Something surprising with Nyassachromis boadzulu

[emartin]

Last night doing a late water change (did a 2/3 water change because of it being late too (80gallon change)) I noticed my dominant wild male N. boadzulu and my number 3 male (who is actually half an inch or so bigger than the dominant male but completely silver colored) were displaying to each other, flexing their gills and everything. Next thing I know I see them size each other up, do mouth to mouth combat for a second and then they scuffled and I saw a few scales fall to the bottom of the tank.

For a species that gets stressed so easily and seems so darn peaceful that was really shocking for me to see... I'd expect my Taeniolethrinops furcicauda or my Lichnochromis acuticeps to do that, not the Nyassachromis boadzulu...

Anyway I was wondering since the tank (120g 4ftx2ftx2ft) is a wild breeding colony tank, do you think I should remove male #3, or just add more shelter in there? Currently there are 3 males and 6 females.

~Ed

[Larry Johnson]

Ed! That's the dilema.
If you remove the 3rd male,will the #2 get into it next?
If both are removed then will the #1 relax and not spawn?
Keep an eye on them,scales falling to the bottom is not the best thing to be experiencing.
In my experience I had two wild male Aulonocara kandeneese hit the floor overnite!
I also had Copadichromis trimaculatus,,,sort things out and each stayed at opposite ends of the tank until breeding was over.
Both which I would consider the same temperment as what you have!
I will stay tuned!

Cheers,Larry

[emartin]

Yeah that's what I was thinking. I'm not sure what to do. I'm thinking of either adding more flower pots or adding a floating pvc cave for males or females to retreat too.

Today and yesterday though they were a lot more calmed down again. The alpha male is still displaying though and is starting to get his blaze coloring up again... Hopefully he'll be fully colored again soon! As well as a father to fry soon!

~Ed