# Frontosa's dying HELP



## peterpete190 (Jan 19, 2015)

Hello.

I have aquire 7 (had 7) Juvenile Frontosa.They are about 1.5 inches each.Right now I have them in a 72 gallon bowfront,gravel,under gravel filter and 100 gallon canister filter.I have made 4 rock caves and the tank is planted with 2 swords and 3 ferns.I also have a 5 inch red tail shark with them and an 8 inch pleco as well as 3 juvenile clown loaches approx same size as the fronts just a little larger.We ordered 12 fronts online almost a month ago.My cousin took 5 of them and we kept 7.Nitrate0,ph 7.8,nitrite o,ammonia 0 (fresh water change 01-16-15 and these are readings after 50 percent water change.I have two questions.First all 7 were doing great.On 01-16-15 I woke up and found 1 front dead and fins all chewed up floating in a plant at the top of the tank.He was fine all day the day before with no sickness showing and no behavior issues.All of these fish are doing great together no issues.Today (01-19-15) another dead found at the bottom of the tank behind the shark and clown loach cave also near where the other alive singled out front hangs out.Why did these die and why were ones fins chewed up?*My second question is one front hangs out on opposite side of tank* with the shark and loaches.The other 4 hang out together in the plants near a large cave.So one singled himself out or seems to maybe be pushed out of the rest of the group.Any ideas on why one died and was partially eaten and why one hangs alone.I am upgrading to a 125 gallon in about 6 months.I feed them shrimp,blood worms and flakes and they eat very well.I also forgot to mention when we ordered these they were shipped over night about a month ago into a very cold climate.When they arrived the bags of water they were in was ice cold and 1 out of the 12 appeared dead.After floating the water bags for almost 45 minutes he came to slowly and then he was o.k. In the tank the other fronts picked on him for a day.But after a day they were all fine including the one that wasn't doing well.So almost a month passed by with no issues and now two are dead.Not sure if it was the one that was near death that died.The water temp is at 80 all day and night.Lights on a timer daytime from 630 am to 7 pm then moon light led from 7 to 8 pm then all lights out until the next day.Please Help.I was told to remove the red tail shark but I don't see him hurting any fish in fact he hugs up against the clown loaches all the time they hang out tightly together for some reason.The only thing I can think of is maybe hes attacking the fronts at night possibly?I don't know.Im thinking of removing him and the pleco but I don't know what to do.Their main diet is the brine shrimp frozen from Petsmart.


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## The Cichlid Guy (Oct 18, 2014)

How long was the tank set up before you added fish? A nitrate reading of zero is a red flag.


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## peterpete190 (Jan 19, 2015)

I had about 16 small cichlids in this tank including the pleco and the red tail shark.I had to much fighting,had a friend that had a huge tank that wanted all of them so I gave them to him for free and was left with the pleco and the red tail.The black sand I had in the tank was saturated with poo and couldn't get it all cleaned out so removed the sand with no fish in the tank and water down to about 50% when I removed the sand.This was a month and a half ago.Kept the red tail and pleco.Added an under gravel filter,kept using the same caister filter made for 100 gallon tank and changed filter pads in it.Added small gravel from local fish store after cleaning the gravel.Added new decorations and live plants.We had the pleco and the red tail in it for about a week then added the 3 clown loaches which are about 1.7 inches long and doing great always busy doing something in the tank.Then about a week after this put in the fronts.They found one side of the tank they hang out in....except one he went to the other side with the shark and clown loaches and doesn't ever go back to the other side even though he says his like others over there once and awhile.And no other front goes over to him on the opposite side either.So all in all the new gravel has been setup and undergravel filter for over a month.Before that the tank was set up for about 5 months with no issues of dying fish with the other cichlids I had.No fish are gasping and no fish look sick or with any infections or fungus issues


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## peterpete190 (Jan 19, 2015)

Below is a video of my frontosa this morning


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## pfoster74 (May 13, 2012)

sounds like you are doing 50% weekly water change which is good, when you do your water changes are you cleaning your media and reusing it? if you are throwing it all away that will cause a cycle and could be the reason your fish are ill.


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## peterpete190 (Jan 19, 2015)

I am doing 50% change weekly but thinking about only doing 15% twice a week instead as I heard this is better.I am also vacuming the gravel lightly to get the poo and old food out.Here is an update on what I have done so far since the last post here:

Removed red tail shark and pleco
Removed almost all plants
Removed all sharp rocks
Stopped feeding shrimp and only a slight pinch of fish flakes
Removed air bubble wand in the back of the tank
Cleaned gravel

Fish look much happier last night when this was done and were actually swimming all around the tank instead of in one corner

I will have to wait until lights come on to see if they are all o.k. today.....my fingers are crossed.


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