# Red Zebra attacked



## Bootstraps (Oct 13, 2014)

Hello all,

I have a B&W Acei, Red Zebra, Yellow Lab and Albino Auloncara. The Red Zebra was my Alpha in the tank, she is a female and i found that out because she was holding eggs about a month back. I Noticed she stopped eating about a week ago and was less active than normal. She started spitting out food and her getting smaller (Possible sunken belly couldnt really tell). Then i noticed she had a small lump near her anal fin and like the picture here http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/malawi_bloat2_pt2.php. So i thought she have had bloat! But the next morning the lump was gone and she had a mouthful of eggs! The day after that she got thrashed badly by my smaller yellow lab. I immediately moved her to a hospital tank. She is spit the eggs out this morning, still is not eating and pretty inactive in the tank. Any insight will be helpful.

Tank Paramaters:
Size: 37 Gallons
Food: Hikari Gold Sinking pellets
Temp: 79.5-80 degrees F
Ammonia: 0
Nitirite: 0
Nitrate: 40-60ppm (pre water change)
KH & GH: dont have a number because I'm at school. But i use Seachem's Buffer and Lake Salt (Malawi)
I use Prime as a water conditioner as well.

This is the day before she was attacked (2 days ago)
[
Red Zebra Before Attack by pudge133, on Flickr

This was this morning she was attacked (Yesterday)

Day 1 by pudge133, on Flickr

This was tonight around 530PM

Attack by pudge133, on Flickr

If i left any information out please let me know. Im very new to fish and very new this forum as well. I posted smaller pictures so i wouldn't kill bandwidth (didn't really know the rules on that)


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Keep her in the hospital tank for a few weeks. Hopefully you're able to use some bio media from the cycled tank in the hospital tank filter. Otherwise you'll need to monitor ammonia and perform daily water changes. I'd dose Pimafix and Melafix according to their respective instructions to help her heal and to ward off any potential infection (med levels will need to be maintained if performing frequent water changes).
Now for the bad news. What are the dimensions of the 37 gallon? It's likely too small for malawi mbuna. Additionally, unless you're attempting an all male tank, mbuna should be stocked 'harem' style which means multiple females per single male for each species. The norm being 1 male to 4 females. This ensures that no single female (or male) is the subject of aggression. Singles of random species usually don't work out too well as you're discovering. Depending on the dimensions of the tank, it's possible that you could stock a single species, yellow labs for example, again, 1m:4f.


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## Bootstraps (Oct 13, 2014)

Im gonna leave her in the hospital tank for a while, she is showing signs over recovery. Still not eating, but the fins are starting to grow back. I was able to take some substrate and used water from my tank in the hospital tank. I am monitoring the levels daily.

For my tank, as I mentioned before, this is my first fish tank and I didn't do enough research on what is compatible with what. This is the first problem that i have had so i guess im lucky. The dimensions are 29"L x 25"W x 30"H. It is kind of an awkward tank but i got for free. I went to a pet store and bought 4 baby mixed africa cichlids. I had no idea whether they were male or female. Only one of mine is showing signs of being a female and that is the one that was attacked. I have no idea how to tell which is a male and which is a female, they are still on the smaller side (about 2 inches from head to fin). I have recently been going to a LFS which is much more expensive than the chain stores. So they might be able to help me differentiate the sexes of the fish.

I am learning as i go sadly . My hospital tank is 30"L x 12"W x 12"H


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## master chi (Jan 3, 2010)

Sounds like your main tank should hav eall fish rehomed,and replaced with something better fit for that size,either some Ps. saulosi,or maybe some cichlids from Lake Tanganyika,The only othe option is to get a bigger tank,55 gallons minimum,and then add the correct fish,which would still require the rehoming of at least 2 of your current fish. Most notably the aulonocara,and either the red zebra,or yellow lab.Your tank right now would make good for a species only Saulosi tank. If you're willing to take the time to research the proper source to purchase some,and your wiiling to find new homes for the fish you have,I believe you can have great success,and will also find true enjoyment in keeping the species.Plus there is an added factor of knowing you are keeping an endangered species.http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1


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## Bootstraps (Oct 13, 2014)

Ok, that is really sad news. I fell into this hobby, which I really enjoy, and was recommended by a friend to get cichlids. I did a lot of research on how to cycle and prep a tank but not enough on the species(this is clear now). Do you think this will work as it is? Im in college and money is tight. A friend had a baby and gave me a tank with everything I needed but water, substrate and fish.

I understand the concern and don't want to stress them out or have this happen again, but is there any chance that this setup will work? I do have a 20g I'm using as a hospital which I could spilt the fish up, if that would help at all. My girlfriend will kill me if she comes over and i have all new fish. A new tank is out of the question as well due the increased costs. I would probably be able to get some Ps. saulosi, which are beautiful btw, at one of the LFS that are here but i really can't spend any more money at this time.

Thank you for all the help and answers.


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## master chi (Jan 3, 2010)

there very little to no chance your current set up will work.you will almost certainly end up with major issues down the road. Here's the thing,right now except having a female red zebra you have what could be the start of a decent all male set up. Meaning when keeping malawi cichlids as an all male set up you pick one fish from each species rather than keeping breeding groups of each species. So currently you have individuals,but not all male. Even if they were all male the tank is still way too small. I won't claim to know what your girlfriend might think about a change,but explaining to her it's in the best interest of the fishes health will certainly go a long way in helping her understand things. Also Again If you choose to simply take the fish back to the store( Strongly suggested),then find yourself a nice group of Ps. Saulosi I have no doubts that in the long term you both will be much happier about the decision to make the change. They are an incredibly beautiful species,and the male/female variation provides great color variety for a species only tank. If you split up the fish between tanks it will only further your issues with potential aggression anyways.malawi cichlids are always going to do better in groups. this helps spread aggression between fish.if you have only two or three fish in one tank,and two or three in another the agression will lead to fish loss.maybe the store you get the saulosi from will take your fish for in store credit? won't hurt to ask. then at least some cost concerns can be resolved as well


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## Bootstraps (Oct 13, 2014)

Thank you for that response and info. I have started going to some of the LFS and seeing what they can do for me. Im in the process of selling these fish and looking into getting something smaller breeds. I am also on the lookout for a larger tank so either one may happen. Glad I was able to find this out before i lost any fish.


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