brandi77 said:
thank you so much for the advice. my water temp is at 78.
That's fine for most all cichlids.
brandi77 said:
i had the lfs check my ph and they said it was ok.
Did they give you a number that corrolates to your pH? "O.K." for one fish may mean stress for another. I'd suggest the purchase of an all purpose test kit to monitor your water quality.
brandi77 said:
i just got home from the lfs cuz i wanted to get another severum, and i found out that they have ich. i think mine does too cuz i just got it yesterday. any suggestions?
First, stop adding fish until all of those in your tank are cured. Are your fish showing any symptoms of ich, such as small white marks that look like grains of sand or salt, or are they rubbing against objects in the tank? There are many ich treatments commercially available. Get one right away, and make sure you follow the directions; some ich treatments require raising the water temperature and/or removing the filter carbon. You can also dose your tank with aquarium salt, which is less harsh than the chemical ich treatments. Unfortunately, "less harsh" also means "less effective", so it really depends how bad things are which you should choose.
brandi77 said:
I bought 1 socolofi blue and 1 snowhite. does anyone know the latin name for the snowhite? thank you
"Snowhite" in African cichlids is often a catch-all for any albinos. Most often they'll be labs or zebras, though.
Again, stop adding fish for now. Is this a new tank? You need to give the essential bacteria in the system a chance to catch up with the bioload. (read: Let the microscopic creepie-crawlies in your filter and gravel bed grow and multiply to keep up with the poop and pee and extra food.) It doesn't take forever, and it will be worth it. Use the test kit I suggested to know when it's time to add more fish.
Believe me, I am the WORST when it comes to being patient with these things, but I only break the rules when my water parameters continue to look good.