Article From SubmitYOURArticle.com: Coping With Aggressive Cichlid Fish

Put a couple of cichlids into a tank and one of
them will start to dominate. It is probably the
first thing the cichlid beginner learns ,
Cichlids are aggressive.

Aggressive Cichlids behave this way for many a
number of reasons. It can happen when another
fish encroaches into their territory or tries to
steal food or a potential mate. In such cases, a
cichlid will show its aggression by flaring its
gills and spreading its fins to make it look as
large as possible. If the other fish isn't
deterred yet, the fish may progress to mad tail
beating which is a way a cichlid attempts to show
its strength by pushing water at its rival in
order to throw them off the fight.

This can and will escalate into a face-to-face
combat, which includes mouth wrestling and lip
locking and, finally, chasing each other in a
circle and attempting to bite the other.

Keeping two males together may lead to a fight
especially when they want to mate and this is
similar to keeping incompatible species together.

One thing that can lead to aggression is
underfeeding, especially amongst the males.They
are territorial and in some cases will fight till
death. When it comes to keeping hobby aquariums,
cichlids are very misunderstood.

The violent nature of Cichlids; there are some
very aggressive species of Cichlids but there are
also the softer types which get along happy in a
tank.

Aggressive Cichlids can be relatively kept in
peace if provided with a proper environment
because they do not fight due to their violent
nature or manner, but rather due to a response of
a perceived threat to their breeding or feeding
territories.

Some people believe they have to be fed live fish
which simply is not true. The ideal diet is home
or commercially prepared foods due to the
selection of the ideal protein content.

Most Cichlids are not fish eaters (piscivores),
but when they are present, they should be fed
live food that is appropriately selected. To
ensure that the food given to the fish is
disease-free, some hobbyists maintain a breeding
colony for their food source.

----------------------------------------------------
For more comprehensive info on Cichlid Behavior
visit my website at http://www.cichlidssite.com
where you will also find articles on cichlid
breeding, care, diseases, tank setup and much
much more.

EasyPublish this article: http://submityourarticle.com/articles/easypublish.php?art_id=113833

>