# please help!!! cichlid disappeared for week and a half.



## britneysanders (Jan 8, 2014)

Hello, Im hoping someone can help me. My 8 inch African cichlid disappeared for a week and a 1/2. Then all of a sudden she was back in the tank. Before disappearing she was digging massive holes. Then I bought an blood red parrot cichlid and put her in there with her. The pet store said this American fish usually get along with the African fish. Well, My African fish hated her. Attacked her and everything. Then my African fish just disappeared. We thought that maybe she somehow got out and our dog ate her. We went and bought a new one. The new fish with the American cichlid never came out. always hiding. Then today to my surprise My African 8 inch was back in the tank. When she disappeared we moved all the rocks, checked the filter, everything.... couldn't find her. Now shes back! shes acting very funny though. She wont eat, she rubbing herself on things and shes taking to the other fish very well. Can someone please explain this to me. Do you think she layed eggs? Is that possible?? Please help.....


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

If you don't know the species, you'll need to post pics so we can identify the fish. Directions for posting images are at the top of the forums. I recommend imgur.com if you don't have an account or want to create an account elsewhere.


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## britneysanders (Jan 8, 2014)

Ok ill give that a try. Please give me a min for I am new to all this. Im use to raising and breeding tropical fish! lol and Im very new to this site.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

No worries, and welcome to CF!


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## britneysanders (Jan 8, 2014)

ok here is his/her picture. lol she has 3 egg spots on its anal fin if that help with a yellow trim on all fins. for some reason after coming out of hiding her and my other one just like her only smaller small white dots on them. they look like water bubbles?? not sure?


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## britneysanders (Jan 8, 2014)

All the fish now seem to be getting along only she is laying on the ground by a certain spot.... she is active though and swimming some but mainly laying on the gravel. My other blood red American is now flouting near the top of the tank with head faced down again like she was when I first put them together only they are getting along. The one pictured sometimes goes and lays over her? but not hurting her at all?? not sure at al what is going on. But my little one just like this one is finally out and swimming around all happy! Where as when he was hiding him and my blood red would hide behind waterfall and would not come out at [email protected]


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Do a google image search for 'freshwater ICH' and see if the pictures resemble what you're seeing as the small white dots.

What are the tank dimensions? 
Just to clarify, there's one blood parrot and two african mbuna?

Normally you wouldn't want to house African mbuna (which is what's in the photo) with Central American or South American fish due to differences in preferred water parameters as well as possible aggression issues. So, unfortunately, you might want to think about which direction you want to go with your tank and then stock fish from one area or another. Pet stores are often clueless when it comes to which fish go with what.


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## britneysanders (Jan 8, 2014)

Ok.... well I would def. stick with African then because they are much prettier. Can you mix pretty much any African together? Thank you for helping me identify what type of fish I have because the pet store told me they were a mix breed lol. any ways. Could you explain his/her sudden disappearance? she disappeared for almost 2 weeks... we honestly thought that it jumped out and the dog ate it. we checked the filter, rocks, everything. My tank is a 55 gallon.... Would like to upgrade just want to make sure that before I do that cichlid are the fish for me. 
anyways.... I think that it possibly hid under the rocks... its really the only explanation to it. and why would it do that. btw you have a beautiful tank and beautiful fish!!! where do you find such beautiful fish!


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## britneysanders (Jan 8, 2014)

and thank you. Yes what my fish have is ich and I will start treatment first thing tomorrow!! You have been a blessing


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

It's possible that the fish found a spot under the rocks. I've seen fish bury themselves in the sand with just an eye exposed. If stressed or ill, fish can become very reclusive often disappearing for days at a time. 2 weeks is quite a long time however.

As far as stocking africans goes, the two popular areas are Lake Tanganyika and Lake Malawi. Within each lake are hundreds of species. I recommend taking a look through the 55 gallon cookie cutter page (assuming your tank is 4 feet long) as well as the other pertinent articles in the Library such as Aquarium Setup and African Cichlids. Go through the different species to try to get an idea as to what you're after. To heavily generalize the two lakes, I'd separate them into colorful and aggressive (Malawi) whereas Tanganyikan fish may be slightly less colorful but have distinct behaviors that make them just as appealing.


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## rennsport2011 (Oct 21, 2013)

GTZ said:


> Normally you wouldn't want to house African mbuna (which is what's in the photo) with Central American due to differences in preferred water parameters


Many Central American collection places have water that isn't dissimilar to what Lake Malawi has.


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## britneysanders (Jan 8, 2014)

Thank you.. I now realize that. Unfortunately we lost our big mbuna last night (The one that buried itself for 2 weeks). Very upset by this. I have learned a lot about cichlid in the last few days. One being my aquarium set up. Which is def. not set up for cichlids. Also, I learned that they like sand better than gravel. But that they need rock, caves, and hiding spots. 
I have never done any water test on my tank.... So as far as what the water levels need to be at with ph, water hardness, and all that Im very lost. I had a tank full of beautiful tropical fish! I did my water changes regularly but other than that I left it alone and everything went fine.
Im afraid that something more is going on in my tank. I have lost 2 algae eaters both in the same days that I have put them in there.... I have noticed that my other mbuna has ich which I will start treating today.

So my question is this... can someone shed some light on this situation and help me. Please talk in a language that I can understand when it comes to chemicals and water ph and all that. Thanks


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Get a test kit and follow the directions for testing pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Post the results here and Members will tell you what to do next.


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