acestriker

Is it normal for a small cichlid to eat the eyes out of another fish and leave the body behind.... I had three cichlids in a ten gallon and after some recommendations I decided to take two of them back and kept one with the pleco in the ten gal until i can get a bigger tank... well idk what happened but when I came home the pleco was dead and the eyes were missing... it was one of those freaky things that I never wanted to see in this life time... this is the second pleco that I have had die this month and everyone said that they would be fine in the cichlid tanks... this is very weird any explanations?

Toddnbecka

First, what kind of cichlid and pleco was it, and how big were both the cichlid and the pleco? What are the water parameters (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite), and how long has the tank been established?

aquarist48

Hello AceStriker. So sorry to heat that you're having problems and fish loss. Can you post your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate please? You may want to consider not having any cichlids in such a small tank. Cichlids can be "very" aggressive fish.
Ken

Shawnie

im sorry for your loss but im not sure "everyone" would suggest any cichlid with a plec in a 10 gal tank...cichlids are the type of fish that can get mean and need space....depending on what type of cichlid, depends on how much space..for africans , that you have listed in the 10 gal, thats very normal for them ....they need a 55 gal or larger or you can expect allot of deaths ..and if you had a weak plec from ammonia/nitrites , it leaves him open for being picked on as well...

acestriker

The pleco was just a common pleco and the tank readings are 0 nitrite, 20 nitrate and the pH is at 7.5 the carbonate is at 180 and the general hardness is at 180... could you give me a run down on the levels and what they should be for fish the readings and the same in my community tank as well....

iloveengl

Oh! That's really awful to hear - your poor pleco! I would say just the eyes are gone because eyes are gushy and easy to poke out, while skin is much tougher. (Yeuch, that's too gross to say any more about it.)

In any FW tank ammonia/nitrite = 0, nitrate = < 20 or so.

Though water parameters may be safe in your small tank, that alone doesn't mean fish are healthy or happy, which is why your cichlid was particularly aggressive and killed the pleco. 10g just isn't suitable space for a cichlid. The very smallest of the cichlids (from South America, I believe...) still needs 15 for just one fish in the whole tank.

acestriker

I guess the best course of action would be to do away with the cichlid all together and keep the tank for isolation... thanks for your information....

iloveengl

If you really like the little guy, is it possible to upgrade to a larger tank?
I got really lucky and it took me only a week to find the perfect tank and equipment on Craigslist for cheap -- you might want to give it a go if you have the space for another big tank (not sure what kind of cichlid you have, so don't know how much bigger you'd need to go).

Sorry. It's such a bummer to find this kinda stuff out. Keep us updated if you do decide to upgrade.

acestriker

It does suck a little and they all got along great until i took out the other two cichlids.... o well... whats done is done. I will try and see if i could get another tank. he is a Kenyi so how big should I go? Its a female I think really bright blue and black. Its only about an 1 inch right now.. I got it over 4 months ago from wal-mart. what size do you thing I could go with and still be safe... would i have to go to a 55 already... just for that one little fish seems silly... I also thought about getting a fontosa and getting a 55 gal eventually... would that be a good size for one of those?

btw thanks for all the info

iloveengl

Hummmmm, here's a cool link I found on your little girl: http://www.aquariumlife.net/profiles...nyi/100002.asp
So, apparently, even at 2", they can be fierce little killers. Kinda shocking! I guess they need a big tank because they are just SO ridiculously aggressive! It looks like Frontosas get really big - 12", so they would likely need way more than 55g. They would also eat smaller cichlids.... Yeah, it may just be better to re-home the kenyi cichlid and hold off on any new ones.

I don't know if you would think these are cool or not, but have you looked at dwarf gouramis? http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...974&pcatid=974 They come in really striking colors. You could do one of those in your 10g instead of the cichlid and he would be really happy and look awesome. (DG are aggressive with other DG, so they have to be singles unless in a big tank, but one would be great for the 10g.) Just a thought.

And you're totally welcome. This place is all about learning and helping each other out.