# What Has happened to My cichild



## styleguru (Mar 23, 2010)

*What Has happened to My Cichlid*

Dear ALL,

Hello to all of you.

I Have 4 Cichlids and one them is loosing its wings is pretty lazy and the other ones are after him every time.

The bite him on his body.

He stopped eating as well, But from the last few days i have feeded him and he eats now.

Below is a video link in which i have captured its footage.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5QwWu3xNGs

*Please help*

Thanks in advance :fish:

__________________________________________________________________

Thanks A lot To All of you.

Below are the tank Details:-

11 Gallon Tank

Below is the video link to understand me tank much better.

One more thing, Is it good to put Paraxin in the fish tank as the pet store guy says its recommended to put the medicine every 1 month.

And one more thing My fishes are very aggressive and they run after after each other tring to hurt them.

The biggest one runs after the bigger one
the bigger one runs after the big one
the big ones runs after the small ones and the small ones keeps on hiding.

How can i calm them down

Thanks for all your help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjmM92-i48E


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2010)

1st of. what cichlids are these?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

It could be fin-rot, but it looks most to me like plain old cichlid aggression. The fins are nipped by another fish that want this fish to leave the area (never mind, there's no way out of the tank, they don't care), and the smaller fins make it harder to swim and that encourages all the other fish to join in in bullying the injured fish. 

The fish really need isolation. I would use a 5 of 10 gallon tank with a sponge filter. You can use salt, methylene blue, or mela-fix, but what the fish really needs is several weeks (4-8) with no other fish chewing on it. 

Its an albino mbuna, maybe a zebra, maybe a socolofi, doesn't matter. How big is the tank? Likely you have another fish that want to be an only male.


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## Blue Cray (Oct 19, 2007)

Lol @ wings, but yeah it looks like your fish got ripped a new one. By the looks of your tank it won't be the only fish that'll look like that.


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

Looks like mbuna to me, they are naturally aggressive and when I used to keep them I found that the more fish in the tank, the less aggression. What size is your tank? If a good size then stock it up well to spread the aggression but apart from that, not much else can be done as its the nature of most cichlids.


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

I used to keep African cichlids and I did find that the aggression was reduced by higher numbers of fish. My tank was probably even a little overstocked, but the fish & water were healthy and there were fewer aggression problems.

I agree I would move that fish into a QT tank for awhile and let it heal up. I couldn't really tell from your video, but it might help to have more hiding places in the main tank.


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## Guest (Mar 24, 2010)

doesnt this guy's tank need more rock work and ummm i donno.......maybe a bigger tank as well? 

imo this tank is way to small for your fish. am inclined to belive that the albino is a albino kenyi and the other one as well is a transforming male kenyi. if indeed they are kenyi u can kiss all the other males goodbye.


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## Guest (Mar 24, 2010)

mumbai ya pune wale ho kya?


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## styleguru (Mar 23, 2010)

Thanks Alot To All Of You


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## styleguru (Mar 23, 2010)

Thanks A lot To All of you.

Below are the tank Details:-

11 Gallon Tank

Below is the video link to understand me tank much better.

One more thing, Is it good to put Paraxin in the fish tank as the pet store guy says its recommended to put the medicine every 1 month.

And one more thing My fishes are very aggressive and they run after after each other tring to hurt them.

The biggest one runs after the bigger one
the bigger one runs after the big one
the big ones runs after the small ones and the small ones keeps on hiding.

How can i calm them down

Thanks for all your help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjmM92-i48E


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## Guest (Mar 24, 2010)

excuse me? 11gallons tank and 4 cichlids? dude!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Get a 55 gallon tank and fill it up with rocks. The person who sold you those fish for that size tank should have his head examined. You will wind up with exactly 1 live cichlid in that tank


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## Guest (Mar 24, 2010)

more like he needs to get a brain installed in that empty space in his skull! seriously! if am right and thats an albino auratus, which i see a LOT of these days, you're in for a rough ride Style.


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

Mbuna are very active fish, you cant keep them cooped up in an 11g. Far too small. You need a larger tank of around 55 gallons if your planning to keep them.


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## styleguru (Mar 23, 2010)

Thanks for the advice Pals.

Now as i have understood that i cant keep the cichlids in my small tank.

