# 1 fish sick all the rest fine - could perish by toninght!



## ziyaadb (Apr 16, 2007)

Hi all

Last night all my fish were fine, this morning when i went to feed them 1 of my cobalt blues was looking really ill and almost laying on his side looking lame. all the rest were full of energy and acting usual. after i fed them i took him and put him in the filter compartment of my tank as i wanted him to be by himself. he was just lame and almost laying on his side gasping for breath and not swimming at all. could this happen as a once off? or should i be worried? my stocking list is 6 cobalt blues, 7 yellow labs, 2 red zebras and 3 venustus and 1 ice white in an 80G, will be moving them to a 100G soon i know that tank will be small and i will get hybrids.

Please help thanks


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## ziyaadb (Apr 16, 2007)

oh yes i do 40% weekly water changes, last water change was on sunday, feed them sera granu green pellets and nutrifin spirulina pellats and a local mad fish food that is not high in protein, have the fish for about 6 - 7 months now


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

It's impossible to say what could be going on with the information you've supplied.

How long has the tank been set up?

What are the water parameters on the tank?

Did the Cobalt appear to be injured?

Did it show any other symptoms prior to this? Was it eating? Behaving normally?

Have you added any new fish recently without quarantine?

That's a pretty volatile stock list aggression wise. If the problem occured quickly, I'd bet on aggression.

Kim


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## ziyaadb (Apr 16, 2007)

Thanks Kim Please see answers below

How long has the tank been set up?
About 10 months now

What are the water parameters on the tank?
No idea

Did the Cobalt appear to be injured?
Um no could not see any visible injuries

Did it show any other symptoms prior to this?
Nope
Was it eating?
Yes
Behaving normally?
Yes
Have you added any new fish recently without quarantine?
Nope

That's a pretty volatile stock list aggression wise.
what would you reccomend i do?
If the problem occured quickly, I'd bet on aggression.
Yes very quickly but the strange thing is i had 2 males who were always at it removed 1 and then i never had any issues that i saw


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

The first thing I would do is get my water parameters checked.

You don't always witness aggression, and it doesn't take long for an angry cichlid to do that much damage to another one.

As far as what you can do about your stock list, what do you want out of the tank?

If you just want one of this and one of that, I would go with an all male set up. This will mean removing ALL females.

The red zebras are going to try to crossbreed with the Yellow labs, so this will increase the aggression in that area. They will also try to crossbreed with the Cobalts. (Not a good idea to keep two non barred zebra species together, in any circumstances...) Not sure what the "ice white" is unless it is an albino M. greshakei, in which case this will also add up to extra aggression since you have too many zebra variants in the tank.

If you plan to breed and distribute fry at all, you really need to reconsider the entire stock list.

Kim


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## ziyaadb (Apr 16, 2007)

Thanks for the help Kim he perished  I do not intend to distribute the fry at all. will reconsider group soon as i have a 6ft for them


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Sorry you lost him...

Just keep in mind when you have problems like this, aggression/stress aren't always visible, but they can take a huge toll on the health of the tank. It took me about a year of keeping cichlids to figure that out.

We'll be glad to help you with your stocking when you're ready to make the changes! :thumb:

Kim


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## ziyaadb (Apr 16, 2007)

Thanks kim much appreciated, the strange thing is that i know someone who has a crazy mix of fish in a 5ft tank like cobalt blues, red zebras, yellow labs, venustus, livingstoni,hongis ect ect and there are no hybrids and the fish have grown huge and are doing well :-? But i guess strange things do happen


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

It isn't uncommon for crosses to look identical to either parent. The problems can show up later on in the lineage...You should have seen the fry produced by a seemingly "perfect" group of Yellow labs I had! They looked identical to red zebras, but I didn't have any red zebras! 

Having them in higher group ratios is helpful, but with those species housed together, you really can't trust a spawn you don't witness.

I've successfully kept barred zebras with non barred zebras without any problems with crossbreeding in the past, but they looked totally different from each other.

Kim


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## ziyaadb (Apr 16, 2007)

WOW thats awesome kim about the yellow labs, I understand now, thanks :thumb:


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