Problem with cichlid tank

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numbah84

numbah84

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 6, 2011
150
25
31
Vacaville, CA
My 2 yr old SA Cichlid tank isn't looking to hot. I recntly removed two fish from the setup a Male Convict and A Male Firemouth. The current inhabitants are a Jaguar, Parrot, Anouther Firemouth and a breeding pair of jack dempseys. all in a 55 gallon with slate rock, a canister filter and a HOB filter. My problems started when I did a 15 gallon water change and removed the 2 fish and did some new aquascape. The once breeding pair of dempseys are acting very weird, the female looks all beat up and is up in the corner of the tank. The male is also beat up looking and his tail fin is all white. He is hiding under neath some rock and wont come out even when I feed. firemouth and parrot are fine hanging out on the other side of the tank. Tha jaguar i think may be the problem because he is chasing the dempseys around alot and flaring his gills at everything but he also isnt eating. i dont know what dto do please please help me.
 
Hello and welcome to MFK.

Your 55g is too small to house what you currently have in there peacefully (as you're seeing now). You need to remove the Jag and either keep the Firemouth + Parrot or the breeding pair of JDs - whichever you prefer.
 
so the jag is staraight up too big for a 55g? IF I go with Firemouth + Parrot is there any other fish I could add to that tank? Same question for the pair of dempseys.

Thank you for the quick response.
 
Correct, the Jag grows larger then the width of your tank - not good.

If you go with a breeding pair of JDs I would just leave them to their own tank as they can become aggressive to others when breeding. However the up side to this is that they display some amazing breeding colors and are a great fish.

As for the Firemouth + Parrot you could add a school of bottom fish or a school of thicker body tetras and have more of a community type setup with your firemouth and parrot being the centerpiece to it.
 
ok thank you again. my only concern is that the dempseys are looking pretty unhealty so i dont wnat them to be the centerpiece and then die off. mmm... im gonn do some water changes every few days and then if things don't get better ill make the fish moves.

thanks for the quick responses :)
 
Well, if you post what's wrong with the dempseys folks here can steer you on the right track to get them healthy and showing their stunning colors :)
 
You need to triple the size of your tank, and still get rid of the jag.
 
So I just changed the filters in the HOB( they were so clogged water was overflowing in the middle) and did a 10 gallon water change. The two dempseys are now laying down in the back of tank behind rocks just sitting there for the last hours. I tried to poke the male a little so could get a pic of him but even when i poked him he just layed there. The other 3 are hiding because I just did a water change but still look responsive atleast when i come near them.

So heres the plan of action list just tell me if i need to add anything

Water changes every other day or so (5 gal or 10 gal?)
Remove Jaguar cichlid
Change canister filter media

PS: I recently added some anacharis, java moss and anubias to try to improve the water quality.. fingers crossed
 
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