# Sad demise of my Giraffe Cichlid



## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Hi All,

Its was a very SAD day in my life as my lovely pair of Giraffe Cichlid died :-( [May their Soul RIP]. I had a a lot of attachment towards my Giraffe Cichlid pair. at first when i saw them i was not able to believe what i was seeing. man it really HURTS :-(

when i left to office in the morning they looked pretty much fine but when i returned back from office somewhere around 20:30 i was shocked to see both my Giraffe Cichlid has died. i am still not able to figure how did they die or what was the cause for their death.The scene when i returned back from office: Both of my Giraffe Cichlid where floating on their back.

Please anyone help me with information on what might have been the cause for their death.

Rgds,
Sudesh


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## Stussi613 (May 8, 2009)

are you talking about Nimbochromis venustus? my first question would be what size tank were they in.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

also what were your tankmaintainance routine......what was ure complete stocking list? How much and how often were you feeding and what was it you were feeding?


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Hi Stussi613/Brant13,

Yes i am talking about Nimbochromis venustus. My Tank is 200 Ltr in capacity, and i used to water changes once in 2 weeks. and i was using 900l/h submersible filter. i just had only a pair of Nimbochromis venustus (intially i just had ONLY one Male and it has been 1.5 years he has been alone in this tank. but recently i had bought a mate for him i.e. Female). i used feed them daily twice cichlid flakes or blood worms or some times even mix of both.


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

One more thing i forgot to mention i had just bought the female mate for my male Nimbochromis venustus which was with me from past 1.5 year

As routine check i had examined the female closely and it looked healthy and it was also doing good both had got along pretty well. but still cant figure what went wrong.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

Sudesh.Nayak said:


> Hi Stussi613/Brant13,
> 
> Yes i am talking about Nimbochromis venustus. My Tank is 200 Ltr in capacity, and i used to water changes once in 2 weeks. and i was using 900l/h submersible filter. i just had only a pair of Nimbochromis venustus. i used feed them daily twice cichlid flakes or blood worms or some times even mix of both.


well the 200ltr tank is only 50 US Gallons.....too small for this species as they can grow quite big...water changes once a week wouldve been better....how big were ure by weekly changes and how often were u cleaning the substrate?....i recommend at least 25% a week and a substrate vaccuming bi weekly alternating between halves of the tank.....also just having two of these fish in such a small tank probabably reesulted in alot of stress....this fish are harem breeders...meaning they do not pair up they have multiple females for every male....if u had a male and female the female was probably constantl harrased by the male.....also blood worms for lake malawi species is a big nono.....this is one of the more popular foods that can cause bloat in malawi cichlids....did u notice any bloating of the stomach, white feces, or not eating or spitting up of food before death?...since both fish died i dont think it was the aggression factor but the smal tank size, minor tank maintainance, and the feeding of high protein foods to be the killer.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

how long had u had these fish before they died?....also how big were they?.....How did u go about cycling the tank?....i remember u posting asking if anyone knew where to find some venustus in ure area....if u hadnt had the fish all that long and put them in an uncycled tank this could have also killed them off.

*edited to ask further questions*


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Well Brant13, I felt the 50G was big enough for male as he was only 3 inches long.

i used to do partial (35-50%) water changes once in two weeks and the substrate cleaning (Vacuuming) was done once in a week.

after i had got female my male had stopped eating for some reason.

i have doubt that my new fish (the female one) was infected and that may have may been the cause for the death. after the death when i was examining the female i saw some red colored flesh like thing on the fins behind the gills.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

could have been gill flukes?....also u never answered a few questions....how long was the tank up and running and how did u cycle it?.....understood the fish was still juvenile so i dont think tank size may have been an issue with just him....but one female and one male venustus isnt a good idea....u need multiple females to spread aggression...also as said before blood worms are a big NO to feed to malawi cichlids...although the venustus is a preadatory fish i still would not recomend the feeding of bloodworms to any malawi cichlid....i would recommend a good pellet food like New Life Spectrum or Hikari. :thumb:


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

sorry Brant13, What is gill flukes?

the tank is 2.4 years old. and it has been up and running from past 2 years. before housing Nimbochromis venustus, i had 2 Gold fish and one Pleco. The cycling was done during this time with 2 gold fish & 1 Pleco.

Also in my previous thread if u remember i was searching for female Giraffe Cichlid. as i it is very difficult to find Nimbochromis venustus or specially Malawi fishes :-(


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

im not a hundred percent on what gill flukes are exactly besides a parasite that would i think attach itsself to the gills of fish...how they harm the fish i do not know as i have never had to deal with this....and i am very sorry for your loss and hope u find more of the fish u are looking for....dont let this unfortunate event steer you away from cichlids....if u want some solid sound advice on what may have killed ure fish or more on gill flukes wait for cichlidaholic or robin to chime in....they both deffinately know their stuff :thumb: any more questions i can try and help ya out just ask :wink:


