# Why are my Convicts behaving like this?



## mostlikely (Jul 28, 2010)

I've had my fish for about a year now. They're Convict cichlids. Just recently, I noticed that when I walk by the tank or if I try to take a look inside the take, they swim erratically, moving pebbles, jumping almost out of the water and into corners of the tank. But it's only when someone walks by he tank that they all move away and start swimming around like that. They all bunch up together and seem to be afraid. This has never happened before, they usually come to observe the person walking by. This behavior started just out of the blue a couple of days ago.

If I observe them from a distance, they don't seem to swim around a lot, just staying close to the bottom of the tank and their eyes seem to be "dazed out". Sometimes, out of nowhere, one of the bigger males would start swimming around quickly, smashing into everything and the other fish and then it leads to commotion in the tank.I know it isn't male dominance. I've seen it before, and this is completely different. They'll all be in the same corner and suddenly, the bigger male seemed to be frightened for no reason, and that's what starts the commotion. He does this almost blindly, and he'll end up crashing into the tank.

I found one of the smaller females today, looking as though she was about to die. Her scales were pale and some look like they had fallen off. It looked like she had been attacked. Her left fin didn't seem to be working and the right was frayed. I don't know if it was simply an attack or if she was ill, but I took her out.
Maybe she was sick and infected the others?

I also got a new heater yesterday because I couldn't tell if the one I had before was working properly. Could it be that their water is just too cold?


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## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Hi *mostlikely*,

Water temperature could be the factor causing your cons behavior. What is the temperature? What was it before the new heater?

However, it sounds like you water quality may be low and causing the fish stress or they may have an illness (commonly caused by poor water conditions).

What are the water parameters of your tank? Ammonia? Nitrite? Nitrate? Ph?

What is the size of your tank? How many cons? and what size are they?

Keep us posted.

Thanks,
Matt


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## mostlikely (Jul 28, 2010)

The temperature of the water is around 75F now. The temperature before was a bit lower than that. I couldn't tell because the heater I had before didn't have a way to tell the temperature. But I'm guessing it could have been anywhere between 65-70F.

I agree that the water quality might be low. I don't know much about parameters and levels of Ph, etc, to be honest. I guess you can say I'm an amateur at fish keeping. And I have been stretching the time of cleaning the tank. But the water itself looks clean, the filter is clean, and there's no food or waste buildup in the pebbles either.

My tank came with my house, actually. It's built into the wall. I think I remember being told it was around 200 gallons, but I don't know if that's a give or take estimate. I have 6 adults and about 6 small juveniles. Two adults are males, both being around 4 inches. The four adult females range from 2.5 to 3 inches. 
The juveniles are quite small (1-1.5 inch), but there's two that grew larger than the rest. One male is around 3 inches and a pink juvenile male that's almost as big as the adult males. 
I'm planning on giving the smaller ones to a friend and keeping the pink one because I think there's territorial issues in the tank.

Let me know if there's anything I need to do to keep them as healthy and happy as possible.
Thanks.


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## PepoLD (Dec 9, 2009)

how long have you keep those fishes?

when was the last time you did a water change?

if that was more than 15 days ago i suggest start doing one right off the bat, around 50% if possible

you can find tests in any Local fish store nearby, they are pretty cheap, and worth every penny


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## mostlikely (Jul 28, 2010)

I had the adults for about...15 months? The juveniles hatched in October. I last changed the water and cleaned the whole tank about 3 weeks ago. I'll get to changing it right away. 
When I buy the tests, what numbers am I supposed to be looking for? How do I know what are healthy levels for my fish?


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## PepoLD (Dec 9, 2009)

PH should be 7-8 anything in the middle is ok
Ammonia should be at Zero
Nitrites at Zero
Nitrates < 20pmm


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## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Hi *mostlikely*,

When/if yu get water testing kits i would recoment the testube liquit drops one over the test strips, they are much more accurate and will last much longer (more test per a package).

Sounds like a great tank to have already in your house very cool. Post some pictures if you get the chance please.

Keep us posted.

Thanks,
Matt


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

mostlikely said:


> I had the adults for about...15 months? The juveniles hatched in October. I last changed the water and cleaned the whole tank about 3 weeks ago. I'll get to changing it right away.
> When I buy the tests, what numbers am I supposed to be looking for? How do I know what are healthy levels for my fish?


