# Sressed New Mbuna



## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

Three days ago I bought several adult Mbunas of beautiful color from a friend of mine that has a business selling Bettas and Cichilds. I bought nine of them to spread the aggression around. One of them is stressing out. The rest are doing very good. I have two other tanks for Tanganyikans. Can I put him in with them to see how he does? Or should I put him in my 10 gallon tank? He is starting to breathe fast. My friend is out of town a few days. I have no idea what the poop looks like..have not seen it and he is not eating. Actually my 75 gallon tank now has Gold Ocellata babies so probably not good to put him in that tank. Should I start medicating?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

What size tank are the nine new adult Mbunas in?

Do not medicate unless you know what you are medicating for.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

PS..I do not see the tiny fry I saw yesterday


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

Deeda said:


> What size tank are the nine new adult Mbunas in?
> 
> Do not medicate unless you know what you are medicating for.


Deeda it is a 250 gallon tank.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Well if you can easily remove it from the tank, the 10G should be just fine as long as you have a mature filter on it and/or keep up with water changes so as not to have any ammonia or nitrite and some level of nitrate.

I know you have been down this road before with adding new fish to the tank and having some problems so just take a deep breath.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

He just died. I think my friend said he had to change the fish quickly to another tank because they were dying..I saw one die. This one just died. . 
Also there are no fry and I cannot fathom what happened. I keep close watch of the water. Yes I have a heavy heart and wonder if I am up for all this dying and apparently do not have what it takes to keep them alive though I try hard to do the right things.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

Well Deeda he is still wiggling so I will try putting him in the 10 gallon tank.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Sorry for your loss.

One thing you might try when adding new fish is putting them in a quarantine tank for 3 weeks first. That will allow time for you to see if they have any illnesses before they bring it to the rest of your fish in the main tank.

What is the stock list of the 250G? Species and gender? What are the dimensions?

Any time you have fry in the same tank as adults, the adults can eat them. Once the mother spits any maternal or paternal instinct to protect them stops pretty quickly.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

DJRansome said:


> Sorry for your loss.
> 
> One thing you might try when adding new fish is putting them in a quarantine tank for 3 weeks first. That will allow time for you to see if they have any illnesses before they bring it to the rest of your fish in the main tank.
> 
> ...


The fish is not yet dead but well on his way. I put him in the 10 gallon tank just now. I propped him up on his side to keep him upright then covered him with dark cover and hoping for a miracle but these type miracles rarely come. My fish list is the same as before. When I can I will hunt it down in here. Only difference is 9-=1=8 new beautiful Mbunas which have no name for now. My friend said they were not showing aggression in the tank he had them in. My tank is 8 foot long 2 feet deep 23 inches wide. 240 gallon.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

Also I bought the Gold Occellatus because they are supposed to be good parents and not eat their young but protect them.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

How long can I keep dark covers over the tank and not feed the fish. I am trying to let there be a time out to help settle new fish.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

That is usually only the first day and night.

If the new fish are well and you add several at once and there are no extraordinary problems with the previous inhabitants they are usually fine and anxious for food by the next day.

You said the previous owner had to move them so they would not die and you saw one die at his end? Maybe they are not well?

For example I received 50 fish yesterday and did not feed and kept the lights off yesterday. This bunch, even yesterday they seemed fine and frantically followed me as I moved by their tanks begging for food. But they will get their first meal today.

You got the fish 3 days ago?


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

DJRansome said:


> That is usually only the first day and night.
> 
> If the new fish are well and you add several at once and there are no extraordinary problems with the previous inhabitants they are usually fine and anxious for food by the next day.
> 
> ...


Yes I did DJ. I will go ahead and take off the cover that I put on last night.....OK they all look good. The pink one with the white fins looked like he was going to go next last night and that is why I covered them. He is eating well today. I feed them green flake. Should I also be giving them the spectrum Cichlid formula? If so what size pellet? I never know quite how much to feed them because they consume so much so fast. It is gone in a matter of a minute..and I think I give them a lot but is it enough? (supposed to feed up to 3 minutes?)
Also my water is good now at a KH of 7,,perfect..thank you for that help.
Here are my fish...the new ones have awesome color!


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

Those smaller pellets seem too small for these adults.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

The pretty pink one with the whitish fins is hanging at the top again. I really do not want to lose this one!!!!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

1mm is perfect unless the fish is over 8 inches. That looks like a hybrid peacock? The new ones you added are all the same species? Or all male and none that look anything alike? Sometimes the fish think red and pink and orange look alike.

If he is lurking at the top you either want to remove him or the aggressor.

If you list your species and their genders we can make stocking recommendations.

Sometimes an 8 foot tank allows fish to live together that would not work in a smaller tank, but sometimes you have to rehome fish for a year or two until you get a peaceful mix.

Among the fish that were there before, you have at least one female, is that correct?


