venustus getting bullied and acting strange, help please

[matt1129]

so, i added a venustus 2 days ago to my african 55g tank stocked with 2 fronts, a yellow lab, and a blue peacock. i have a cave in the tank and a few things the fish can swim through. The other fish are bullying the venustus. I feel like theres something wrong with him because he goes on his side and like sort of vibrates. He is keeping one of his fins tucked to his side while he swims alot as well. Ive caught him bash into my texas holy rock intentionally, like he winds back and nicks the rock with his head(his head shows no injuries). The fins seem like theyre curling up at the ends which i think is from the other fish, and he doesnt really eat much.
as a side note my NLS grow food is really fattening my other cichlids up. Theyre getting pretty thick. Is there anything wrong with this fish? hes acting weird and idk why the other fish dont accept him, theyve all been in the tank for less than a month. Hes not the smallest fish either. there are two fronts smaller than him, and the other fish are only slightly longer. help please, i dont want my first fish death.

 

[Red Devil]

Try adding some floating plastic plants.. this way he can hide in them.. does not seem right that these other fish would bother him.. is it a male or female venustus..? if he truly does not look well set up a hospital tank with the same water from the tank he was in.. and let him rest up and feed .. then once he is well try again..

 

[matt1129]

Try adding some floating plastic plants.. this way he can hide in them.. does not seem right that these other fish would bother him.. is it a male or female venustus..? if he truly does not look well set up a hospital tank with the same water from the tank he was in.. and let him rest up and feed .. then once he is well try again..

thanks. the only tank i have is a 1.5 gallon on hand though. i could use the 10 gallon styrofoam container i have.......... im gonna watch him for a few more days and see if he gets better

 

[fox3]

You say they are in the tank for a month, thinking the tank is in its nitrite spike part of the cycle. Was this an established and cycled tank when you put the fish in?

Check your parameters to see if you are getting zero nitrItes and ammonia readings.

Just a heads up, the 55 is too small a tank for venustus. Fronts get pretty large also, mebbe consider saving your money for a larger tank in the future.

 

[Red Devil]

Also add some Aquarium salt according to the directions... make sure it is Aquarium salt or malawi salt.. no other kind.. it will help reduce the stress and if he has any injuries it will help that it does not become an infection.. and the above poster is right.. big tank will be needed in future.. the venustus gets to be 9 inches and frontosas 16 inches...the frontosa grow slowly but venustus pretty fast... and this mix is not a good one long term .. the fronts should be in a colony of about 6 others for them to thrive... i hope the venustus does okay..i am very fond of them..

 

[m1ste2tea]

sounds like he is irritated by something in the water, make sure that you are using appropriate amount of water conditioner when doing water changes, and also put in aquarium salt. my cichlids do that rubbing thing when I sometimes do not put aquarium salt. other then that it sounds like your other cichlids want to show their dominance over him, which is usual. he'll probably out grow them all soon so just feed the tank frequently and give it more tall/large hiding spots.