Murder in the Malawi Tank

>>>I came down this morning to find a dead Yellow Lab. I instantly thought
>>>it was the tattered beaten up one that I've been trying to catch and
>>>isolate for the past few days....but no...she is still swimming around
>>>and keeping out of trouble. It was a perfectly healthy (until this
>>>morning) Lab. It was pretty badly chewed up.
>>>
>>>I have two suspects that are beating on one another so much that they now
>>>both have sores on their mouths...and one of them bit me the other night.
>>>Allegedly, they are Maylandia Lombardoi but from what I can see I'm now
>>>suspecting they are "mutts" - I have 4 of them - 2 are slightly
>>>bluish/white, one is very yellow and the other is a browny yellow. It is
>>>the yellow and the browny yellow that are fighting - they are now 4-5
>>>inch plus and very fat. From the fry in the tank I'm a little confused
>>>about their origin - deep blue with black vertical stripes - doesn't
>>>match anything else I've got so I'm guessing they are from these fish.
>>>
>>>Should I oik both of these fish out of the tank and trade them in as they
>>>will certainly kill one another if not other tank companions? Should I
>>>leave the status quo as if I get rid of these two Mbuna's by their nature
>>>will then fight again and another dominant fish will emerge? Should I
>>>pick one and keep it and get rid of the other one? "Innocent" fish are
>>>getting caught up in their war...

>>
>>
>>
>> Mbuna tanks sometimes need to be reset, in regards to the choice of
>> occupants and to thin out the herd. I'd turn down the water temperature
>> for a while (until you have time to do the reset). About 74F cools their
>> tempers down. The reset involves removing all the rocks & fish and
>> re-arranging them before re-introducing the fish (with a few ommisions
>> which get given away or sold).
>>
>> Sometimes, I've hit a combination of mbuna and/or other africans which
>> peacefully added several generations. These ran several years without
>> intervention, but typical mbuna tanks require tweaking much more often.
>>
>> ps: Don't neccesarily focus on the alpha male (troublemaker) as a new
>> alpha male will quickly take his place and might be worse. Use your
>> discretion. In regards to the odd fish being found dead, this happens.
>> We joke that they got 'voted' out. It seems like there's a temporary
>> truce called amongst the usual combatants, and they cooperate to 'remove'
>> the one voted out, before going back to their usual chinanigans. Really
>> well balanced mbuna tanks *almost* don't have this.

>
>
> Thanks for the update. One of the problems is that the two fish in
> question are fighting over who is the alpha male and going for anyone who
> gets in the way. At the moment it's a bit like "guns at dawn". They have
> occuppied one half of the tank each and spend most of their time posturing
> and flaring. Occassionally one will encroach on the other ones half of the
> tank which results in them locking jaws - both now have injured mouths.
> The problem first emerged a few weeks ago when the non-alpha male mated
> with one of the females....it has just gone downhill from there.
>
> The only end I can see to this is that one of them will emerge dominant
> either killing or severely injuring the other one. I will try the breaking
> down the tank option and see how this pans out - it's better than doing
> nothing....one of the fish will have to go back I think...