Can you believe it’s been nearly 6 months since I set up this African cichlid tank? In this update, I run through what’s gone well, what’s been a bit of a headache, and why I’ve ended up rescapeing it two or three times already—mainly to break up territories and manage aggression. What was meant to be an all-male peacock setup hasn’t really worked out that way either, because I’m pretty sure I’ve got several females in here. That’s led to the yellow fryberg acting like the alpha, digging pits and trying to entice females over, and there’s even a chance one of the females is holding. I also talk through recent additions from WS and Aquatics (we bought five, sadly lost one), plus a couple of losses that come with the territory in a boisterous cichlid tank—like the green phantom pleco that I think got bullied once the synodontis started claiming rockwork. Then I get into the main upgrade: swapping out my old Eheim glass heater (which the fish have been knocking loose) for a 300W Hygger double quartz heater with an external controller. I like having the controls outside the tank because these fish are not timid, and I’m aiming to drop the temp from around 26.7–26.8°C down to 25°C (maybe 24°C) to see if it helps curb aggression a bit.