Aquagirl12

One of my cichlids has a "hole" on his/her side. Im thinking it must be a disease but I have no clue please help!

ABCDemily

I'm no cichlid expert by any means, it looks like an ulcer of some kind? Is it acting normally? This is a very graphic site, just to warn you, but does show all the fish diseases: http://www.jbl.de/onlinehospitaluk/p...=2&GalleryId=2

There are some ulcers on there, do they look similar?

bolivianbaby

I am not an expert on cichlids, but one of our other members should be along shortly than can help you.

Hang in there.

Angela_96

1st question is are they still in a 5g tank? african cichlids should be in a 55g + tank. Heavily stocked for aggression.

As for the ulcer, melafix usually clears it up.
What are your water parameters? With 2 cichlids in a 5g tank the bio load is overloaded and would cause the ammonia, nitrates, nitrites to go up

Aquagirl12

^Yes they are in the same tank as before. My parents wont allow me to get another tank so I dont have much of a choice in that matter. As for water parameters everything seems normal, I change the water very often and keep a close eye on them.

And abcdemily, yes those ulcers do look very similar. Sorry my pics are blurry my camera isnt very good at close up type of photos.

Angela_96

They need a new home then. These fish get to be at least 4 inches a peice and need to be in a larger tank, at least 55g.

Ulcers can be caused by poor housing conditions. Even if you are changing the water regularly it would need a daily 50% change to kep up with the bioload.

btate617

Like already said cichlids are not going to live in a 5gal tank. You will continue to have problems. It is your tank and you can do as you wish with it, but you will continue to have problems if you stick any cichlid in 5gallons of water.

Brian

Aquagirl12

fish grow to fit the size tank they are in, as my parents say everytime i beg for another tank. They would never allow a 55 gal anyway.

Amanda

That is stunting a fish, which is very painful & very cruel.
Please consider re-homing these fish.

Aquagirl12

I have nowhere for them to go. =[ I cant put them in my 15 gal or they will be mean to my tetras.

ABCDemily

Amanda means finding them a brand new home, such as a freidn with a Cichlid tank, or back to a fish shop where they can be rehomed into a much larger and healthier fish tank.

Stunting involves the fish stopping growing on a skeletal level, however it's organs continue to grow and grow, slowly crushing and sometimes suffocating them from the inside out, as previously said, it's horribly painful to the fish and it's very cruel.

Aquagirl12

I got them from walmart but I dont want to bring them back there or they will surely die. Walmart doesnt know much about fish care, hence why they sold me these fish without informing me of their tank size needs. :/

Amanda

Then look for a privatly owned fish shop around you, these fish need a large tank FAST.

Aquagirl12

And they would take them even though I didnt buy them from there? btw nearest LFS is about an hour away =[

Do you think they would they take the sickely one too? Or would they kill him? Hes better off with me then dead if thats the case..

ABCDemily

Ask around, go to local aquarium displays, go to any LFS, and if the fish came from a shop an hour away it'd probably make it back.

Seeing as the ulcer is more than likely caused by poor water conditions it may heal if give proper and due care at an LFS or an aquarium.

Angela_96

Yes most lfs's do take in fish from people, they will quarintine them and treat them for possible infections/parisites if need be.
I have 3 places where I live that will take fish. I am going to have to give up a red zebra and a cobalt due to aggression before I build my breeding groups again and one place is going to take them in trade for 2 female kenyi that I need.

Aquagirl12

Ok good to know; Im going to that city on the 20th so I'll see what I can do. In the meantime I am treating both of them with those Lifeguard Tablets to try to get rid of the ulcers and to prevent it from spreading to the other cichlid.

Aquagirl12

Update: I treated them for the 5 days the box said, but the ulcer is still there, should I re treat or wait? The ulcer is more closed but it still sticks out, espeically on the top.

Also, my parents said they would allow another 5 gallon tank. Would this be ok? They would each have 5 gallons, twice the room they have now, and their own filter and heater.

Angela_96

5 gallons is not enough for a malawi cichlid of any type. They have to have at least a 55g tank.

btate617

It says you have a 15gal tank why not put one in there, still not a great place but better than 5gallons.
You need to make a choice.
You are setting yourself up for failure with cichlids in a 5gal.

Brian

Aquagirl12

because that is a fully stocked community tank.
ok so, You seriously NEED 55 gal per cichlid? or they would just prefer to have it? I think they would be lost with all that space. :P

btate617

Not per cichlid, but to keep those types of cichlids you need a bigger tank.
5gal tanks are not for cichlids, honestly its that simple.


Brian

Aquagirl12

Ok...how many cichlids could I have if I had a 55 gallon?

btate617

Depends on the type of cichlids.
In a 55gal I would maybe do up to 25 of the smaller Africans, say 3-3.5", but this completely depends on the type of fish.
Other types of cichlids maybe 1 or 2 depending again on the type.

You need to pick what type of cichlid you want, but didn't you say your parents wouldn't let you get a 55, so really where is this going?

No one was wrong in saying cichlids don't belong in a 5gal, even if it is one fish. If you are only going to have 5 gallon tanks you need to rethink the types of fish you keep.

Brian

Aquagirl12

Ok theres really no need to be rude, My point was 55 divided by 25 equals 2.2 gallons per fish, less than they have at the moment even. But I plan to upgrade since all local fish shops seem to have a 10 day warantee(I think I spelled it wrong but you know what I mean.. lol) max.

So Im kinda stuck with them, and I have no room for such a large tank even if my parents allowed it... They said that the water and electricity bills would be high to maintain the tank. Not to mention I would have to get rid of my desk or bed to fit the tank in my room. And I kind of need those. lol

Im trying to do the best I can under the circumstances.

Shawnie

aquagirl12 ...I dont think brian was being rude..he was asking why you aquire about the 55 gal knowing you cant get one? members dont need to take the time to help you with stocking it if you parents arent going to let you get it..and your post above, confirmed that once again ......even if there isnt a guarantee on the fish, rehoming them for free would be the proper thing to do for the fish..otherwise, in a 5 gal, they are going to have a quality of life that will not last long sometimes we make sacrifices for our fish and that would be the best you can do at this point..good luck!

Angela_96

the point of mamalis needing a large tank is they are from a lake the size of conneticuit. theya re voracious eaters which means a lot of food waste on the bottom of the tank and without a large tank to elp cycle all that waste the quality of the water goes to pot easy.
they also need dlots of swimming room. hiding spaces. malawi mbuna is what your fish is and mbuna in african means rock dwelling fish. they like in trck piles of the lake eatting most algae and plankton.

they also need to be heavily stocked with other mbuna to be happy.

btate617

Sorry if you felt I was being rude, but many of people have said the same things a few times.

With 5 gallon tanks cichlids are just not for you. I am not being rude, mean, or anything else. I am just telling you the facts, sorry if you don't like the answer but it is what it is.

You really need a different type of fish.

Brian

oceanic75

Sorry its not really going to help 5+5 is no where near 55