# All male african setups



## AfricanCichlids (Sep 13, 2010)

I supply fish to several members here doing an all male setup.

All these people still have trouble introducing new fish, resulting in deaths.

Please help me, and them, if you have any experience with these setups.

I know this setup can work when all fish are introduced at a younger age, but I doubt that the fish will be any more passive in this environment??

I have seen (many times with different fish) that in all male tanks, the males will dance with each other  and the spawning aggresion still emerges.

I have a 75 gallon with 9 splionotus tanzania males, all considered to be aggresive, and they get along great, I introduce another male, same gener or other, and they will kill him overnight 

Since I only have group and growout tank setups, I never had opportunity to try these setups, and need suggestion as best way to recomend fish intro's / more males in these tanks, what type of problems you've had, ect.


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## jdm_03 (Apr 22, 2010)

A good read for an all male setup. Could provide some insight.

All-Male Malawi Tank


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## onefishtwofish (Apr 21, 2010)

i would start by velcroing a little skirt over the back end so the others 1) cant see their egg spots 
2) judge them by personality and not gender............

any new males introduced should be juvies as young as possible without being food size...in the dark or during a feeding when the others r distracted. i have a male victorian that fell in with my demisoni as a fry. he is accepted in there to this day but i would not even consider putting him in the victorian tank which is 90% males. not even in drag...........


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## AfricanCichlids (Sep 13, 2010)

Pretty much goes over what we all know. I was hoping to see some pics of male tanks that were established. Give people an idea what is compatible with fish we have available in our community.



jdm_03 said:


> A good read for an all male setup. Could provide some insight.
> 
> All-Male Malawi Tank


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## Cichlid2010 (Apr 21, 2010)

I don't have an all male setup (70% male), but everytime when I introduce new fish, I turn off the heater, light and feed existing fishes a lot of food before I put the new fish in. Also, overcrowding with over filturation helps. I have about 50 fishes in a 58 gallon, never had any death at all.


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## Smiladon (Apr 23, 2010)

Come check out my tank in person when you have time. You can observe their behavior in tank and see how they interact with each other.

I have all male haps/peacocks, 1 Gold Tin Foil Barb, 1 Synd. catfish, blue moori (males & females), yellow labs (males & females).

I would have to agree with onefishtwofish on introducing new fish. Its best to add Juvie size in the tank as they are not seen as a threat by other males in the tank. Adding a big male in an already established tank is a gamble, but there is a better chance of them getting along if they are very different (color/shape etc).


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## donjuan_corn (May 6, 2010)

I had 5-6 cobalts, yellow labs, red zebra cichlids and a couple peacocks, they picked off anything new i put into the tank unless I introduced very young fish and it was okay.


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## -DC- (Apr 21, 2010)

In an all male tank the theory is less aggression since no breeding, this is true to an extent, the males will find a nice hole, color up and defend it, but with no females around he's content in his little territory, no urge to go out and compete

With female's you need to adjust numbers because a male will expand territory to accommodate and protect his potential mate's. It’s not that the males are less aggressive towards each other it’s more that they just are happier with less space.

When adding a new fish you'll have the same issues in both setups your taking a group of fish with established territory and hierarchy and inserting a new fish. In both my all male tank's and my mixed breeding tank's any new fish male or female get's shredded unless you do it carefully! Here are a few simple thing’s that make have allowed me to introduce fish easily in both breeding and all male setup’s

1 - first only introduce fish at night (i like to use moon lights to watch, and feed the fish well before lights out. 

2. re-arrange the rock's , in an all male tank i would just mix things up, in a breeding tank, I’ll normally mix up the to layer of rock cave's but not the bottom, leaving my most dominate fish and breeding groups in established territories, otherwise the new fish makes it and I’ll lose one of my the top 3 fish because they all fight for the top spot , leaving there caves in tack let's them stay content while the others fight. 

3. always add in group's , if you can add 4-3 fish at a time it's going to be allot easier then just one, 

So my normally introduction night would go like this, float new fish in bag, or one of those little breeder tank float things for little species. I do this roughly 30 min before light’s out and feed, so all the fish are up and out around the new cichlid eating but it’s in a plastic bubble, when feeding is over I’ll re-arrange the top layers of rocks/caves, shift everything around, then turn off the light’s and release the new fish, 

The next morning everyone’s so busy deciding who’s gonna live where they don’t even notice a new fish


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## DAVIS (Apr 26, 2010)

I get all my fish from africancichlids and they are great looking fish .I have all male hap and peacock . I don't have deaths but I find that I always have some fish loose a lot of color! I find that they are to sensitive but I do love them it looks great but can be frustrating ! Thanks


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## -DC- (Apr 21, 2010)

Ya i should ad my advice is based on Mbuna setup's, hap's arnt nearly as agressive


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## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Here's a pic of the all males I got from Matt's 55 gallon. 
Since then, added 11-12 fish large and small. The survial rate is around 80%. I think it depends on the personality of the fish. The 3 or 4 that I lost were shy from day one.

A little orange guy (top left) actually got stucked in the mouth of the dominant cobalt and has its tail half bitten up by others. I thought it was a goner. He was spitted out next days and is strong and growing fast. 

There is one female cobalt in there. It bred and there is still a small fry there probably 5 weeks old.


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## cichlid (Jul 30, 2010)

I havn't had a whole lot of trouble... I have an all male tank there is only two fish in it, but it still counts. in my tank the 5" red zebra is the boss, the 4 " electric blue knows that and minds his own. The only time the blue gets bugged si when the zebra is hungry, but if I keep them fed up, there is no problem 90% of the time.


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## jdm_03 (Apr 22, 2010)

i have an all male malawi 1 fish setup. i have no aggression problems.


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