New guy here!

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stpetejustin

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 28, 2012
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Saint Petersburg Florida
Hey guys, I'm Justin and I recently got into this crazed hobby. Friend of mine has been doing it his whole life and just went crazy with new tanks, fish, and even going salt... Not me, not yet anyway. I do have some questions needing assistance for sure. Let's run down the details, I have two freshwater tanks, one 75 and the other a 37 gallon. In the 75 I have a Jack Dempsey, as of now he is King. A Green Terror that is quite submissive and isn't aggressive at all, very pretty though. I also have a Texas in there. All 3 of these are under 3" at the moment. Gender I can't seem to figure out myself, but both myself and my friend believe the only female is the Terror with its docile attitude. For appearance purposes I have 12 Danios in there to school around, also to dull down the bullying by the Jack as he did before them. Few snails and a catfish for the cleaning crew, few plants as well and plenty of cavework and driftwood. Any ideas/suggestions for any new fish perhaps or anything else like how I can keep any ammonia spikes from happening and so on, please by all means voice them!

Now to the 37 gallon. In there I simply have one Convict. I believe it is a boy, can't be certain. Anyhow, it's about 2 1/2" and eats, swims and acts completely normal. Only reason I bring this up is it has a pretty decent sized lump, growth, cyst I'm not sure what exactly near one of its gills. It has the appearance of what a whitehead looks like on a person. I don't know what to make of it, or what to do if anything? Please any help would be appreciated as it is my first real fish.

Thanks guys, appreciate the feedback!

Justin
 
In a 75 gal with those fish you will not want anymore cichlids. Soon enough they will all be 10+ inches with attitudes to match their size.

As for your convict, male convicts tend to get humps on the forhead and are larger. The females will have orange/red coloring on their bellies and usually are alot more colorful.
And about the "growth" a picture would help.
 
welcome to mfk Justin............. have fun! And nice fish and setup... looking forward to more!
 
Welcome to the forum. :)

Can't tell with your cons. One in the forefront looks male, and the other I can't see good. Neither have the pinkish belly of a female, but that could change if they decide to spawn.

The growth, could be a tumor, could be a parasite, or just an injury. Right off the bat, if it continues to get worse, you can try treating with prazipro if you want, it's fairly benign for cichlids, unless you heavily overdose, and would get rid of most parasites.

Regarding ammonia spikes, do you ask because you've had issues with it, or just for reference in the future?
In a cycled tank, you won't have ammonia spikes unless you have insufficient filtration, and/or add too many fish at once. The main advice I have for filtration is to always OVER filter. If a filter is rated for your size tank DON'T get it, go larger, they are notoriously overrated. And many of us run two filters, for extra filtration, and also in case one fails. You can also run a sponge filter, which is simply hooked to an air pump, for extra or emergency filtration. And only add one or two fish at a time. If you have a large tank with lots of fish and a cycled filter you can tolerate adding more at once (of fish the same size or smaller than what you already have), but if in doubt just make sure to avoid doing that.

Also keep something like Prime or Amquel on hand in the case you do somehow end up with ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates, so you can neutralize it to prevent fish deaths, and also make sure to always have a master test kit (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH) to test your water periodically, and daily or more in a cycling or newly set up tank.
 
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