Temporary or permanent behavior?

[FishInMaryland]

The big pale blue guy in this pic has gotten VERY aggressive in the last couple of weeks. He's probably a hybrid of some sort, with some labeotropheus genes (?), since he was one of my first fish out of HOT's "mixed African" tank. He's in a 55 with white tail Acei, msobo, yellow labs, and Ps. Williamsi. 22 fish in all. Somebody has dug a pit in the gravel at the back of the tank, and I've had 2 fish deaths in the last month - both large, dark-colored fish. I'm thinking it's this guy, since he chased anybody who got close to him yesterday. I also saw him shaking/quaking back by the pit. I've had him for about 18 months, and he was quite a bit smaller initially.

Any thoughts on whether this is short-term behavior, or is he turning into a permanent bully/death machine??

BTW, if anybody wants him, they can have him! I don't have any way to separate him from the other 21 fish.

Thanks,
Ruth

 

[verbal]

It sounds like some breeding behavior is going on. Removing the problem male is most likely to improve things. You may have another male take over the top dog spot and eventually cause similar issues. Another option would be to attempt to remove all females that would interest him.

 

[fischfan13]

Ruth, with Labeotropheus once they start being the aggressor they will always be the aggressor.
Remove him.
The dominant male that I have has killed another male and almost killed another male and female.

 

[Tony]

I think you should remove him as well, Ruth. I have had hyper-aggressive male Labeotropheus before. They can be pretty bad and if you have other breeding groups in the tank, he will do more harm than good.

Your acei are looking good, btw.

 

[FishInMaryland]

Bill and Tony - Thanks for the info and confirmation. I'll see if I can get him out of the tank and up to HOT this week. He's calmed down a little today, but I think one of my yellow labs is holding eggs. She def has a bulge in her throat. Don't know if they're fertilized or not. I rearranged the rockwork this morning when I did maintenance, so hopefully that keeps everybody off balance until I can get him out of there. Funny that you two both responded, since the Acei came from you, Tony, and the Williamsi came from you, Bill. Unfortunately, one of the deaths was a Williamsi.