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Thanks a Lot Brant13,

Man seriously speaking this is the first time i have lost :-(. frankly speaking i cant see my any fish die[God Bless them all]. i was really with one male Nimbochromis venustus. i guess my biggest mistake was getting the female before which my male was doing pretty good and he was really happy i could definitely see this in him, he used to respond to me most of the times when ever i used to just wave my hand at him he used to respond by swimming along the hand movement..... Gonna missing all this and I AM GONNA MISS HIM TOO ..... :-(

i don't want keep away from cichlids, but if events like these happen then i feel really hurt....

anyways what & how should i clean/quarantine the tank & substrate in which the fish died, as i am scared what if the tank in infected and contains virus/parasites.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

im not sure as to how to treat the tank since i dont know what exactly killed ure fish in the first place....i guess a safe bet would be to start over from square one and drain the tank....clean all ure filters and substrate and start fresh....also how do u know it was a male at only 3 inches?....i had some venustus for a short time and it was really hard for me to tell sexes that small....my only clues were theyre mating gestures.


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

brant, the male had bright blue head bright yellow colored body that's how i differentiated the sex.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

very cool....wish mine had colored up that early


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What is the pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? What did the bodies look like?

I agree the tank was too small and I'd do weekly 50% water changes. But that is likely not the cause of death.

Any other fish in the tank? You had the cichlids in the tank how many years?


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Hmmm may be it was love between us that made Nimbochromis venustus mature and get color ;-)


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

i am not sure about the H, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate as i did not check it after their Death, Thier bodies were by a few white flakes, i would say 1 - 2 % of body was covered. The fin behind the gills on female was bit covered with red flesh kind of thing, and they were floating exactly 90 Degree back down - belly up way and yes when i checked their bodies i found both my fisehs mouth was open.

Initially i had just one Nimbochromis venustus (Male) and he was with me from past 1.5 years i , recently i had bought one female Nimbochromis venustus both were some where around 3inches long


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Anyways Thanks a lot Brant13 & DJRansome for helping me out


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Now that my tank is empty, can some one help me on how should i clean/quarantine the tank & substrate in which the fish died, as i am scared. what if the tank is infected and contains virus/parasites.


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## earth intruder (Oct 14, 2008)

After 1.5 years, I would have expected him to be much bigger than 3 inches... It sounds like his growth may have been stunted.

The ones in our store have grown from 2 inches to 5 inches in just a few months.


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

may be the growth was stunted. but there is point in talking about my Nimbochromis venustus as he is already gone :-(


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## navygirl76 (Jul 31, 2007)

im really sorry for your loss-i had a male Venustus, and he was my favorite fish too! they are really beautiful arent they? like others mentioned, the tank is a little small for Venustus-my male was in a 90 gallon by himself-he didnt want to share his tank with anyone! lol..

my male was a few years old and was 9 inches long- you stated yours was 1.5 yrs old and only 3 inches long? is that right? if so, his growth was stunted, he should have been much bigger.

im not sure what could have killed both fish in the same day, besides contaminates dumped in the tank, or if you did a waterchange that day maybe your water supply added different chemicals.. its really weird.

if you want to keep another Venustus, please try to get a bigger tank- youll be surprised at how their behavior will change in a big tank! lol--my male loved to swim laps right before i turned his light off.. i miss him too..


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

You really want to get to the bottom of what happened to the fish that you lost. Yes, they are gone, but it happened for a reason.

It is possible that aggression was a factor - this species should be kept in a larger tank, and they are not pairing fish - having only one female to a male is disastrous with most Malawi cichlids. But, this would have left the male alive, and resulted only in the death of the female.

Another possibility is you added another male by mistake, as males can take on female colouration when they are subdominant in a tank. This would result in a fight to the death, and possibly end with both fish dead.

What are the dimensions of the tank, please?

Do you plan to start all over with fresh water, etc?


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Thanks Guys,

the tank dimensions - 4 ft in length, 2.5 ft in height, 1.5 ft in width.

No, As of now i don't have plans of getting any more Giraffe Cichlid :-( for few reasons, 1st is the cost. Back here in Bangalore, India getting Giraffe Cichlid is **** expensive i.e 3000 Rupees ( 61 USD approx), secondly its pretty difficult to find Cichlid in a fish pet store. 3rd availability of Cichlid food.

frankly speaking wanna get a new Giraffe Cichlid, but i have second thoughts as i dont want to hurt the poor thing :-(

Mean while i am planning to order a new tank in exchange of the Old one. 
Currently in the same tank i have put 4 Gold fish, 1 pleco, may be 8 or 9 snails


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## jfly (Feb 17, 2009)

sorry for your loss.. i love my venusus and is king of my hap peacock tank now that my ob peacock has passed on.. good luck in your efforts and maybe you could get another pair, isolate, and breed and help other enthusiast like yourself


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## etcbrown (Nov 10, 2007)

Sudesh,

I beleive you may have mistyped the dimensions of your tank as 4 ft by 2.5 ft by 1.5 ft would be approximately 110 gallons or about 400 liters. If so, although not the ideal shape (more length would be better) that tank would be sufficient for raising venustus.

Don't give up your quest. With a big enough tank and a male and a few female venustus it sounds like it would be definitely worthwhile to breed them in Bangalore. :thumb:


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## cichlidpastor (Jun 20, 2009)

Yeah if they run 61 USD a piece and are hard to come by, I'd be breeding them for sure.

