africans

[MICKSNOWDOG]

i have a nice setup run off a large divisional sump filter. i have about 8 species of africans, i keep their water perfect, gh 20, kh 12, ph 8.2-8.5 all the tiome, temp anywhere between 22 and 27 but never varying largely in short time.
all my males are supposed breeders but are mercilessly attacking the females, i have lost a lot of fish from supposed breeding colonies or breeding pairs. and bugger all breeding. theres logs n post n **** like that to hide in but the females are getting bashed hard, tails eaten away at, like full on ram raided from across the tank by the male, scales missing etc. i take em away and put em in another tank for a while to recover and they just get flogged again when reintroduced. my perscipax orange caps definately were breeding, i have fry from the previous batch, they came from a well stocked community tank, both adulots were in great nick, now he's got two girls he's flogging them both. any clues anyone?

 

[bigbird]

sorry for your troubles but what africans do you have ? They are know bashers most of them, that is why they recommend to have 1 male and 4-5 females and plenty of hidding spots so a colony. let us know your stock and maybe even a pick of the tank to see the structure. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[Adriantheone]

Agree with Big Bird, at a minimum 3 females for each male for yor perspicax as the males are very aggresive!

 

[MICKSNOWDOG]

the perscipax were fine as a pair previously. the fish i am having these dramas with all have one side of a divided 4footer, 100lt per side, red rubin peacocks 1m 2f, used to be just one pair previous to me owning them. elongatus mplianga ? 1m 4f he's killed a lot and now they seem to all be getting along ok, xmas fulu 1m1f he had about 5f he flogged them all except the last one, and 1m 2f perscipax orange cap, as i said earlier they were fine in a pair in someone elses community tank, breeding well, it was a very stocked tank, even perhaps overstocked a bit

 

[Lornek8]

Were these pairs all seperated previsouly?
From the sound of things at least some were housed in a community setting. If this were the case, the males would have been preoccupied with the other fish and cold take their aggression out accordingly. Now they are seperate the only fish to batter are the females.

 

[bigbird]

You do not state how large your tank is. I found when I had africans, that the males are much more eagerly to try and breed and the males would even chase other females away. In my 6ft tank I had to make up 4 little islands to make sure each male fish had a small territory to control. With so many types of fish in your tank I am sure that real estate is also at a minimum for the males and maybe the females do not have enough areas to retreat to . If you can post a pic of your tank ? Females need areas behind rocks to hide etc and consider the line of sight for the males as well. Photo would be noce though. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[MICKSNOWDOG]

yeah man i said they all have half a 4 footer each, 98litres.
thanks folks, i might switch things around maybe and bang em all in together in my 8x2x2

 

[MICKSNOWDOG]

ok so i am gonna take the dividers out of the 4 footers. so i am gonna mix moori dolphins and red rubin peacocks. xmas fulu, perscipax orange caps and tanzania -cant remember. electric yellows and electric blues. astatotiliapa burtani, elongatus mplianga and dragon blood peacocks. how does this sound?

 

[bigbird]

i think you should be fine, because the agression should be difussed by so many other, Just remember to make sure you have a small territory for all and monitor how they are going. keep us in the loop. Any photos ?
cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[MICKSNOWDOG]

NO PICS OF them, but if u search micksnowdog on photobucket you can see my plecs collection as of 6 or more months back. will do fresh updates in a few months when i move into my new system

 

[Adriantheone]

Hey mate just wondering how these guys are going since you removed the dividers? :hi:

 

[MICKSNOWDOG]

WELL I ONLY TRIED IT WITH ONE OF THE 4 tanks, the one with the perscipax orange caps, the tanzanias and xmas fulus, definate imporovement, the females are healthier for sure, there is still agression and he gets out and hunts em down but i think just by the general condition of the females it is a win. thanks for the advice peoples as it was spot on.

 

[chris52]

Hi Mate. So in effect the afircans have been living in 2 ft tanks(4 ft divided in half)?. This is way to small for even the smallest mbuna. No wonder there was lots of agressin. So now you have 4ft tanks and you are going to mix dolphins and peacocks??. Dolphins will grow to probably 10" much to big for a 4 ft tank. Most peacocks will soon outgow a 4 ft tank. If you really need to keep all these fish together, you are going to need a much bigger tank or i can see more issues ahead. Chris.