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November 18th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| With those numbers, I'd feel safe to say that it's based on lack of company and possibly aggression from the red zebra. Do you have lots of rocks and hiding places in the tank? | 
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November 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| 75 gal tank
Yes, I will take a picture of that whole tank, along with my other tanks and post them within the next day or two.
I was reading some of the other threads re: cichilds and the red zebras being big diggers. You should have seen what the red zebra (fka 'orange fish') did to the rocks in his tank while I had him isolated. He pushed them all away from the edges and made one big mountain, peak and all. I was like, allright then, guess you were bored... I should have taken a picture, then he was swimming beside the mountain, as if 'look what I did'. | |
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November 18th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Oh yes, they LOVE to re- aquascape! Mine do the same thing. I haven't figured out who digs more, my NW or Malawi cichlids.  | |
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November 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Yellow
In the pictures (taken last night) the yellow lab looks much better than he really is. I remain concerned that he will make it at all. | |
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November 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| could you let us know what kind of test kit you are using? curious with the 8 reading of nitrates...labs are usually all over the tank with or without mates..somethings up with that fella...do you use any chemicals in your tanks? salt? pH adjusters etc? im pulling for the lil guy! | |
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November 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Chemicals and salt
Using Kent Liquid Cichild Chemistry and I think something called Cichlid salt also. These were given to me along with the fish, and I’ve been following the schedule former owners had written down as far as adding it when doing water changes, etc. in an effort to maintain the environment they were used to. The fish came along w/ a tank I purchased – Craig’s list purchase – so its not like I know the former owners and can go back to them w/ questions. I think they were quitting keeping any fish. I will read the salt carton tonight and relay more exact info and amount used. Using an API test kit. | |
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November 19th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Hello.  I have moved your thread to the "African Cichlids" section of the forum for more respones.
Thanks!
Ken | |
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November 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Yellow lab still hanging in there this morning
The salt we are using given to us by previous owners is Seachem Cichlid Lake Salt. I will post amount we are using later. Yesterday my husband and son moved the yellow lab from the 75 gal tank to a 10 gal hospital tank. They said he was cowering up between an air pump and a plant and although they didn't see the zebra constantly aggressing toward him but they did see him nip at the yellow once so figured he was doing it more at night or when we weren't looking. They thought he would surely die if they didn't take him out. The 10 is filled with water from the 75, and we put one of his fav caves in there with him. We put a few small guppies in there also in case he wanted to eat one. Any food I've given him over the last few days I've had to take back out uneaten. I was afraid to look this morning but he's behind his cave looking out. I took a lot more pictures last night and will post them later today when I have time. | |
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November 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Quote:
Originally Posted by PetCentralNotObsessed  The salt we are using given to us by previous owners is Seachem Cichlid Lake Salt. I will post amount we are using later. Yesterday my husband and son moved the yellow lab from the 75 gal tank to a 10 gal hospital tank. They said he was cowering up between an air pump and a plant and although they didn't see the zebra constantly aggressing toward him but they did see him nip at the yellow once so figured he was doing it more at night or when we weren't looking. They thought he would surely die if they didn't take him out. The 10 is filled with water from the 75, and we put one of his fav caves in there with him. We put a few small guppies in there also in case he wanted to eat one. Any food I've given him over the last few days I've had to take back out uneaten. I was afraid to look this morning but he's behind his cave looking out. I took a lot more pictures last night and will post them later today when I have time. | The African tank in my house uses a tablespoon of Wardly Aquarium Salt for 15 gallons in a WC. This has been successful for a very long time. | |
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November 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Yellow lab still doing ok - pic of 75 gal tank he was in
Today he's in the 10 gallon tank and doing ok. He's been seen out swimming mid tank a few times. This is the closest thing we've seen to a good sign.
The red zebra is quite beautiful and healthy looking. I hope he doesn't beat up the 2 tank mates he has left. | |
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November 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| i would top that 10g off and run it will as little gravel as you can in efforts of giving him more space | |
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November 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| I will do that, it leaks a little at the very top, but I think we can fill it up more than that. I'll take out some gravel too. | |
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November 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by PetCentralNotObsessed Today he's in the 10 gallon tank and doing ok. He's been seen out swimming mid tank a few times. This is the closest thing we've seen to a good sign.
The red zebra is quite beautiful and healthy looking. I hope he doesn't beat up the 2 tank mates he has left. | is there salt in the 10g ? | |
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November 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Yes, most of the water in the 10 came directly out of the 75 he was in which had salt. We just topped the 10 off with another gallon which we added a bit Kent liqud cichlid chemistry to. He's just hanging behind his cave looking out, his face is really gray and he's not real active, obviously; but otherwise seems ok right now. He actually seemd to show some interest in some bloodworm my husband put in for him, but I didn't see him eat any (the guppies were eating it, and it almost as big as them) | |
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November 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Status quo
Yellow lab is doing the same this morning. When he saw me look in at him, he flapped his fins rapidly. | |
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November 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| if there isnt an improvement soon, id rethink about the salt....do you run a hydrometer in your tanks? salt and cichlids dont mix well IMO and salt never disapates..it builds up over time and can be a major issue for most FW fish... .its more of an OLD SCHOOL way of fish keeping...theres much more gentle ways to treat our fish than the old salt method...what is your salt level now in each tank? | |
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November 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| No hydrometer, I will test salt levels tonight. I think we have something to do that with.
I have not seen the fish eat for many days. He's pretty much staying in one spot behind his cave. | |
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November 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by PetCentralNotObsessed No hydrometer, I will test salt levels tonight. I think we have something to do that with.