I would go and return them to the pet store at the earliest.

Please advice me the following.
1. How many fishes can i keep in my tank.
2. What all variety can i keep.
3. What all can be the combination of fishes to be kept in the tank.
4. I really want to keep 2 Parrot fishes, Can i keep them without any hassels

Looking forward for your continues support.
I am just a beginner in front of you i need help from my Big B's

And by the way i am from Delhi Zakk


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## Guest (Mar 25, 2010)

socha tha yaar.....main tho kerala se hou.

as for fish, you could get ur self a pair of German Blue Rams or Appisto Gramma.

as for Parrots.....no way! unless u get ur self a 210ltr tank.

fish wise, non cichlids, follow the 1 inch per gallon of fish. maybe 3 swords, 3 palty, 4 to 5 cory.


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## Guest (Mar 25, 2010)

on second thoughts the only cichlids that will be happy in that small a tank are Shellies.......very hard to find them in india.


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

There isn't a lot of choice of what fish you could keep in there, its mainly fish like platies, guppies, zebra danios, dwarf or honey gouramis, a pair of rams or kribs, a betta or a shoal of small tetras.


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## DTetras2 (Jan 20, 2010)

ok, u hav 2 regular malawi cichlids inside an 11 GALLON TANK!!!! And was that a serpae tetra i saw, THAT'S NOT NATURAL 4 THE MALAWIS!!!!! U should definitely take those malawis out of that tank because i can only put 5 malawis in my 37 gallon tank!!! I hav a 10 gallon tank with 2 serpaes, 2 diamond tetras, and 2 cory catfish and the 10 galon is 2 small for these fish!!! A good idea for an 11 galon is either a couple of dwarf cichlids, some diferent kinds of tetras like maybe 3 or 4 serpaes and maybe a bunch of cardinal or neon tetras, but i would recomend neons because cardinals get sick and die VERY easily. I think u should COMPLETELY rearange your 11 galon tank because all of those fish i bet completely HATE being squished in tht small tank. I hope you fallow my advice


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## Guest (Mar 26, 2010)

DT. ur stock list for the 10g isnt right. all those fish need to be in shoals. and u CAN over stock it if you know how to over filter your tank. 

please do me a fav...before u go pointin out someone else's mistake make sure ur arse is covered well enough that people like me dont take a pot shot at it when i see u lecture some when u your self know your in the wrong.


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## DTetras2 (Jan 20, 2010)

When i said put in neons and serpaes, those would be in shoals. 3 or 4 is a very good amount of serpaes, and 5 or 6 neons would do fine. Dwarf cichlids don't have to be in shoals, they are teritorial.


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## styleguru (Mar 23, 2010)

So Finally i Have returned my cichlids to the pet store and i brought new ones 
Now i have the following fishes in my tank

please let me know if there has to be some alteration

2 Bala Sharks 3Inches
4 Mollies 1 Inch Each
1 Mollie 2 Inches
1 Iceblue chichlid Half Inch
1 Blue Zebra chiclid Half inch


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

The last 2 fish are going to do the same thing as the albinos when they get up around 2" . Don't know much about sharks, but I keep reading 1 shark/tank. A quick search showed me 14"-16". Generally not good idea to keep a fish that is longer than your tank is wide. Hopefully, you have a good store that will take them back when you start having issues.


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## Guest (Mar 27, 2010)

DTetras2 said:


> When i said put in neons and serpaes, those would be in shoals. 3 or 4 is a very good amount of serpaes, and 5 or 6 neons would do fine. Dwarf cichlids don't have to be in shoals, they are teritorial.


wrong on both counts. a shoal is usually in the hundreds. since we arent in the liberty of havin that many fish its best kept in large groups of above 6....infact i would say 10+. yea your cory would be fine with 3 to 4 not your serpaes or any other tetra for that matter. and where did learn that cichlids cannot be kept in shoals or groups or cichlids dont shoal or group?

Style.

dude! WHO is selling u these fish? UNLESS u getting these fellows from a reputed dealer am sure he is coning the crap outta u by givin them fancy names. they will kill each other eventually and no cichlid will be happy in a 11gl dude unless u can get shellies! and for heavens sake those sharks need to go! honestly just gte ur self a 55gl or bigger.


