how do u indroduce beaten up fish again?

[Dave Schulman]

I recently bought 2 new cichlids for my 75gal. A 5inch haplochromis obliquidens and a Psedeotropheus adi somthin (its blue with yellow fins) about 4 inches. I rearranged my tank b4 hand and put them in after letting them sit for 45 mintues. I went out for about 2 hours, came home to find the hap beatn up BADLY on the bottom of the tank and the blue and yellow guy hiding in a plant. I saw my red zebra (dominant fish) beat them up so i took the 2 new fish out and are now ready to go back into the tank. Should I take out the zebra and let the other 2 get used to the tank without him and then put the zebra back in?

[SGypsyMermaid]

I recently bought 2 new cichlids for my 75gal. A 5inch haplochromis obliquidens and a Psedeotropheus adi somthin (its blue with yellow fins) about 4 inches. I rearranged my tank b4 hand and put them in after letting them sit for 45 mintues. I went out for about 2 hours, came home to find the hap beatn up BADLY on the bottom of the tank and the blue and yellow guy hiding in a plant. I saw my red zebra (dominant fish) beat them up so i took the 2 new fish out and are now ready to go back into the tank. Should I take out the zebra and let the other 2 get used to the tank without him and then put the zebra back in?

taking the zebra out for a while may work...do you have rock piles for chased fish to hide in?

[Dave Schulman]

Yes i have a huge rock cave of blue ice on one side, many many plants, and a huge chunk of coral for them to dig and hide under which they do. There is definetly plenty of places to hide but how long do i take out my zebra?
thanx

[SGypsyMermaid]

i would keep him out for a week or two.

[Mbuniac]

David,
Where did you get you blue ice cave???
Sam

[Melanochromis_J]

Mixing tanganyikans and malawians is a bad idea to begin with, mbuna species flock especially will try to dominate the tank... and should be kept with their own kind in colonies. The tanganyikans tend to be more personable, so they are easy targets for a agressively charged mbuna.
If you intend to keep them in the same tank, do not directly introduce to the two fish, and do not remove the other fish... rearrange the decor (obviously) and feed the exising fish just before release.... in the meantime, i know this is going to sound wrong, but use a large breeder type thing to keep the fish in that tank, keep it in the breeder for 3-5 days, as to let the existing fish in the tank become aware, and respectful of the newcomers presence, when you see that the existing fish are indifferent to the new fish, release the new fish into the tank in the normal manner, also raise the temp 1 or 2 degrees in the tank to make the fish more docile. i hope this information helps you

[Dave Schulman]

I got my blue ice rocks at the pet shop by my house. they almost never have them in but i managed to come in at a good time so i bought 10 or 12 rocks. As for reintroducing my fish, I took out my 2 most dominant fish (red zebra,and a psedotropheus tropheus) and put the 2 new fish in (the hap obi. and the blue and yellow guy) after 5 days i put back the tropheus in the main tank and all is well im waiting a few more days on the zebra though