I have not seen the fish eat for many days. He's pretty much staying in one spot behind his cave. | Try a nice water change of 30-40% with some water conditioner and thats it...none of the cichlid additives or salt either for the new water.....suck up the gravel and such......then give it an hour or so and see how they are...I think with a few days of lowering the salt content with water changes, you might see a change in them....good luck! | |
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November 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| i agree with shawnie 100%
does his belly look sunken in or anything?
are his fins all in good shape? | |
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November 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| fins, etc.
The bottom tip of his tail fin has been bitten off. Other than that his other fins all look good. His belly does not look sunken in, surprising because I have not seen him eat in a long time. His changing color was one of the first things I noticed about a month ago. He used to be more bright yellow all over, now his face and back are more gray.
I don't have anything to test salt content in the water, should I buy something, and what is recommended?
Will do the water change tonight. | |
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November 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| My other tanks
20 gallon Barb tank: 4 barbs - cherry, rosie, lf rosie, tinfoil; 3 flying foxes, 1 Chinese Algae eater, 1 pictus cat, 2 small plecos. A little crowded right now, but had to move the flying foxes here (gentle creatures, they seem to thrive wherever we put them); they were in with oscars when oscars were smaller, but saw them getting chased down as oscars got bigger, they were in with little cichlids--too crowded, then with big cichlids, but seemed to be getting terrorized. | |
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November 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| 30 gallon tank - little cichlids
6 African cichlids: Bumblebee, yellow lab, elec blue johanni, Acei, Red Zebra, and an albino something can't remember - I'll try to get a good pic of him at some point; 1 chinese algae eater, 1 small pleco. Its always fun to watch this tank. | |
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November 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Yellow lab this morning pics
Did a 3g water change last night, added a little over 1/2 tsp of API StressCoat+. He's the same this morning, doesn't seem any better or worse. | |
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November 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| more pics of yellow lab
Moderator, feel free to delete pics if I'm taking up too much space. Was trying to give a good look at his fins, etc.
Also a nice 'clear' pic of 20g tank. | |
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November 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Dragon gobie pics
My son's pet: a Dragon Gobie in 10g tank, along w/ some guppies. | |
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November 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Tiger Oscar pics
These are our 3 Tiger Oscars in a 55g tank. They let you pet them and will take food from your hands.
When you see pics of our fish, you may likely see pics of our cats too. Our tanks are pretty carefully 'cat proofed'. The cats were part of our inspiration for keeping fish, we knew they'd enjoy it as much as we do.
Yes, I'm busted too, that is (was) a tiger barb you see in some of the pics. | |
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November 21st, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Albino Tiger Oscar pics
These are our 3 Albino Tiger Oscars in a 75g tank. There are 2 medium sized plecos in with them. This tank is a chore to keep clear, in addition to the Oscar factor, there are live plants and a large piece of driftwood.
That's it, I've posted pics of all of our tanks now. | |
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November 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Good and bad news
The bad news 1st: I had to add another cichlid to the hospital tank. More details later.
Good news is the yellow lab is still doing ok, and maybe a little better. Yesterday my husband thought he was improving. I asked why, how can you tell. He said because he looks at you and responds. This morning I came downstairs and saw from a distance that he was out in front of his cave. That is the first time I have seen that since we put him in there. Then he went behind the cave again.
The fish I had to put in the hospital tank is the albino cichlid (pics attached) from my 30g tank. When I first got him last summer, he was the most aggressive fish in the tank, in fact, he claimed half the tank for himself, and kept all the other fish to the other half, in addition to swimming in their half when he felt like it, chasing them out of their caves, etc. As the other fish outpaced him in size, not so much. In recent weeks, I've noticed him being less and less active and not aggressive at all. Yesterday he stayed in one place toward the top of the tank most of the day. I saw him swimming kind of jerkily a time or two, I thought, well, he's just trying to get out of a current, but I knew I had to watch him close. This morning he was down on the gravel butted up close to a decoration, doing the jerky swimming, then I saw the Bumblebee come up and but into him, that's when I knew I had to take him out. He's on the bottom of the tank of the 10g now, barely moving. Everytime I look in at him, I have to look for awhile to see if he will move at all. He is moving around a little now and then. At least he has no threats in this tank and can rest. The yellow lab is looking at him, and once when the albino was close to the back of his cave, the yellow lab slowly nosed up to him about an inch away, then backed away into his own cave. I am going to go do water tests on several tanks and will report back later. | |
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November 22nd, 2009
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| | Fish Bum
| Things looking up - plan to move fish
Things seem to be looking up in the 10g tank. Yellow lab is doing ok (or the same, I don't know how much longer to leave him in there, I know he can't thrive in there). The albino is swimming around, he seems fine. I am thinking about re-arranging the cichlids tonight:
Large yellow lab, albino, and the Acei (smaller than the rest of the pack) will be in the 30g tank.
Large red zebra, small red zebra, small yellow lab, bumblebee cichlid, elec blue johanni will be in the 75g tank. What about the Jule (picture attached), I've heard they are mean, I'd better read up on him, don't want him to beat up the small cichlids. I don't know much about him, he was given to me along with the large cichlids. The extra large pleco is in there too. He won't hurt the small cichlids, will he?
If anyone thinks this is not a good idea, please advise.
There is a small chinese algae eater in the 30g, I don't think the large yellow lab would eat him, but he would probably fit in his mouth if he tried. But I haven't even seem the yellow lab eat a tiny guppy.
One more note, the large red zebra has been extremely busy re- aquascaping the 75g tank. A pic of his latest re-design attached. He seems to be doing it more than ever being the only cichlid in the tank. | |
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