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

DJRansome said:


> 1mm is perfect unless the fish is over 8 inches. That looks like a hybrid peacock? The new ones you added are all the same species? Or all male and none that look anything alike? Sometimes the fish think red and pink and orange look alike.
> 
> If he is lurking at the top you either want to remove him or the aggressor.
> 
> ...


Yes some of the females are identifiable now. but none of the new fish can be identified..or at least have not been identified.

After watching them a while..it is very clear to me that my older fish as far as being in the tank..are targeting the new fish one by one..all the older fish are all turned toward their target and keeping the fish from coming further into the tank main areas.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

Should I put them in the 10 gallon tank for now? I feel so sad.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

Can I put him in the 75 gallon tanganyika tank?


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

OK I am going to try a trick..has not worked in the past because they look at me like...really? you think we don't know??? lol. I am going to add a twist to the trick. I am going to change the rocks around but I am also going to get the water very very low. That scared the 75 gallon tank when I did that.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I would put him n the 10G...never in a tank with Tanganyikans.

While it would be expected for the existing fish to go after a single new addition, if you add more than 5 at once they are likely to be distracted...each fish cannot chase the 5 new ones at once. Eventually they get on with their lives.

That is why I think it is not their newness but their incompatibility with another fish or fishes that is already in the tank.

Tanks with not enough females (4 to 1) are going to be more aggressive than tanks with just males. In this situation both the scarce females and the sub-dominant males are at risk.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

DJRansome said:


> I would put him n the 10G...never in a tank with Tanganyikans.
> 
> While it would be expected for the existing fish to go after a single new addition, if you add more than 5 at once they are likely to be distracted...each fish cannot chase the 5 new ones at once. Eventually they get on with their lives.
> 
> ...


I bought 9 adult fish the other day so it is not that they are singling one out IMO. So I am going to try psychology and scare them out of their mind. Then they will look to each other in a different light. All my fish were getting along before I introduced the nine new ones.


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## Oscar6 (Aug 4, 2017)

Not a good direction imo. Scaring fish, as you call it, is just another form of stress. Stress induced illness is very common. You may notice a brief change, fish may school up or stop aggression. Probably a safety in numbers mentality that genetically kicks in. Unlikely to last very long. You cant ever make fish get along if they dont want to.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

Oscar6 said:


> Not a good direction imo. Scaring fish, as you call it, is just another form of stress. Stress induced illness is very common. You may notice a brief change, fish may school up or stop aggression. Probably a safety in numbers mentality that genetically kicks in. Unlikely to last very long. You cant ever make fish get along if they dont want to.


I hear you Oscar and I hope you are wrong on this. I have totally rearranged the rocks and given more space for hiding. The low water level got their mind off each other and so far it is working.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

I kept the water low for only 5 minutes and then added the water back. The "just another form of stress" is better than being dead and getting picked off one by one. I never let them get too stressed....just enough to get their mind on something else. I am very happy that tonight everyone is getting along as they were before I put the 9 new fish in. I know that can change but I was able to get the male Williamsi Blue Lips to calm down with the strategy I used for him. The Snow White male did not calm down so I had to rehome him but I feel it is always worth trying since i know they will get a good home with me.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

DJRansome said:


> If you list your species and their genders we can make stocking recommendations.


DJ I will consult with you before I get another fish for this tank.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

DJ do you advise Spectrum to all my African Cichlids, both Herbivore and Carnivore?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Yes, but that is not what is killing your fish. What you are feeding is not likely harming them. Feed only what they will eat in 30 seconds. Feeding for 3 minutes is contributing to your nitrate level, but as long as you are keeping nitrates under 40ppm (under 20ppm would be better) it is not a cause of death.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

DJRansome said:


> Yes, but that is not what is killing your fish. What you are feeding is not likely harming them. Feed only what they will eat in 30 seconds. Feeding for 3 minutes is contributing to your nitrate level, but as long as you are keeping nitrates under 40ppm (under 20ppm would be better) it is not a cause of death.


Thank you..I should have put that question in another category because I am not worried about the food..I just want to feed them what they need.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

Today I am noticing that the two new pink fish are hanging out away from everyone now. Earlier everything looked ok. I think what you said DJ is true..that even though they may not be the same type of Cichlid, the colors cause the issue. I think my female Snow White is now taking over being the aggressor with these new ones just ... I had to rehome the male Snow white. Going to keep watch thru the day to see how they all interact.


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

So I just got back home and all the the new fish (8 left) are hanging around the periphery! What the heck do I do???


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## naturlvr (May 16, 2019)

naturlvr said:


> So I just got back home and all the the new fish (8 left) are hanging around the periphery! What the heck do I do???


So today I did not turn on the aquarium lights but let them rest all day with low light. When I came home this evening..they are all doing just fine and no issues and no dead fish. :dancing:


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