# Fish keeps spitting out food what is going on?!?



## mdaniel84

Ok I have a "Electric Yellow Lab" and I fed them two very little pinches this morning I always feed them when I came home but seeing I'm off I would give them a little bit extra.. Well the Lab will just grab a piece and start to eat then push it all back out then a little while later he will go on the bottom look for food then start eating maybe eating some then pushing it back out.

He never had any issues before with eating but all of a sudden he's acting kinda weird.

Any idea what is going on? Is this a sign of bloat?

Thanks


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## mdaniel84

Also I forgot to add the Lab just seems weird today overall he sometimes sits in the corner or just really doesn't swim all to much though he does go looking for food on the bottom all the time. One thing I have just noticed is that my African Zebra is really getting after him not like before sometimes the would play/rough house chasing after one another but it seems today the zebra is really going after him.

Is there something wrong with the lab like I said in my previous post bloat?

Also when I was last at LFS I picked up this fish below he looks to be albino but the person that sold me him said he wasn't he would be in the albino tanks does anyone know what kind of fish this is this was in a community tank?

Fish in question









Electric Yellow Lab









Zebra









Sorry about the quality of the pictures took them from my iPhone


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## jrnj5k

my fish do this sometimes too. Its normal. Thats called personality


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## Fogelhund

How long have the fish been in this tank?

What is the volume and dimensions of this tank?

Could you tell us what fish you have, and the size of them?

Are any breathing heavy, swimming funny, or have white stringy feces?


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## mdaniel84

How long have the fish been in this tank? They been in there going on a full week today.

What is the volume and dimensions of this tank? Size - 30"W x 18"D x 22"H 56gal

Could you tell us what fish you have, and the size of them? 1 Electric Yellow Lab, 1 Zebra Cichlid and 1 mystery fish don't know what kind he looks to be albino. Both the Yellow Lab and Zebra are about the same size around a inch the mystery fish is smaller but they don't bother him.

Are any breathing heavy, swimming funny, or have white stringy feces? The Yellow Lab is not breathing heave or swimming funny I have not notice there feces yet the Zebra I did catch one time it was "Chunky/Stringy" but he eats like a fool when I pinch some food in there.

The PH is around 7.0 
The Nitrite and Nitrate are 0
The Temp of the water is 78/79

I mean as the days go on it just seems that the Zebra Cichlid is really going after the Yellow Lab I mean the Lab doesn't even really come up to get food anymore he just waits till it floats down then he will nibble on it then spit it back out. All these fish that I have came from a community tank when I bought them I'm new to Cichlids so I kinda want to start out with a piece full bunch but it's not really looking like it here.

I'm wondering if I add a few more fish the bunch from the community tank to add some depth in there that the zebra will back off and lose the Lab in the bunch.

Any ideas on what I should do here? Or maybe I should just do a single spices for my first time.


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## dsawyer56

I have a red zebra that does this very thing. I thought he was sick but realized that he was being bullied. He just sits there in one spot almost all day. When ever he gets out of his corner my blue zebra chases him around the tank. Long story short it may just be stress. Either he's being bullied or stress of being introduced into a new environment.


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## mdaniel84

Interesting now what ended up happening then in the end?


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## mdaniel84

Something new I never seen before so I went to the LFS and I picked up buddies for all three of them so they have a matching pair, I did my best to stay around the same size.

This is really funny now I don't see as much aggression from the Zebra Cichlid one now I have this my Yellow Electric Lab is staying high up in the corners by my filter and my heater sometimes he will come down and look for food then he will go back up, but this is the real kicker when any of the smaller fish come by him he really gets mad and goes after them he wont mess with the Zebras at all maybe because there the same size?

I guess I'm just not that educate on Cichlid's yet cause it's driving me nuts why they can't get along in there I picked out fish that I would think would be peaceful but now I got "George of the Jungle" up in the air looking down on everyone. Any ideas on what is going is is this a sign that there isn't enough hiding places because I plan on next week to drain out a good 50% of water and rearrange everything and I plan on building some PVC piping so it looks like caves for more hiding spots.


