- Have you tested your water?
- Yes
- If I did not test my water...
- ...I recognize that I will likely be asked to do a test, and that water tests are critical for solving freshwater health problems.
- Do you do water changes?
- Yes
- If I do not change my water...
- ...I recognize that I will likely be recommended to do a water change, and water changes are critical for preventing future freshwater health problems.
Ammonia - 0-0.25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
pH - 6.0-6.4
Hey MFK, really wish I didnt have to make this post. I have a 90g freshwater tank with 5 keyhole cichlids, a leopard ctenopoma and a senegal bichir. I've had them all (except the bichir) for about three or four years now. Today I found one of my cichlids dead, bloated and pineconing. I had notices she was some bloated a few days ago, however I couldn't tell if she was acting abnormally as a result of this, as two cichlids in the tank are mating atm and they kinda mess with everyones mood.
I'm really upset about this as I adore my fish, however today I also noticed another one of my cichlids is slightly bloated. So I'm trying to figure out what's happened and how I can prevent any more fish from dying. I do water changes, but not as regularly as i'd like. I like to do water changes every 1 or 2 weeks, however I can be a busy person and I also procrastinate, so several weeks can go by without one happening. While I am obviously working on myself to change this It's never seemed like a huge problem as nitrates rarely ever get high in my tank from it's small bioload and severel anubias plants.
Aside from that there are two leads I find myself following; 1, my pH is pretty low. Not sure how long its been low as I regretfully haven't done a lot of water tests recently, but it seems to be in the 6.0-6.4 range. Lead 2 is different - for the past like year and a halfish(?) my cichlids (and my ctenopoma "Tai-Lung" as well) have had this weird behavior where they don't really do much. They swim around but a lot of the times ill come down to my tank and the cichlids and Tai-Lung are just kinda sitting there. Whether it be in a plant or in a pot or on the sand, they'll just be sitting, their colors darkened as they are when they go to sleep.
When this behavior initially arised I was concerned, but no health issues arised from it, and I couldn't find anything wrong with the tank itself apart from rarely rising nitrates, so I assumed they just liked to chill a lot? This is not the case for my bichir Salvatore as he loves swimming around the tank. I'm wondering now though if there is something wrong, and that's what caused this death? Im not sure. Either way, here are pictures of the fish.
From left to right:
- One of the currently mating cichlids. No bloating or pineconing. Doing the resting behavior, but this was very brief.
- The currently bloated cichlid. Very hard to tell if he's pineconing or not.
- Tai-Lung and Salvatore. (Tai-Lung is incredibly shy so good photos of him are not common)
ANY help, questions, knowledge or advice in any way is really appreciated! Im really upset by this cichlids death and I don't want more to die.
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
pH - 6.0-6.4
Hey MFK, really wish I didnt have to make this post. I have a 90g freshwater tank with 5 keyhole cichlids, a leopard ctenopoma and a senegal bichir. I've had them all (except the bichir) for about three or four years now. Today I found one of my cichlids dead, bloated and pineconing. I had notices she was some bloated a few days ago, however I couldn't tell if she was acting abnormally as a result of this, as two cichlids in the tank are mating atm and they kinda mess with everyones mood.
I'm really upset about this as I adore my fish, however today I also noticed another one of my cichlids is slightly bloated. So I'm trying to figure out what's happened and how I can prevent any more fish from dying. I do water changes, but not as regularly as i'd like. I like to do water changes every 1 or 2 weeks, however I can be a busy person and I also procrastinate, so several weeks can go by without one happening. While I am obviously working on myself to change this It's never seemed like a huge problem as nitrates rarely ever get high in my tank from it's small bioload and severel anubias plants.
Aside from that there are two leads I find myself following; 1, my pH is pretty low. Not sure how long its been low as I regretfully haven't done a lot of water tests recently, but it seems to be in the 6.0-6.4 range. Lead 2 is different - for the past like year and a halfish(?) my cichlids (and my ctenopoma "Tai-Lung" as well) have had this weird behavior where they don't really do much. They swim around but a lot of the times ill come down to my tank and the cichlids and Tai-Lung are just kinda sitting there. Whether it be in a plant or in a pot or on the sand, they'll just be sitting, their colors darkened as they are when they go to sleep.
When this behavior initially arised I was concerned, but no health issues arised from it, and I couldn't find anything wrong with the tank itself apart from rarely rising nitrates, so I assumed they just liked to chill a lot? This is not the case for my bichir Salvatore as he loves swimming around the tank. I'm wondering now though if there is something wrong, and that's what caused this death? Im not sure. Either way, here are pictures of the fish.
From left to right:
- One of the currently mating cichlids. No bloating or pineconing. Doing the resting behavior, but this was very brief.
- The currently bloated cichlid. Very hard to tell if he's pineconing or not.
- Tai-Lung and Salvatore. (Tai-Lung is incredibly shy so good photos of him are not common)
ANY help, questions, knowledge or advice in any way is really appreciated! Im really upset by this cichlids death and I don't want more to die.
