Need Advice! Sick Cichlid?

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extre248

Feeder Fish
Dec 30, 2010
4
0
0
Australia
Hi, first time posting here but not my first visit. I have a number of chiclids in my 5ft tank. Over the past two months one of them has been acting quite strange.

I purchased 2 "Hongi" (so i was told) along with some yellow labs, red zebra, a frontosa and tiger oscar over 12 months ago and the less dominant of the pair of Hongi has become rather thin and sick looking over the past 6 weeks.

He also looks like he is having trouble swimming and dosent move around the tank much at all. He seems to be having trouble swimming horizontally. He sort of floats vertically all the time close to the surface of the water in the tank.

Ive noticed this sick looking fish has also been beaten up a little and has marks on his sides where the other fish have taken a nip at him ect.

All my other fish are fine and very active with a little breeding goin on.

I have made a video with my phone so excuse the quality, but hopefully someone can take a look and suggest something that might be wrong with him or help me get him fit and healthy again?

Thanks.
[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGYKn-jRDSs[/YT]
 
Do you have another tank you could put him in?? I think it's just from being picked on. I have had fish that got picked on and they would swim facing up and sometimes swim facing down, like yours is.. Could e something else as well.. I would try removing him for a little while if possible and see if he changes..
 
I agree he needs a QT. You might want to reconsider having that oscar in there. Oscars are South American and do better in soft acidic water, the rest of your fish are African and need hard basic water. Having them in the same tank means that someone is not living in proper water conditions and will have troubles as a result. Is this the first of those troubles?

Do you know the KH, GH and pH of your water? Nitrates are important to check when you have a sick fish too.
 
Yeah i might try and setup another small tank for him for some timeout.
I have run out of aquarium test strips, but the last time I tested was about 3-4 weeks ago and Ph was about 7-7.5, KH about 80 if i remember correct and nitrates were reading a faint 0-20 on my color scale. KH about 120.

I got the cichlids and oscar at the same time from the aquarium when they were all about 3cm long. They have all grown up together over the past 12-18 months.
Do you think that the water preference between them would still be a problem, or would they eventually get used to it?
 
Wait, test strips? Please don't buy any more. The card board box they come wrapped in is more accurate. Get a liquid reagent test kit.

The odd ball water chemistry will be a problem with long term health. It will result in fish more prone to diseases, reduced growth rates and shortened life spans. Yes it will be a problem. An oscar that should live 15 years, might only live 6 or 7.... less than half.

You have said the KH was both 80 and 120, is one of those GH? Those numbers are 4.5 and 6.7 degrees...far more appropriate for the oscar than for the African's. It makes sense that its an African that is sick.
 
yeah sorry Gh was 120ish. Ill look into getting a liquid reagent test kit.

hmm what to do...I might have to get the oscar another tank if the water is the problem. I dont want to get rid of him, and i love my little guys too :)
 
I think the biggest problem is that he is getting picked on, Everyone has different opinions about mixing SA with Africans.. I have done it may times with success, many people will disagree.. For me if the fish was never in the wild it doesn't know the difference in the water.. I'm not saying it wouldn't be better off in its ideal conditions, but I have had tanks with mixed regions for a few years and they all did fine.. Just my .02
 
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