T. Affinis help

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ahrooo

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 16, 2013
18
9
33
California
Hello all,
I have been keeping cichlids for 20 years and I have recently run into an issue with my T. Affinis Lago Peten. I started with a small colony of five at about 1.5 inches in a planted 40 gal breeder but now I am down to just two, having lost one every other week or so. I have never had a fish die off like this before. Is there a specific water perimeters or diet these fish should be consuming? I feed flakes one day, frozen krill the next. They always appear to be eager eater but not gluttonous. My nitrite and nitrates have always remained near zero. My total hardness is between 150 to 250. My PH is in the mid 7s and my alkalinity is about 80. Temp of water is about 77-79. Any advice or insight for this specific fish is much appreciated.
 
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ahrooo said:
Hello all,
I have been keeping cichlids for 20 years and I have recently run into an issue with my T. Affinis Lago Peten. I started with a small colony of five at about 1.5 inches in a planted 40 gal breeder but now I am down to just two, having lost one every other week or so. I have never had a fish die off like this before. Is there a specific water perimeters or diet these fish should be consuming? I feed flakes one day, frozen krill the next. They always appear to be eager eater but not gluttonous. My nitrite and nitrates have always remained near zero. My total hardness is between 150 to 250. My PH is in the mid 7s and my alkalinity is about 80. Temp of water is about 77-79. Any advice or insight for this specific fish is much appreciated.
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Toiletcar Toiletcar
Gourami Swami Gourami Swami
Jexnell Jexnell
duanes duanes
 
Also, I have one female green sword in the tank. None of the dead showed signed of fin or body damage. But they appeared sluggish one day and died the next. There is also a hang on breeder net in the tank with 20 green sword tail fry that are a few weeks old in the tank and none of them have died.
 
Sorry to hear that OP. Have you’ve noticed white stringy poo? Sounds like everything else is fine though it wouldn’t hurt to up the ph a little. They are omnivores so a quality pellet should be all they need. I would hold off on the frozen foods.
 
duanes said:
Some basic info
The average pH range of lake Peten is 7.95 to 8.25,
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W/ ph that high, I would definitely get that ph up. All thorichthys are very sensitive to water conditions and diet. Everything has to be perfect for them. Meeki are the hardiest of all and probably because they’ve been in the hobby so long.
Also thinking about, temperatures matter too. Some won’t survive temps in the 80s long term.
 
too warm. heat stress. knock the temp down to 76ish. skip the frozen foods and feed a quality flake food. the pH is fine. they come from hard, higher pH water but yours is fine.
79-80 for an extended period combined with the frozen krill or even bloodworms will bloat them up and they will start to die off just like you have mentioned.
in here at TUIC I keep them at 76 and they are fed a combo of different flake brands. Cobalt cichlid, tetra tropical, and hbh veggie graze. nice and easy to digest. feed sparingly. less is more.

Also, they do best as a colony of themselves. They can easily be out competed by other tankmates and combined with the naturally elusive behavior they can miss out on feedings.
 
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Kevin@TUIC said:
too warm. heat stress. knock the temp down to 76ish. skip the frozen foods and feed a quality flake food. the pH is fine. they come from hard, higher pH water but yours is fine.
79-80 for an extended period combined with the frozen krill or even bloodworms will bloat them up and they will start to die off just like you have mentioned.
in here at TUIC I keep them at 76 and they are fed a combo of different flake brands. Cobalt cichlid, tetra tropical, and hbh veggie graze. nice and easy to digest. feed sparingly. less is more.

Also, they do best as a colony of themselves. They can easily be out competed by other tankmates and combined with the naturally elusive behavior they can miss out on feedings.
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Your tips have paid off, Kevin. Thanks!
 
What other thorichthys are you keeping?
 
Hello! Where did you obtain affinis and other Thorichthys? I have been looking for both affinis and pasionis. They are on my bucket list after having them just a few years ago. I'm located in Oregon. I hope that I do not violate a rule in asking this, but would you be interested in shipping some my way?
 
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