I have three africans...

A blue dolphin, a peacock & a blue ahli. They really seem to go at it. I don't think anyone's getting seriously hurt.

Should I be concerned? Is there anything I can do to calm them down?

Woo-hoo!

Our very first question! Luckily enough, I had just the same situation so I think I can offer you three pieces of advice that will help.

You said they were "new" so I'm assuming they've only been together a short while. If so some aggression is very normal - as long as no one is visibly hurt of cowering in the corner. They're cichlids...chasing & roughousing are normal behaviors.

So here are three things that might help until they get used to each other...

1) If it gets particularly rowdy, drop some food in. Just be careful not to foul the tank with a bunch of excess food.

2) When you see it getting bad, move all your decor around as much as possible - i.e. - re-arrange the whole tank. They're territorial so this throws them off temporarily.

3) This may sound like the dumbest suggestion of them all, but it works. After having these guys for a week or two, add a few more. A larger number of africans can actually help cut down on aggression. Don't ask why. It doesn't make any sense, but it worked for me & it has worked for others.

Try that stuff & hollar back at us with the results!

Good luck.

The reason that adding more will sometimes work is that there is so much going on in the tank, the agresser forgets who he was chasing when everyone is swimming in and around. It just spreds the agression out a little more. There will always be a "King" of the tank. If a fish is just a royal jerk, and it is something that you can live without (or easily find a new on of the same kind). I would pull it a get rid of it. My husband and I call it "Weeding out the jerks." I have a 150gal. tank with Africans and I have pulled quite a few and replaced them. My tank is almost always peaceful now. I have about 25 of them in there. Be careful with "overcrowding" them. Remember that they get BIG. You will get youself into some serious work with the water changes if you choose to add more than your tank can handle.

Kisskiss...

I wound up trying all three. They seem to be getting on fine now. For cichlids.

What size tank are these in?

Are they all about the same size currently?


The blue ahli is probably either S. fryeri or a C. azureus/S.Fryeri cross and these suckers can get pretty mean.

yes what size tank? do you just have one of each? the blue dolphin and electric blue will definately beat down the peacock with aggression. if your tank is big enough, up the numbers of each species or add more fish to spread out aggression. usually a sand substrate with rockwork works for these guys just fine.