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## scrubjay

Hi, sorry I didn't see this earlier. The title is not one that is going to attract much attention :wink:

Your little yellow lab is being bulled and that is why he is hanging in that corner behind the thermometer. If you don't help him out, he may end up being killed by your zebra. Some pieces of small PVC would help, especially a little piece near the top where he is hiding. _Definitely _more rocks in there, in random piles to provide cracks and crevices of various sizes. If your red zebra is still bullying him, you can get one of those little breeder nets that hang in the tank and put him or the lab in there until you get things sorted out.

Having only three cichlids in a tank does make it harder to have a peaceful tank. It's best to choose a few species known to be good tankmates and have one male and several females of each species. Yellow labs are very peaceful for mbuna (the type of fish you have) and are best with other mildly to moderately peaceful fish.

Hard to believe that the fish store person told you that the white fish was not an albino. :-? 
Looks like an albino yellow lab to me.

So, what numbers of each do you have in there now? I can probably help you achieve a more settled community. It is sort of hard to add new fish to a tank as they often get bullied. Any time a fish is getting bullied like this, it is definitely under stress, which can lead to disease or death.

Will your fish shop allow you to exchange fish if you need to return a few? Do they have only a mixed species tank for Africans? Do they happen to have any "rusties"?

here are good examples of rocks that will provide cover to fish--they need to be able to get out of site of each other


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## mdaniel84

Thanks for the reply I figured that was what was going on, I actually have pairs of all 3 in there so I have a total of 6 Cichlids in there. Yea the size of my tank I really can't do nothing like that I don't have the room I hope in the up coming year I will able to get a 150-200gal tank the only reason why I went with what I have now is I don't know if I would have the room for something bigger.

Yea the local LFS will allow me to bring back any fish for a certain amount of time I have the Yellow Lab and Zebra Cichlid until next Thursday if I don't like it I can bring them back. The LFS has a decent selection I didn't see no rusties in there at another LFS I seen one but I didn't ask what there return policy was though.

I plan on making some homemade caves in the upcoming week to put in there for some more shelter "Black PVC or some Black Flower Pots cut in half"

Just to let you know my tank has more height then width "30"W x 18"D x 22"H 56gal

Now I'm pretty much to the point that I will stop with a more community bowl for now and go with a single species, I already had a single "Kenyi Cichlid" and that didn't work out and brought him back because he was going after everyone.

So yea my hands are up in the are I have no idea on what way I should go on this I'm just getting tired running back and forth to the LFS.

56gal
2 Electric Yellow Labs
2 Zebra African 
2 Albino?


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## scrubjay

It's okay, they can be frustrating, I know. Your tank will work fine for two species groups if you still want to try.
oh boy a kenyi! They are one of the worst :lol: 
I think what I might do is take the zebras back, get five more yellow labs, and see what other species they have. What would work well is a species that stays relatively small, is not too aggressive, and is a color like blue rather than yellow. Cichlids tend to fight with others that look like their species, so fish of a different color will help. 
Here are examples of species that might work well--the first three are smaller, which is nice for that tank:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=756 ("maingano")
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=707 ("rusty")
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1371
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=787 ("cobalt blue")
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=919
You will want one male and 4-5 females, but if you can only get little ones, you may have to get a few more and then return some males or sell them on craigslist. If they don't have anything you can identify, you could write down what they have and come back here and see if they are compatible.

Your tank will look a lot more natural if you use rocks instead of pvc and clay pots, and the fish will behave more naturally. Like rocks out of a river. Collecting them can be fun, or go to a local landscape supply company--they are cheap.


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## idonotnow

> The PH is around 7.0
> The Nitrite and Nitrate are 0
> The Temp of the water is 78/79


your Nitrate shouldn't be at 0 did you cycle the tank?

whats your ammonia at?

if you did not cycle the tank I wouldn't add any more fish for a few weeks.

Nitrogen Cycle Article
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cycling.php


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## scrubjay

good catch idonotnow--I didn't notice the nitrate value.


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## mdaniel84

Scrubjay thanks for all your information now seeing that my Electric Lab is pretty much scared for life will he ever be normal and stop going to the top? I will def be taking back the Zebra Cichlids this weekend they had a few that I can remember that I really wanted but I know would never work in this tank.