Sorry about your loss, I have 2 venustus that are awesome


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## barrem (Jul 11, 2009)

Do you use a heater in your tank? If so, it could have malfunctioned and caused a temperature spike. That would kill them both at the same time. (Sorry if you guys have already addressed that).


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## abhinaba (Oct 7, 2008)

3" after 1.5 years??
I had one bought at 1.5" and grew to more than 4" in the first 2.5 months. Recently got another one at 4" and it has reached 5+" in 1.5 months.
These are pretty fast growers in my experience.


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## cichlidpastor (Jun 20, 2009)

I think a venustsu should have grown more than 3" in 1.5 years, but I find it hard to believe that you could have one grow more than an inch in a month and half or 2.5" in 2.5 months. It makes me wonder what is wrong with mine.

What did you feed them?


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## abhinaba (Oct 7, 2008)

I know what you are thinking and my other malawis grow at a normal rate, but these two and a Kadango were really fast and still growing pretty fast as well.

I feed them 
Hikari cichlid excel, Hikari gold and NLS twice or thrice daily
Shrimps in the weekends.

What I should mention here is that after reaching the 5" mark, they have slowed down it seems.


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Thanks a lot again guys,

Finally i decided and made up my mind - this weekend i on quest in search of Giraffe Cichlid. Yes i am gonna start all over again and but now i have a second thoughts regarding my tank.... should i buy a bigger tank or just continue with existing tank? ( --> to *etcbrown *FYI.. though my tank capacity is 400 ltrs approx, i used to fill only 60%).

# guys need advice how many males & females of Giraffe Cichlid should i buy?
# What are things i should keep in mind before buying they from the pet store?


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Thanks a lot again guys,

Finally i decided and made up my mind - this weekend i on quest in search of Giraffe Cichlid. Yes i am gonna start all over again and but now i have a second thoughts regarding my tank.... should i buy a bigger tank or just continue with existing tank? ( --> to *etcbrown *FYI.. though my tank capacity is 400 ltrs approx, i used to fill only 60%).

# guys need advice how many males & females of Giraffe Cichlid should i buy?
# What are things i should keep in mind before buying they from the pet store?


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## lmhollist (Aug 7, 2009)

Seems a little bit late in the game to be adding this, but my roommate and I adopted some fish several months ago when we purchased a used tank. We kept the fish in the original tank as we were still moving stuff around in our setup and just hadn't gotten around to redoing it. Anyway, I'm glad we didn't put any of our cichlids or community fish into the new tank because as it turns out the adopted fish had a pretty serious case of ich that killed them just two days after my roommate and I first saw the signs in spite of our attempts to treat the ich.

I don't know what killed your fish, but this may help if it was any sort of parasite like ich. We pretty much ran the tank at 29.5C for about two weeks to run through the life cycle of the ich parasite (pretty much when they cycle and don't find any hosts to reproduce on, the parasite dies). We then thoroughly cleaned the tank before adding some livebearers. We haven't had any problems with disease since then.

Honestly, I don't think you need to go out and purchase a new tank, just so long as you clean everything thoroughly (rinsing everything in hot water, completely rinsing and refilling your tank a couple times) it should be fine. If it makes you feel better, get rid of the old substrate and put new substrate in.

As far as how many Venustus you should get, the ratio that seems to work best in one male to three females. We have a male melonochromis auratus and we have purchased three females (looking for a fourth of an appropriate size) because he is especially agressive and the more females that you have to spread around that male agression the better it is. I also really think you should just stick with one male per tank only. I feel that getting more than one male (even if you had twice as many females) might prove disasterous.

IMO, I do think your tank was large enough for your two venustus (I'm kind of an idiot about metric so I converted it, 400 liters is around 105 gallons).


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Thanks lmhollist,

Here's wat i have decided

# Friday i am taking off from my work and will schedule a cleaning of tank. 
# Saturday or Sunday search for pet stores who sell Giraffe Cichlid. Buy 1 Male and 3 females.

Any advice on hot to identify a healthy Giraffe Cichlid before i buy them.

Seriously thanks a lot guys, its all because of u guys who have encouraged me to continue with Cichlids.

Regards,
Sudesh


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

a healthy cichlid will have good color swimming the tank with ease...look for signs of anything that may be wrong with them like a sunken belly or white patchy scales things of that nature.....im sure ull be able to tell the difference between a healthy fish and ones that not going by looks only fairly easy. Another good thing to ask before purchasing is if they can feed them for you so u know theyre eating :wink:


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## Sudesh.Nayak (Jul 1, 2009)

Finally i got a new fella but this time i couldn't find Giraffe Cichlid instead i found a very cute fella from the cichlid family itself, but i am not sure if it is Maylandia lombardoi or Pseudotropheus even the petstore owner has telling diff names i am sure even he did not know the exact name ( i did lilttle wiki, but it was fruitless). I had to bargain a lot and the deal was finally made for 200 INR / 4 USD.

Anyways will try post few pics of fish, may be you guys can help me to identify the species.


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