Why do I always lose my African's? HELP!

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sledge760

Candiru
MFK Member
Oct 8, 2005
401
13
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Philadelphia, PA
On 7/17/07 I switched my 180 gallon tank from Central/South American Cichlid's to Afircan's. I added 200 lbs. of unknown rock (but not the flackey kind), sand as a substrate, and added 10 lbs. of crushed coral to my fluval fx5 for buffering. I also have 2 AC 110's and a 36 watt coralife uv sterilizer for filtration. The tank has been set up since 9/2006 and before that was a saltwater set up, so there is no biological issues. Since 7/17, I have added around 10-11 fish (only 7 left now). I had another 75 gallon African tank set up in 2004 for about a year, but have keeping all types of fish for 35 years. My M. Callainos died last night. He was the first fish added to the new set up. On 7/17 I added a A. Stuartgranti which was dead the next day. Last Saturday I added a M. Johannii which was also dead the next day. The fish are from 3 different lfs. All the fish were eating well with absolutely no signs of bloat or any poor health, then when I checked the tank the following day they were dead. The 7 fish that are left are in good health and are eating great, for now.

My question is, do other people have issues with africans dieing with no signs of health problems, or anyone have any idea what is going on with mine? On the 75 I had in '04 I used to lose alot of fish also, for unknown reasons. I feed times 2-3 daily, NLS cichlids pellets and tetra spirulina. I kow the proper procedures for acclimating fish. When I had the CA/SA cichlids I would never lose any of those.

I guess I would like to know if other people tend to lose African's more than other fish they have kept?

Nitrites- 0 ppm
Nitrates- 40 ppm (trying to bring them down after the CA/SA's are out of the tank)
Ammonia- 0 ppm
PH- 8.0 ppm

60 gallons a week water changes on a 180.
 
Temp?

"unknown rock" - Love this part. How could you do that? It could be leaching toxins into your water.
 
I only added the new rock last Saturday. It appears that it may be limestone, possibly. Before that I had a few piecs of tufa rock. 2 of the 3 fish I lost were before I added the new rock. Either way, the rock is not the soft kind that you are not supposed to use. Temp is 86f. No ac in the family room where it is at.
 
The unknown roch is a concern.Also what are the other fish in the tank?Like sa only more so matching levels of aggresion is vital.Some mbuna are relentless in harassing tankmates and can stress another fish to death in a surprisingly short time
 
Fish list:

1 Orange Zebra (M. estherae)
1 Red Shoulder Peacock (A. stuartgranti)
1 Nimbochromis Fuscotaeniatus
4x Red Zebra (M. estherae)
 
:iagree: WHERE DID THE ROCK COME FROM?? DID YOU DO ANYTHING TO THE ROCK B4 YOU PUT IT IN TO THE TANK??
 
Yep...

I'm still hung up on the rock. It's also a little hot.
 
The rock is from a drainage area on the side of one the streets near me (NOT near where any polutants would affect it). All of the rock was thoroughly washed. Again, 2 of the 3 fish died before I added the new rock, when there was tufa that I have had for years in their.
 
A rock from the streets of Philadelphia is guaranteed to have nasty stuff on it, please don't tell me you figured it was clean. Not to mention 200 pounds of it.

It was saltwater / CA , and you think there are no biological issues? WRONG! I don't think the tank is cycled properly, either.
Africans also need to be fed well. what/how much are you feeding them, and how often?
 
1. The rock was thoroughly scrubbed/washed. The rock is from a unused wooded area, not from a center city street, or something like that.
2. How are there biological issues if the tank has been set up freshwater for 10 months and all the parameters are 0 except nitrates. If you know fishkeeping, this is the sign that a tank has completed it's cycle, besides the fact that there has been CA/SA's in their for 10 monthes without any problems or deaths.
3. I feed the fish NLS cichlid and tetra spirulina enhanced flake 3 times a day. Enough that they are finished eating in around 20 seconds.
 
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