Murder in the Malawi Tank

Sorry for the loss of your lab.
Keep trying to catch and isolate the tattered yellow lab....it might be
next.

Any possibility the yellow lab died of something else and the other fish
just picked at its carcass?

I'm not sure what size tank you have or how many mbuna are in there, and I'm
not sure what solution would really work.
With the M. lombardoi or lombardoi-hybrids (if that's what they are),
you're tank is pretty much on the aggressive side.

You could try increasing the number of yellow labs (which are generally a
less aggressive fish) to decrease odds of a specific fish being targeted
(but the threat of more 'murders' will still exist). I'd go with adding at
least 4 more. A total of 8 labs would be a good quantity if you are able to
stock that many. If that doesn't help you could try removing the most
aggressive fish in the tank

If that doesn't work you could try removing all of the lombardi and
replacing them with less aggressive fish (ps. acei would go nicely with
yellow labs).

If you want to keep all the hybrids you could add more aggressive fish, but
that's a risky option.

Any pics of your fish?

kay-bee


"Gill Passman" wrote in message
.. .
I came down this morning to find a dead Yellow Lab. I instantly thought it
was the tattered beaten up one that I've been trying to catch and isolate
for the past few days....but no...she is still swimming around and keeping
out of trouble. It was a perfectly healthy (until this morning) Lab. It was
pretty badly chewed up.

I have two suspects that are beating on one another so much that they now
both have sores on their mouths...and one of them bit me the other night.
Allegedly, they are Maylandia Lombardoi but from what I can see I'm now
suspecting they are "mutts" - I have 4 of them - 2 are slightly
bluish/white, one is very yellow and the other is a browny yellow. It is
the yellow and the browny yellow that are fighting - they are now 4-5 inch
plus and very fat. From the fry in the tank I'm a little confused about
their origin - deep blue with black vertical stripes - doesn't match
anything else I've got so I'm guessing they are from these fish.

Should I oik both of these fish out of the tank and trade them in as they
will certainly kill one another if not other tank companions? Should I
leave the status quo as if I get rid of these two Mbuna's by their nature
will then fight again and another dominant fish will emerge? Should I pick
one and keep it and get rid of the other one? "Innocent" fish are getting
caught up in their war...

Gill