Agressive Auratus - Breeding and killing fish
Kevin Bauman
I have a 75 gallon tank with 12 mbuna all about 3 inches long that have
been together for more than six monthes. The dominant fish has always
been the male Auratus. One evening I added a female Auratus and within
seconds the action started. The male started leading and quivering but
the female didn't seem intested. First the male attacked a female rusty
and within two hours it was dead. The next morning the female Chipokae
was near (and now) dead. (I didn't know that cichlids actually bit, held
on for a second and shook the other fish). The other fish tried to stay
at the other end of the tank but they were still viciously harrassed. So
I removed the male Auratus to a 30 gallon tank all by himself. Now the
female Auratus started rearranging the gravel and in a few more hours I
saw a small bulge in its mouth. This is all within 24 hours of buying
the female Auratus! So what do you think I should do?
I can put the female in the thirty gallon tank but I don't want it killed.
Is there any chance the male will still fertilize the eggs? If I put
the male back into the 75 gallon will he be a killing machine or go back
to his passive/aggressive nature? The female was rather thin coming from
the LFS so will it carry non-fertile eggs for weeks until it wastes away?
JOSEPH RIZZI
I'm sorry that I can't answer all your questions. I'm sure somebody
will. I just wanted to share with you my experience. I got my first
Africans all at once and the Auratus, like yours, immediately became
the dominant fish. It lived, however, for weeks without hurting any
other fish, just chasing them. Then it got angry. I can't explain it
any way than just to say it was more aggressive and just visibly
displeased with something. I didn't have another Auratus in the tank.In
two days it went from very yellow with black stripes to totally black,
in both its appearance and its nature. It began trying to kill every
fish in the tank(I think I had about 4 others). Every fish was stressed
and in corners or under or behind something except this now ugly fish.
I put it into a container, went back to the pet store and said,"Here,
take this. I don't want it." My tank became peaceful and content, just
the way I wanted it. BTW, the fish was sold to me under the name
Chipokae, but I think now it was def. Auratus. They look so much alike
but I would never want another one. They just equal problems,IMO...Zee
In <6cfrei$1oto$1...@newssvr04-int.news.prodigy.com> MFD...@prodigy.com
Klaus
It is true that auratus isn't the easiest fish to keep...
Actually auratus are the nicest fish ever: the only
thing they want to do is make love. In the proces
they defend a territory and keep it clear of other fish,
killing them if necessary. The males want to make
love to the females all the time, so when they just did
it, he wants more, if she's not interested, he'll chase
her of, if she doesn't get out of the territory, he'll kill
her like any other fish. Oh, those lovesick fish...
Serious now:
They are real easy in maintenance but will kill everything
that bothers them.
I had success by providing at least three females per male,
he would be busy enough with the females then to leave the
other mbuna alone. If i put the females and the male in at
the same time, it's war. If i put the male first in and the females
afterworths, the females most of the time (almost, until i get them
out of there) get killed. The only way that worked for me is
putting three or four females in the tank for two weeks or more
and then introducing a male...
The females still get harassed but they know the best places
to hide by then.
As for Kevins problem...
Kevin, are you sure she laid the eggs after the male was
removed? I've never seen an auratus lay eggs by itself,
it's always the quivering of the male in front of her that
triggers the females. If you're not sure, the eggs may be
fertilized afterall.
If you believe the female is pregnant and will have baby's,
get her out of there and put a divider in the 30 gallon.
Keep the male and female there until the fry is released.
Then feed the female well until she fattens a little and
put her back in the 75. I would suggest getting two more
females at the same time.
If you don't think she will have babies, just leave her in
there and get two more females. She'll eat the eggs
when they won't hatch. Putting her in the 30 is of no
use, the male will chase her to mate, she won't be
interested cause she allready has a 'mouthfull' and
then he'll get pissed off and kill her.
So, you'll end up with three females anyway (that is, if
you consider my advice helpfull ;-) ) and let them
explore the tank on their own. They will be aggressive
towards eachother and other fish, but probably won't
kill anything.
After a few weeks reintroduce the male.
Three more tips:
- make sure the tank has enough
hiding places provided by rocks, flowerpots
or whatever you like best. Don't be as stupid
as i was to put 160 lb of lava in a tank to
find afterworths that i can't get a single pregnant
female out of it for releasing (sob). Adding
flower pots is not the prettiest but the best thing
to do. You can remove them when you want to
catch a fish and put them back in the same place
so the territories don't get mixed up. The hiding
places are important as aggressive mbuna will
only hunt other fish on sight, they see a competitor
(in food, mating, etc.) and they want it out of their
territory. If they don't see the fish, they don't hunt it.
- you could rearrange the tank so the male won't
recognize the tank (and his territory) when he's
reintroduced. In this way he'll have to explore the
tank before he even can get aggressive.
- if he still is to aggressive, put him in a guppy breeder
tank and let him float in the 75. He'll get really frustrated
not being able to chase the other fish, but he'll get
used to them as well. After two weeks you can retry,
if he still is too aggresive, restrain him to the guppy
tank and wait two more weeks, etc.
Just my two cents
Klaus
PS Zee, referring to another post (forgot which one), you
can leave the 'M.' Klaus behind now, Klaus is sufficient ;-)
Always yours :)
JOSEPH RIZZI wrote in message <6cgjh9$8...@dfw-ixnews10.ix.netcom.com>...
L. Brinkman
Kevin Bauman wrote:
> I have a 75 gallon tank with 12 mbuna all about 3 inches long that have
> been together for more than six monthes. The dominant fish has always
> been the male Auratus. One evening I added a female Auratus and within
> seconds the action started. The male started leading and quivering but
> the female didn't seem intested. First the male attacked a female rusty
> and within two hours it was dead. The next morning the female Chipokae
> was near (and now) dead. (I didn't know that cichlids actually bit, held
> on for a second and shook the other fish). The other fish tried to stay
> at the other end of the tank but they were still viciously harrassed. So
> I removed the male Auratus to a 30 gallon tank all by himself. Now the
> female Auratus started rearranging the gravel and in a few more hours I
> saw a small bulge in its mouth. This is all within 24 hours of buying
> the female Auratus! So what do you think I should do?
>
> I can put the female in the thirty gallon tank but I don't want it killed.
> Is there any chance the male will still fertilize the eggs? If I put
> the male back into the 75 gallon will he be a killing machine or go back
> to his passive/aggressive nature? The female was rather thin coming from
> the LFS so will it carry non-fertile eggs for weeks until it wastes away?
I had 3 female Aulonacara sp. females that all laid eggs and picked them up
when their was no male in the tank. As they were the only cichlids in the
tank at the time, the eggs weren't fertilized. They never held the eggs
beyond 4 days. So if she spawned by herself, she won't hold the eggs too
long.
Lisa Brinkman