Changing the entire tanks full of water and cleaning everything is the worst thing you can do. Only change 1/3 of the water once a week and clean the glass so you can see in. If you have gravel then vacuum it... Using 1/3 of the water.


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## PepoLD (Dec 9, 2009)

TheFishGuy said:


> Changing the entire tanks full of water and cleaning everything is the worst thing you can do. Only change 1/3 of the water once a week and clean the glass so you can see in. If you have gravel then vacuum it... Using 1/3 of the water.


 for further info about the nitrogen cycle read this article,
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cycling.php

explains pretty deep why are the water changes required and how they work 

like TFG said, if you change 100% of your water and clean all the tank, you will most likely kill all your beneficial bacteria


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## dougrhon (Jun 11, 2010)

The beneficial bacteria does not reside in the water. It resides on the medium mostly in the filter. You cannot change too much water and one third is too little. I recommend 50 percent weekly water changes at least and there is nothing wrong with changing even more.


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

While yes, beneficial bacteria does not live in the water column it is better to do frequent small water changes then one large one whenever one feels it's necessary. Reason being, the less you change the environment for a fish the better. Ten percent water changes daily is perfect. Water quality degrades as time goes on, making a huge change once a week tends to a bit of a shock. The op also mentions "cleaning the whole tank" which I took as cleaning everything thus wiping out most of the beneficial bacteria that resides on all of the tanks surfaces and in its filter and media. My experience of changing 1/3 of the water once a week has been proven to work very well. Blindly telling someone to change however much water they feel like could potentially be catostrophic. Especially a person who obviously does not have years and years of experience. If you plan to do 50% or greater changes and the water is not properly treated or untreated you will kill your fish along with all of the beneficial bacteria. One third is enough to make a difference but not too much to cause damage. That's how Dad did it and that's how I've been doing it for 24 years with great success and many spawns.

Besides, we're discussing convicts. Not discus.


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## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

Keeping fish is a hobby. You must love it and spend time to do it right.

Weekly water changes are a must. Water quality probably is your problem. You also cant trust the settings on the heater. Get a thermometer on the tank.

I would do a 50% water change right away and weekly 1/3 water changes weekly as TFG said. Prime is a great product to dechlorinate and detoxify the fresh water you are adding for the water changes.

Your fish should be feeling better soon

GL...Bill


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## dougrhon (Jun 11, 2010)

TheFishGuy said:


> While yes, beneficial bacteria does not live in the water column it is better to do frequent small water changes then one large one whenever one feels it's necessary. Reason being, the less you change the environment for a fish the better. Ten percent water changes daily is perfect. Water quality degrades as time goes on, making a huge change once a week tends to a bit of a shock. The op also mentions "cleaning the whole tank" which I took as cleaning everything thus wiping out most of the beneficial bacteria that resides on all of the tanks surfaces and in its filter and media. My experience of changing 1/3 of the water once a week has been proven to work very well. Blindly telling someone to change however much water they feel like could potentially be catostrophic. Especially a person who obviously does not have years and years of experience. If you plan to do 50% or greater changes and the water is not properly treated or untreated you will kill your fish along with all of the beneficial bacteria. One third is enough to make a difference but not too much to cause damage. That's how Dad did it and that's how I've been doing it for 24 years with great success and many spawns.
> 
> Besides, we're discussing convicts. Not discus.


I understand your point. In my opinion it is what the fish are used to. I have been doing fifty percent or greater weekly water changes in all my tanks for several years and have never had a problem. That is what i recommend. Yes daily 10 percent would be best but most people will not do that. If the fish are used to 50 percent weekly changes they will thrive. It will not be catastrophic. It is a good rule of thumb and what most experts recommend especially in smaller and more heavily stocked tanks. Obviously if you haven't changed water in a month you have to build up to it gradually.


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## PepoLD (Dec 9, 2009)

mostlikely said:


> I had the adults for about...15 months? The juveniles hatched in October. I last changed the water and cleaned the whole tank about 3 weeks ago. I'll get to changing it right away.
> When I buy the tests, what numbers am I supposed to be looking for? How do I know what are healthy levels for my fish?


\

any news?


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