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

kay-bee wrote:
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



The tank is a 200L (4ft). Its current occupants a-

5 Yellow Labs
2 Aulonocara Hybrid OB Peacocks
4 Maylandia Lombardoi
3 Melanochromis Cyaneorhabdos (Electric Blue Johanni)
1 Snowball Plec
Around 6 Melanchronis Juvs
Around 6 plus misc fry that are at various stages of development

I'm actually getting concerned that with the number of growing fry
(especially the Melanchronis) that this tank is getting overstocked and
am planning to sell them on (or get store credit for them). Maybe
returning the Maylandia might be a better option for now.

The Yellow Lab in question showed no signs of any illness and the water
quality is good (I check the fish day and night at feedtime). The
injuries looked similar to those that I have seen on one of the
Melanchromis females after spawning (she always recovers though). But
yes, fish can die for whatever reason.

The two fish in question are still having a go at one another and any
other fish foolish enough to get in their way. I guess they need to go...

The only pictures that are posted anywhere can be found at:-

http://fishgallery.com/default.aspx

Although you have to join the site to view them I'm afraid....still
working on sorting something out for posting my fishy pics. They are a
little out of date having been taken a few months ago but give a general
idea of the setup

The pics are under "Fish Pictures" and are titled:-

The Boys in action
Centre View of tank
Full view of tank
OB Peacock (I thin)
Melanchronis Cyaneorhabdos

One of the perpetrators can be seen in "The Boys in action" next to the
Melanchronis

Thanks for your response
Gill

Nice tank.
Well, it seems you have a good number of yellow labs and other fish.
I'd definately try and put the tattered lab in a hospital tank as mentioned
earlier.
You can remove the lombardoi's to tone down the aggression in the tank, or
keep it as it is and see what happens.

kay-bee