Help with adding new african cichlids

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
H

hannahx1731

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 22, 2012
5
0
0
massachusetts
So today I went to my lfs and bought 1 acei and 1 red zebra. They were pretty tiny, probably a little bit under an inch for the red zebra and about an inch for the acei. When I brought them home I let the bag float in the tank while I resest and rearanged all the rocks in the tank. I also had the lights off. I then added the 2 new fish and they were immediatley being chased all around the tank by my other fish (1 yellow lab, 1 male johanni, 1 female kenyi, 1 Tropheus duboisi, and 1 convict). I thought this was normal so I left them to get used to the tank. When I got home later that day from work, I found that they were both dead and had been eaten. Their stomach and eyes were gone and the convict was still munching on them. I really dont want the convict in there anyways because he doesnt match and the pet store sold it to me as an african cichlid, and back then I did not know the difference. Did the convict kill the fish or was it the other fish too, because all of the fish were chasing the newcommers. If I take out the convict and bring him back to the petstore will I be more successful when adding new fish the next time? Why did my fish die and who killed them? What is your advice on adding the new fish? Please help, I really want some new and cool looking fish in my tank.
BTW my cichlids are still pretty young, the biggest ones are the yellow lab and convict - only about 2 maybe 2 1/2 inches.
 
That's a huge size difference when it comes to strength and aggression. The convict should also go, when I bought mine under the same circumstances they caused nothing but trouble. It also helps to re-arrange the rocks and other decor when adding new stock so the territory isn't established and the new fish aren't invading anyone's territory.
 
I did rearrange the rocks before adding the new fish, but it didnt seem to do much. I think that maybe it was because they were so tiny and the other fish thought they were food? When I added the fish the convict seemed the least interested in chasing them, so I do not know if he was the one that killed them, but he was deffinitly the one that ate them. I am thinking about going to the pet store and getting some africans that are a little bit bigger than the ones I bought today and trying again. I am also going to bring back the convict. Do you think that it is too soon to try again tomorrow?
 
Things like this happen. I had introduced a 1" yellow lab to a couple of 3-4" malawis, and within the hour he was dead.
Even though I still introduce small malawis to the big malawis this hardly happens.. What I do is I leave the fishes in the bag in the tank for 20mins (letting the others take a look at them) then I give the others in the tank some food to settle them down, then I let the fishes put of the bag, then if I see some chasing going on I give a bit more food to distract them.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Do you think that I should remove the convict for sure? I feel bad just giving him back to the pet store because they really dont have good conditions for them and it is way overstocked. He is doing fine right now with the africans. I have the tank set up for the africans, high pH, rocky, etc. and he is still thriving. Is he going to cause my tank problems down the line if I keep him in there?
 
I don't feel the convict needs to go, as long as the sizes are about the same the aggression shouldn't be that much of a difference. Don't worry about the ph issue at all, especially not for the con's sake

Sent from my LG-LS696 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
Also it's a good thing if there's a dominant fish in the tank (known as the boss). As he keeps all the other fishes in their place, leading to less fights between other fishes.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Oscar123 said:
After keeping cichlids a long time I've noticed that Americans and African cichlids can get along quite fine, if given the sufficient space.


Good point.What size tank are we talkin here? You are also supposed to remove all the fish when re-arranging.this really confuses them and (at least temporarily breaks their aggression),but it sounds like they are too small.It's better sometimes to add bigger fish,because the others will not want to challenge,but usually best to follow procedure and add same size fish.good luck!maybe try peacocks-they are less mean
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom