HUGE DISASTER - HELP NEEDED

[justfree]

Hi,

I have been breeding cichlids for many years whilst living in South Africa. I have never encountered the problem I seem to be having here in ireland.

My current tank is a record 96 so a nice size for say 6 to 8 fish (3 to four pairs). I have had the tank running very well with discuss until an unfortunate accident saw my housemate neglecting them whilst I was away for a few months.

Since I have moved the tank and it has been going strong with a pair of parrots and a pair of gourami's and a half dozen red eye tetras I thought it was time to start introducing the cichlids I wanted.

Its been a disaster. I put in two juvenile pairs of blue malawis and literally within a few hours they were dead. The stomachs looking like vitims of malnutrition. sucked right in.

Now I have checked for ph and it favours brackish which I have had huge success before. The ammonia level is 0 and all the other fish are great.

Can anyone give me any ideas or suggestions of what to do?

many thanks

 

[dss2004]

Well one problem could be your choice of fish in the tank. Parrots are a hybrid of South American cichlids, I can' t remeber which. They, like most fish, when left alone in a tank will consider it theirs and post rule over it dominion. Which type of malawi was it, Haps, Mbuna, etc.? Malawis are usually really aggressive but in a battle with full grown blood parrots I doubt they would stand a chance. I could be wrong though. Gouramis can also become aggressive but that is usually within their own kind of species.

You may have expierenced why most cichild keepers chose not to mix the different continents.

EDIT: After reading your post again it sounds like the fish may have had a diesease when introduced. Did they look okay at the fish store? Did they appear to have fin damage or anything to suggest an aggressive attack?

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Well, what is the pH reading? Did you aclimate them to your tank? I must say that those cichlid choices would not be good for that tank anyway. And Malawi cichlids don't usually form pairs, but rather breeding groups. Did the fish look fine when you bought them (guessing so)? Did you check nitrates/nitrites?

I see nothing else other than some kind of water problem, however i'm not good at diognosing diseases.

 

[justfree]

DISASTERCONTINUED

Hi,

No there is no aggravation between the parrots. They are rather shy and have been staying in the corner of the tank that they have established as theirs.

The malawis are electric blue with stripes (if I remember correctly cobalts).

There was no aggression in the tank (I have previously kept malawis succesfully in a community tank (of a similar size to the tank I have now)

One malawi has survived but I am not sure why.

As I said they look like they have starved to death

thanks

 

[dss2004]

Probably an internal parasite and they new tank was just too much for them to handle. They were probably very sick at the store you bought them from. I would return them and see if you could get your money back or at least get some store credit. I am sorry about your losses.

Did you say if they looked healthy or not at the store?

 

[Lotus]

It's definitely very strange that this happened within hours. I would say it's most likely that it was a problem with acclimating them. You say your pH favors brackish. Can you explain what you mean by this? Brackish is a salinity level, while pH is a measure of acidity.

 

[justfree]

DISASTER PART 3

Hey,

When I purchsed them from the store they looked exceptionally healthy. the last one has just died this morning. I dont know of any internal parasite that would do that in the space of a few hours.

Any recommendations regarding a disease / parasite test I could do on my tank.

I am thinking of upping the salt levels gradually to kill off most and then lowering the ph after about 3 weeks. Will add more drift wood for this. Not sure what else I can do as I really dont wanna invest anymore money on fish at the moment.

Checked my PH again last night along with nitrate and PH was 6 to 6.2 and nitrate still in at 0, when I moved the tank I changed the carbon filter and one sponge. am wondering if I should add an additional fine sponge just for added caution. maybe even a second charcoal filter. It can only really aid the tank cant it.

Thanks

 

[Cichlid-Man]

well i don't use any salt in a freshwater aquarium, personally. But what did you mean like brakish like conditions? Was there salt already in there? Maybe thats what killed them.

They died to fast really to have internal parasites. And you would have seen signs of these when you bought them for them to die the next day.

Still a mystery to me really.