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

[sledge760]

I will cut back on the feeding. The tank has been set up since 9/06. It is not a cycle issue. The tank was CA/SA cichlids up until a few days before I made the switch to the African's.

I measured ammonia last night with a relatively new AP test kit. The yellow could not be much more yellow. 0 ppm. I am changing 64 gallons tonight. I have 2x 32 gallons plastic trash (that I have been using for 5 years) with reserve water that is treated with Prime, and has been sitting for almost a week. I have 2 small powerheads in each trash can circulating the water to keep it from becoming stagnant.

 

[sledge760]

Not to doubt your suggestion Scotty, but two of the fish that have died are Mbuna. The new Fusco's and Aulonocara are doing great.

 

[elevatethis]

I will cut back on the feeding. The tank has been set up since 9/06. It is not a cycle issue. The tank was CA/SA cichlids up until a few days before I made the switch to the African's.

I measured ammonia last night with a relatively new AP test kit. The yellow could not be much more yellow. 0 ppm. I am changing 64 gallons tonight. I have 2x 32 gallons plastic trash (that I have been using for 5 years) with reserve water that is treated with Prime, and has been sitting for almost a week. I have 2 small powerheads in each trash can circulating the water to keep it from becoming stagnant.

What did you use to raise the pH or were you keeping your CA/SA in 8.0 water?

 

[sledge760]

Nothing. CA/SA's do not need high ph. It would normally stay around 7.6-7.8.

 

[id10t]

Aggression maybe? Which fish did you loose?

I've lost all but one (I had hoped 8 would keep the individual aggression down) of my demasonis, all to aggression from eachother. Even with lots of hiding spots...

 

[mike dunagan]

okay, my two cents take them or leave them...

First adding rocks without knowing bad... but so what lots of people do it... most of have without thinking or switched something from one tank to another or used the same nets... too bad... as you said fish died before this....

Food... NLS not going to kill these fish... All I use with some brine and leaf fresh food once in a while...

Temp... high but can work higher or lower... depends on the change and how fast... drop a fish too fast and it will died raise it too fast and same... make sure you are acculmating well with such a high temp... ya know slowly add water... I know you have done it before...

stocking... okay yeah peacocks mbuna not great... but It can and has worked...plus they are living... my concern are the zebra... they can be tricky... They can kill over night or over weeks... can add a new one and lose an old one... or add a new one and lose a new one and an old one... this is most likely the problem... when adding fish add a few at once not one... I know it costs a lot so budget for the month and buy at once... it sucks but works...

Hope this helps... if you disagree... no one is stopping you from doing it so feel free to say whatever I said is crap... my wife says so...(she knows nothing about fish)...

 

[Nabbig2]

I have lost a couple africans, but it's probably my fault. It's that evil rock, get rid of it. Go buy a nice looking one from the lfs, africans love rocks. Temp should never drop below 74, and they like high pH, like 7.5.

 

[mike dunagan]

That is what I forgot... PH is not really an issue unless they are wild caught or your LFS has high PH... and most likely they are evil and use RO for africans or it is the same as the tap water you will be using most likely...

If that is the case... how could PH really matter... I think PH is a trick to sell more stuff at the store...

 

[cichlid savage]

Any signs of violence on the dead fish?

 

[Dreamsofpeace54]

For a start Fusco's and Aulonocara are fish that will get hammered by mbuna. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER add a single fish at a time and NEVER, NEVER,NEVER put Aulonocara in with mbuna. This cobination spells tragedy unless the mbuna are all very small.
Your fish that have died all died from stress and possibly the rocks. As suggested get rid of them and put in something that works.
I would also suggest you feed only once a day as bloat happens very quickly and if not treated quickly leads to tragedy.

Never Ever huh? I have the same species of peacock with my mbuna. All 8 of them. He even bred with a yellow lab. Theyve been together for months and they are all around 3-6 inches. ;D