medium golden apple snail, 2 male convicts(3inchs, one is pink), two-inch long zebra convicts, one-inch long pink convict(one died), two- inch long texans and a 3 inch long pond fish. LAtely the larger male zebra convict has been forcing the pink convict of his size into a far corner. He also has been picking on the smaller cichlids and been VERY territorial. I found a smaller pink convict dead the other day shoved under a rock but not injured or sick.Could it be the large male? The smaller convicts occassionally "fight back" by doing a beautiful display. They will even swim along side the larger male convict with no bother to the male. Could he be trying to protect them from the other large male whom he is chasing onto the corner?  I noticed a fraying of their(smaller convicts) fins and am treating incase of disease with pima fix and mela fix.?  Any advise on behavioral treatment?

Answer
Hello Bridget,

I'm sorry your cichlids aren't getting along too well!  I can't say I have a definite solution for you, but I do have a few suggestions.

First of all, I would only use Mela Fix for the fraying of the fins.  Using Mela and Pima Fix together is kind of redundant.

My first suggestion for the aggression, if you can bring yourself to part with him, is to find a fish store that takes/buys fish from you and let him go to another home.  Your other fish seem to get along just fine, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind the bully leaving them alone for a while.

If you can't bear parting with him (which I totally understand!), try putting some more decorations into the tank.  Lava rock is wonderful an inexpensive, anything with holes and caves and lots of places to hide.  Just crowd up the tank with all sorts of hiding places so that everyone can establish their own territories.  Cichlids are tough to figure out at first, but adding more to their surroundings will almost always cure any squabble.

Unless you are absolutely positive that it is a male, you might want to also check where this guy hangs out and chases everybody away from -- see if there are any itty bitty baby cichlids roaming around the area.  Mother cichlids are nototiously vicious.

I hope this has helped, let me know if there's anything else I can do for you or if this guy just doesn't let up.  I hope it all works out!

-Lindsay