Illness, Health & Nutrition • Strange African Cichlid behavior

[Demasoni_zero]

HI,

I am new to the Cichlid-forum and it looks like a great forum to be apart of. As of now i joined the site because im having some strange behavior from my african cichlids, in the pass 2 weeks after a water change I've had two of the largest in my tank die! i checked the peramiters and they are fine, then i had the only female in my tank die from what it looked like was from being attacked due to the fact she had wounds and was swimming sideways, and this morning the same thing.. one just died in the same way my female did...at the moment i have another african cichlid in a hospital tank from having the same sideways swimming behavior..paramiters are fine i feed them cichlid pellets daily and bloodworms once a week, right now i have about 8 left in the 150 gallon tank but they are all staying towards the surface of the tank, i have never in the 2 years of owning the tank and fish have seen this! before the unusual deaths i had almost 15 African Cichlids in this one tank...Can anyone hel me solve this mystery??

[Storiwyr]

How big is the tank, what are the dimensions? How many fish total/what kinds? What are the actual values on the water test, and what test(s) are you using? Have you treated them with anything, what are you treating the water with when you add it, as far as dechlorinator/any other chemical additives?

As an initial guess, it sounds like aggression. Cichlids can be very aggressive fish, particularly if your name is any indication and you have Demasoni. However, more information is needed to get a better idea of what might be going on.

[Demasoni_zero]

Temp. 75 F my pH(currently at 7.5) and my Alkalinity(currently at 80ppm) Nitrarte(15ppm) my tests i use hydrometer,digital therm.and Lamatte water hardness testet and a water controller..dimsns for tank 4ft.lengthx 2ftwidth x 3ft tall... i have 6 Yellow/gold African cichlid, 1 red jewel cichlid, and one peacock total of 8......No Demasoni in this tank i have some but in smaller tank..

[DJRansome]

What species are the yellow/gold ones? What are your test results for ammonia and nitrite? It does sound like aggression. Depending on the ID of the yellow ones, I might be tempted to add fish.

If you had only one female in your tank...I am not surprised she was killed and while she was present two others were killed. If you have any female harem-breeders in your tank (like Malawi), you want to have 4 or more females for every male to spread the aggression among a large number of females.

Are you going for all-male or mixed genders?

[Demasoni_zero]

IM not too sure what species the yellow ones but the father that died 2 weeks ago i got the from petsmart the female too and they were listed under assorted african cichlids lol my ammonia levels i test at a pet store but havent tested it today maybe that might be my issue...how do i tell the difference between male/female the only reason i knew the female that died was because I've seen her brooning babies all 6 of my yellow/gold are babies from that mother i bought from petsmart. im just confuse how or why they swim and stay at the surface. as for the male or mixed genders i hav no idea lol because i cant tell the difference I've only been owning cichlids for almost 2 years.

[Storiwyr]

It's going to be nearly impossible for us to tell you what sex they are if we don't know what species they are. Try to post pictures of them so we can identify them. You are probably having serious aggression issues ... if you don't know what you have, it's unlikely you have them in enough numbers and the right ratios to properly distribute aggression and prevent any one fish from being beaten and chased to death.

[Demasoni_zero]

okay i will post pictures first thing tomarrow

[DJRansome]

Post the pictures in the Unidentified forum. Fish lurking under the surface is also a symptom of aggression.