# Cyrtocara moorii (AKA Blue Dolphin) wont eat



## Alex96 (Feb 2, 2014)

I brought a few fish of a lady online who said she had these fish for 2 years no problems. I brought 2 Blue Dolphins both females i was told (15cm) 1 Flameback unsure of gender (12cm) 1 Electric Blue female (12cm) 1 maingano again unsure of gender(12cm) 1 lombardoi female (11cm) 1 electric yellow male (10cm) 1 hongi which died  (14cm)

Ok so basically she said they were all fine and shes had them for up to 2 years and they were in a 400 lt and they were fed cichlid pellets every day nothing more nothing less and the only fish that ever ate were the Flameback and Maingano which seem to eat a lot less then they should. I am after a solution any help would be greatly appreciated

My tank is 4ft (125lt) and has been running for well over 6 months
Temp: 28 Celsius
P.H Levels: 7.0 (Currently in process of raising ph levels with ph up)
I am unsure of the other levels as i do not have a means of testing but will be going to my LFS tomorrow to test the water
Fish: (Not including those above
2x Female Venustus
2x Electric Blue (1xM 1xF)
2x Clown Loach
2x YoYo Loach
1x Feather Fin Catfish
4x Peppermint Bristlenose
2x Rainbow Shark
1x Maingano
1x Peacock

Substrate: Sand
I have some driftwood, rocks and fake plants but tank was set up for smaller fish so the larger ones dont really have any hiding spots. So please any tips any criticism any help. I just want my fish to be themselves and eat
I may have forgotten something so please feel free to ask


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## chopsteeks (Jul 23, 2013)

That is a lot of fish in a 125 liter tank. This is perhaps your problem.


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## Alex96 (Feb 2, 2014)

The fish that arent listed up the top are only 3-5cm


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

chopsteeks has pointed out your number one problem. 125liter is less than 30 gallons. Way too small of a tank for most cichlids and definitely too small for the species you have, never mind how many. 
I know you often hear that for every inch of fish you need 'so many' gallons--but cichlids don't fall under that rule. Every species has their own specific requirements for tank size, layout, feeding and tankmates they can possibly be housed with. 
C. Moorii, Blue Dolphins for instance are slow swimmers and require a lot of open space and do not do well with faster/more aggressive tank mates. A 55 gallon tank would be the smallest you'd want them in and then only with the right tankmates. 
Your electric blues: like most mbuna they need to be kept 'harem style' with one male and 3-4 females otherwise the lone male will likely chase the lone female to death. 
The venustus, read about them here: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/n_venustus.php

Perhaps you plan on getting a larger tank, I don't know. When these fish are small they will usually get along fine in a small tank with the wrong tankmates, but watch out! This 'fineness' can change literally overnight and when it does you may find yourself waking up to a tank with injured or even dead fish and the stress of this kind of enviroment will weaken your other fish leaving them open to illness and disease.

Generally speaking when you get new fish they may take a few weeks to get accustomed to their surroundings and start eating and swimming around normally.That may be happening with your fish to some extent, but honestly, there's just not much of a future for that tank with that mix of fish.  
Sorry to sound so negative--most of us here have done the same thing when we first started with these fish--too many fish, --the wrong species of fish--too small of a tank--I know that's what I did!
Thankfully you've found this forum and there are plenty of people here who can help you make the changes you need to have a successful tank--long term.

Robin
and careful on messing around with the ph. Most fish can adjust to a less than ideal ph but when you add things to the water to raise or lower the ph it can result in an unstable ph and that can truly stress your fish.


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## Alex96 (Feb 2, 2014)

Thankyou for such a great reply. I have only ever had guppies and swordtails (which i caught in the local creek) for the past 5-6 years and im not really use to the whole thing of this fish isnt a good match with this fish and these fish wont suit this tank. Im not sure on the exact size of the tank (rough estimate from when i filled it and put water conditioner in it) but its a 4ftx32cmx32cm
*** since found out pet store owners are exactly to be trusted and will do anything to sell fish
But basically im new to keeping cichlids and infact very glad i have people like you who understand this whole process im going through.... I have advertised on a website to give these adult fish away to a good home. So if anyone here is in brisbane australia let me know if you want them

Also is there a way to find out suited tank mates. Like a webchart or something


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