problems with my sci. fryeri male

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navygirl76

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Sep 6, 2007
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Hello everyone! I currently have a 180 gallon with mixed mbuna. I have a male sci. fryeri in there for about 6 months or so and he has been doing fine. The tank is in our basement, and we are in the middle of finishing the basement, so we havent been down there looking at the tank like we usually are-just to feed and do waterchanges.

the other day, i noticed my fryeri male is starving to death! He is nothing but a head and cartilage-it scared me, and i fed them all, and made sure he got extra-he did come over and grabbed 3 clumps of krill then fled back to his part of the tank-i have taken him out and quarantined him to try and fatten him up. I believe he is having aggression issues and is scared into his part of the tank. Or he may have lost his place in the heirarchy of the tank.. i dont know.

i feel bad for not watching him (or all of them) closer.

My question is, has anyone else experienced problems with keeping fryeri in with their mbuna? do they usually get beat down and starved? (his fins are chewed also). I thought they were compatible, but now im wondering if they arent-i have read a few sites that say fryeri dont do well with mbuna because they are too skittish, then another site said fryeri are aggressive-too much so for mbuna.. Im not sure what to do with him once i get him fattened up--

Thanks for any insight guys and gals! Mel

 
No, I find this to be the norm with these guys. I had two that thrived. One which was so aggressive I had to move him away from a tank full of peacocks.

I put him with all my mbuna. For months they both where the top of the tank. Then slow as other mbuna reached full size. each lost his seat of power. Separately they died. They just stopped eating. They would sometimes pick up food and then spit it up. I separated them into different tanks, but they would not eat anything... They both died sadly.


When I mean norm, I meant when kept with mbuna...
 
thanks guys-i agree with you mike-he was doing so well, but now my mbuna are as big-if not bigger than he is and i think he has lost his place in the ranks... he is starving to death, and the only other tank i can put him in if he cant go back in the 180 is a ten gallon-and to me that is unacceptable..

he has been in the hospital tank now for 2 days and is not eating, he is stressed to the max. i have kept his light off, put rock and plants in to make him feel safe, but he wont come up to eat-im thinking of adding garlic to his food, but whats the point when he isnt eating anyways? lol
i havent seen his poop to see if maybe he has parasites or something, i have a feeling he will eventually die even if i did fatten him up. he is so beautiful, and now i feel bad and wish i had never gotten him. i have a female in the 180, she seems to be doing well with the others, and she is small-they seem to leave her alone..(for now).

its just heartbreaking. ill never keep a fryeri with mbuna again.
 
I have noticed this with fryeri as well. They seem to do great with other haps but when you mix them in with mbuna that are the same size or larger they dont do as well. I had to get rid of a red top zebra that was beating up on my large male fryeri, as soon as I removed him my fryeri began to thrive again. I now keep my fryeri in species only tanks, I think they fare best that way they can be super aggressive but they cant seem to keep up with mbuna.
 
I would give him a few days to settle in the Q tank... now he is stressing because he is alone... this type of fish all ready going through stress will easily shut down for awhile in the Q tank,..and sometimes if they are too weak will not recover... do you have a little hiding spot for him in there.. small cave.. and i would at this time switch him over to treat food.. such as a little frozen brine or blood worms.. just to get his digestive track moving again.. and they don'T dirty the little tank up as fast because clean water is a big contribution to speedy recovery...
 
I've had the same problem with some Tangs and I put the Q tank, GL with your fish!
 
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