# Cyprichromis not swimming not eating



## felixc (Mar 17, 2014)

I can't seem to figure out what the problem is with 3 of my cyps. Have a group 12 speckleback and recently 3 (1m/2f)starting hovering in the corner and not swimming much and not eat at all. There is no aggression amongst the males, the group is pretty subdue. I've tried mini pellets, flakes, brine shrimp, live brine baby, nothing seem to entice them. Any idea or suggestion?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

That position in the tank is usually harassment even if you don't see aggression. How long is the tank?


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## felixc (Mar 17, 2014)

I am 100% sure it's not aggression, there's almost zero chasing going on amongst the males, they are very subdued. Tank is 4 ft, fish are 2.5" - 3" , still very young and not at full sexual peek yet.


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

What tank mates are in with them?


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

I have to agree with aggression, which I'm 100% sure you did not see. These fish have been evicted from Cyprichromis "society". Each is already dead to them so as long as each one stays in his corner they will let him die there in peace. They need to be rescued. Maybe some time later if there is a dearth of males, they could all be put into a larger tank with room for each fish to have a territory to hover over.


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## felixc (Mar 17, 2014)

Think I got it figured out. These 3 cyps some how have lost their vision. Very odd. I moved them to another tank by themselves to isolate the problem and the behavior has not improved. Hovering and not swimming like normal. When food is introduced they perk up a bit and start to slide their mouth on the bottom of the tank searching for food. Aimlessly they peck at things but missing 90% of time. They don't go for anything in the water column. What could cause the blindness? ph change?

A year ago I had 4 Lepidiolamprologus Elongatus go blind one by one in a course of 3 months. Behavior was similar, bumping in to their surrounding and pecking aimlessly at food on the bottom of tank. Eventually they couldn't compete for food and died. Has anyone else experience fish going blind?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Yes, but for me it is the result of an injury.


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## Eric_S (Feb 27, 2007)

It happens to my cyps. I've had it happen to both males and females. I write it up to stress or aggression. Fish will get dark in color and go blind. They'll eventually waste away and die. I'm on top of water changes and maintenance so I don't attribute it to those. I'm down to less than a dozen in a 125 and I think the low number is not helping my situation as there are fewer fish to disperse the aggression amongst. I'm growing out 30+ fry that are all going to be added to my current group and we'll see if that eliminates the issue.


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## SantaMonicaHelp (Oct 1, 2012)

So what happened to those three cyps?

-Kamran


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## felixc (Mar 17, 2014)

The 3 blind cyps wasted away over time and died of starvation. Still a mystery as to why they became blind. I know for a fact that aggression wasn't the cause as they were new to the tank for just 3 weeks and none have established hierarchy.

Two weeks ago I noticed another cyp go dark and hover in the corner, not eating and not swimming much. Exact same symptom as the previous three. This one is from a larger group of 18 young adult Black Bees. There has been a lot of breeding activity with this group so perhaps aggression and stress was the reason for this case.

Question is, has any one witnessed a full recovery where the fish swims and eats normally again after going to the dark side?


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## punman (Oct 24, 2003)

I have seen the "mysteriously waste away and die" thing with no apparent reason but not the blindness.


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