Add more fish to tank??

[newcichlid22]

I have a 75 gallon tank stocked with 12 Malawi cichlids. Included in the tank is one Demasoni cichlid (the largest of all the fish). He is claiming 80% of the tank as his own. The other 11 fish are at the corners and are all being chased around by this guy or gal (don't know if it's a male or not). Should I add more fish to disperse the aggression? If so, how many? Should I rearrange the tank? Should I do both? I don't want to overstock the tank. I went on Youtube a couple of days ago and saw a video of 55 gallon tank stocked with 70 african cichlids and was appalled. My water conditions are pristine (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates). Please advise. Thanks.

[MbunaFreak]

are all 12 of them dems, or are there other species? 12 is a good number in a 55 gallon but it depends on your stock list.

[fishfrenzy101]

unless they are all dems i would probly just take him out then rearange the tank then after acouple days put him back... and if that doesn't work i would remove him perminently...

[newcichlid22]

Only one of them is a dem. There are 11 other malawis (non-dems, i.e., other species) in the 75 gallon tank. Should I add more? If so, what do you think the limit should be? No fish is more than 4.5 inches long.

[fishfrenzy101]

You can add more fish into the 75 but i would remove the dem first because he will just do the same thing to the new ones... like i said take him out rearrange the tank add the new fish(like 4-6) then a few days later(like 3-5) add the dem back, that should give the other fish time to establish new territories... If this doesn't work then remove the dem for good...

[MbunaFreak]

oopps, my bad, I thought it was a 55 gallon. Like frenzy said you could add a few more fish. Do you have an extra tank to remove him for a bit? Sometimes a "time-out" will do wonders for a tank.

[newcichlid22]

Thank you fishfrenzy101 and MbunaFreak. Your suggestions are why Cichlid Forums is so good!

[13RazorbackFan]

Sometimes a timeout won't work. I took out my albino eureka red peacock from my display tank...moved him to my 30g growout tank....waited over a month and moved him back after a total overhaul of the structures. The first couple days he was chased around by almost every fish. Now...a little less than a week has gone by and he is now chasing all my fish except for my strawberry peacock. He is starting to show is fins to the strawberry so I am guessing he will have taken the tank back over within a couple days. I am not getting rid of him so they had better work things out. I think when I add my smaller fish from my growout tank it will help a bit. Have to wait a few months first.

What other fish are in the tank? Do you know what they are? May not be a good combination.

[Convict84]

When I asked about stocking my 55, most people seemed to think something like 3 species, 1m/3-4f would be good for it, so I imagine you could get away with more than your 12 in the 75 np. And I know you talked about not liking to overstock it but you might find the aggression fixed if you had something like 16-20 fish in there as long as there isn't just an issue with the types you have in there.

[SNAILOS]

Maby you can try adding a bigger fish to block the aggression for example a hap.I had heard of poeple that did added a bigger fish.This then removed the terretory of the dominant smaller fish.If it does not work then its your choice to keep him or her or to except the aftermath.

[newcichlid22]

Thanks Convict 84 and Snailos. I'm going to rearrange my tank and add 2 more fish a little bigger than my aggressive demasoni.