Please help! Unable to determine problem
My tank has been established for about 4 months. We have 11 African Cichlids 2 of which are yellow striped. We also have 2 small pleca which were added about 2 months ago.
Recently the 2 yellows have been acting odd. We thought the one was pregnant but one day it start eating well again and started swimming with the rest of the fish. The second one remains in hiding. It comes out only to eat and it appears to eat well but is no longer swimming with the other fish. There seems to be an injury on its one side.
I have been searching the web to find anything that could help me determine what is wrong with this fish. Can anyone help?
Last edited by benny; 18th Dec 2005 at 01:26.
The second yellow may have gotten bullied and it seems the injuries are pretty nasty. Try taking out the other yellow for a few days. I think the other yellow will come out of hiding.
I guess this is just a case of territorial disputes, or conspecific dispute, in this case, between the two yellows, or with the other cichlids in the tank.
Any idea what species of pleco you might have there? Because those critters are pretty territorial at times too.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
I do not know what type of pleca I have. They only recently became active during hours we are home. However, I did see 1 of the pleca chase one of my blues. I will look to see if the pleca are chasing. Thanks!
If the plecos are chasing the cichlids around, then your problem is probably the plecos. Just to be sure, try to catch one red-handed if its bullying the cichlids.
Fish.. Simply Irresistable
Back to Killies... slowly.
Can you describe this in greater detail?Originally Posted by tk2300
Cheers,
I have dwarf cichlids in my tanks! Do you?
The injury actually looks like a puncture wound. This fish hides is a "sunken" ship which has openings like you would see on a real sunken ship. There are a couple of "points" which are rounded and I believe (though I don't know for sure) that he got caught on one of teh points. The fish has to swim into the ship on its side because it is too big to go in the normal way.
The last time I looked there appeared to be 2 white "strings" hanging from the wound.
The fish only comes out to eat so it is difficult to get a good look at it.
New problem
Okay, last night we did a 25% water change. After the water change and doing some research we decided to use some tablets we had to kill parasites. This morning one of my pleca was found dead. The weak yellow came out this morning to eat then about 1/2 hour ago it came out of hiding. However, it could not swim correctly. It was swimming upside down and on its side. The yellow's lower body was white and the front of its face was black. It looked a little swollen but that my have been due to the injury. I removed the yellow from my tank. However, I am now concerned about my other pleca and my 10 other cichlids. Any ideas on what the problem is and what to do to fix it?
Hi tk2300, if my memory is right african cichlids thrive in hard water while plecos coming from South America can only do well in soft, acidic waters. Did you give the fishes the right water condition to live in?
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