Fish attatcking other. What to do?

[jiminy_crime]

I am needing help with my two cichlids. One is being constantly attacked by the other. They are the same fish but I have yet to find out what they are. I think that they are a julidochromis or neolamprologus fish. I took a breeding net and placed the one that was attacked in it. It is a 10 gal. tank and the fish are quite little. I realize my info. is vague, but I forgot to ask what the name of my fish were. I will be calling my lfs tomorrow to find out. Any ideas on how to fix this?

Gratefully,

Charlie

 

[420Loach]

hey welcome to the board! the problem with cichlids is that if you have two males of the same breed they will often fight. i had two male kenyis and the larger male killed the other. another possibility is that your tank is too small and their is not enough room for the two fish, you need to find out what it is and how big it will get when fully grown. remember all fish start small, my jack dempsy is only about 2.5 inches now, but he will grow to about 9-12 inches when fully grown. other cichlids stay small and others get very large. cichlids like rocky hiding places as well, like caves, and this will also help to settle fights.

a ten gallon probably wont be big enough for them, so i would either upgrade the tank size, or take them back and get some different fish. hope this helps you out!

 

[wayne]

Both julidochromis and neolamps. are quite to very aggressive towards conspecifics (fish that are the same or very similar) in my experience. You can try to get round this by really piling in the rocks and breaking up some territories, but 10 gals US is a bit small for this - how long is the tank, 20 inches. Unless they pair you will probably need to return one and get something else.
You can always try putting in a bunch more to disperse aggression, but really this tank is too small for this, and you've more chance of a bloodbath than success.
Try www.cichlidrecipe.com (or similar) for some ideas on what to do with a 10, plus use the pictures to identify the fish.