Jewel Cichlid
Electric Blue Cichlid
Peacock Cichlid
Bumblebee Cichlid **I would be very interested to have a full tank of these**
Acei Yellow Tail

Now my tank has been up and running for about 3 weeks I did a "Fishless Cycle" and have been running Stress Zyne ever week and the water is clearing up. The first few days when I added StressCoat and StressZyme it was very cloudy then it gradually went away. Like I said my numbers are pretty much zero for the Nitrates the PH is around 6.5/7 which I know I need to bring that up but it is a new tank also the water hardness is very high hitting around 160-180.

My tank has plenty of coral rocks and holes which they can go into and I have plants, I was going to try to stick with some kind of black PVC or Black Flower Plots and push them under the coral so it will blend in with the Black Gravel.

Like I said I'm very confused with the compatibility here I'm really thinking of just going with one kind in my tank like the Bumblebee or just change it all up and do a Oscar.


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## scrubjay

Most peacocks are not too aggressive, but there are a lot of species and they a little too large for that size tank. One may do just fine with the labs though.

One thing you need to take into account is that your tank is actually _smaller _than a 40-gallon breeder tank due to its reduced footprint (length x width). Cichlids don't really use the tank height.

Bumblebees grow _much _too large for a 55-gallon tank and can be very belligerent too.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/m_crabro.php

Electric blues are also _way _too large and can be aggressive. They should really be in a 6-foot long tank, which is more than double the size of yours.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/s_fryeri.php
"Keeping these fish in a 4ft aquarium can be accomplished, but this would be an absolute minimum, and with some males would not be a successful venture. We tend to keep them in 6ft aquariums, and have had greater success with this."

Ocars get 14"!! You should be looking at fish that get 4-6" maximum adult size. An oscar needs a very giant tank. It's best to plan in terms of the fishes' adult size.

The yellow tail acei are nice tank companions. They are a little large, but they are the only ones of those you mention that would be "okay." One idea would be to put one in the tank with the labs, and one peacock cichlid.

I think your lab will be okay in time. He will likely do a lot better with a group of his own kind, but be patient.

You can check profiles for other fish here:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/?region=M

Don't get discouraged, I know it isn't easy. One reason is that the local fish stores do not carry many suitable species. It seems like they mostly have the same old group of aggressive species. :? That's why most people end up ordering by mail.

Have you looked on craigslist for bigger tanks?


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## mdaniel84

Interesting yea the thing is I just bought this tank I was going to get a "Blood Parrot Cichlid" then I was looking around and I see there really isn't a wide range of other colorful fish out there to put in there with them.

I really don't have a whole lot of room in my house right now for a bigger tank if I did I would have taken full advantage of it trust me 

I guess the issue I'm having right now is just the simple fact of finding good tank mates for these guys, but I'm def taking back my Zebras what about the Jewel Cichlids are they pretty aggressive?

The "Albinos" and my other Electric Lab are doing fine just seems like the Zebras want to kings in there.

As of right now all these fish are small nothing over 1-2"


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## scrubjay

I myself would not mix jewels with them. They do better in species tanks. They are very territorial when they pair up and a larger tank is better for adults. A single would possibly do okay. I'm not big on mixing fish from different regions with Malawi cichlids myself, but I think some have successfully kept single jewels with them. A single peacock should also be fine. Species usually fight amongst their own kind, or those that look like them.

see if you can find any of those blue cichlids I listed--they are not uncommon species, but in my town, there is no real good supplier of Africans.


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## mdaniel84

Now just to clear it all up you mean species tanks meaning all the same kind correct?


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## scrubjay

yes


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## wheatbackdigger

30 x 18 is kind of a small footprint. If it were me, I would try a species only yellow lab tank. 1 male to 4 females. A multi-species tank would be tough in that size tank. If you upgrade later in life, you can add more species then.

Good Luck
Doug


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## AaronAllan

just a thought but the 2nd set pics make your electric yellow look more like a male kenyi, could just be the pic tho. just makin sure its the same fish.


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## mdaniel84

Nope it is a Yellow Lab but yea it does look like a Kenyi from that angle good eye!


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