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## DTetras2 (Jan 20, 2010)

no no no, since he only has an 11 gallon tank, how can he possibly put 10+ serpaes in his tank, + neons? serpaes are too big to be kept 10+ in an 11 gallon. neons are fine 10+, but not serpaes, 3 or 4 should be fine, they'll live, and also, i just cleaned my 10 gallon and all my fish are doin great. 
Sure you could put in a shoal of dwarf cichlids, but they won't live in a school, they'll make territories throughout the tank and guard them. I'd say you could put 3 or 4 in an 11 gallon tank. 
To you, styleguru, bala sharks will grow up to a foot long, mollies, you could do, but you'd have to me carefull with the water cause mollies need pretty good water, and the cichlids, the zebra cichlid has to go because they will grow 5-8 inches so, too big. if the iceblue cichlid isn't a dwarf cichlid, you'll have to take that back too. once you get rid of some again, you should probably get rid of maybe one or 2 mollies if you can keep the water good enough, if not you might want 2 bring them all back. in my opinion, you should ask your pet store person what kinds of TETRAS you should get, or look some up online. I recomend diamond tetras, serpae tetras, emperor tetras, or maybe phantom tetras, or also NEON tetras. you should also get some cory catfish, they clean up algae which is good. please listen to my advice, i know what im talking about!!!!!!


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## Guest (Mar 29, 2010)

i wasnt askin him. my last post was addressed to you DT.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

DTetras2 said:


> mollies, you could do, but you'd have to me carefull with the water cause mollies need pretty good water.


Um... wrong. Mollies are some of the easiest fish to keep. You can easily have several in a 10 gallon tank. For crying out loud, I've heard of people keeping mollies in unheated, unfiltered tanks and them staying alive for quite some time. I don't condone it, but if they can live in a tank like that, they can certainly live in a proper tank without much hassle. They usually have some of the higher survival rates in Wal-Mart tanks, which is certainly saying something. In the beginning of our fishkeeping, we put a bunch of fish into an uncycled tank (not knowing any better) and the only things to survive were our sharks, dragon goby, and whaddya know, mollies. They are very hardy fish and can live in a wide range of water and salinity conditions. 



DTetras2 said:


> you should also get some cory catfish, they clean up algae which is good. please listen to my advice, i know what im talking about!!!!!!


Nope. Cories really don't do anything for algae. Ottoclinus catfish, plecos, some loaches, yes, they will take care of algae. If cories took care of algae, why does almost every site I look at about their care say to supplement with algae wafers? They are bottom scavengers, not algae scrapers.


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## Guest (Mar 29, 2010)

LOL tori.....DT.....she just proved you dont know what your talkin about.

i actually agree with Tori on the molly aspect. but in my experience as they grow older they they get more delicate and good god they can kill them selves givin birth.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

Zakk said:


> LOL tori.....DT.....she just proved you dont know what your talkin about.
> 
> i actually agree with Tori on the molly aspect. but in my experience as they grow older they they get more delicate and good god they can kill them selves givin birth.


How much older would you say they need to be before they start showing this delicacy? I'm just wondering; our oldest mollies are ones we got back in like November or something like that, and they have been growing since so I imagine they weren't very old when we bought them, of course. 
So far we've not lost any mollies to fry birth... guppies on the other hand, ugh.


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## Guest (Mar 29, 2010)

well i cant put an age to them but size wise they start becoming delicate around 2 inches. thats about when they reach their full maturity IMO. i recently saw some really healthy molly in an unfilter, uncared for pit where the LFS guy was soaking his driftwood in the ourdoor under direct blazing sun. Black molly are quite suseptable to Velvet if not taken care for right. Silvers and Orange are not that delicate if u ask me.


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## DTetras2 (Jan 20, 2010)

Um... Mollies need really good water, however, in a well established aquarium, they will thrive, so, in a way, they are good starter fish. you can keep mollies in an unheated tank and without a filter, but dirty water WILL kill them, they just do more water changes. And who said that cories don't do anything for algae? If there are bits of algae accumulating in the gravel, they WILL eat it. I've seen my own corries go crazy over algae. that's all they've been eating for the last year, other than leftover food, and they seem VERY happy. But atleast please tell me you're bringing those bala sharks and malawi cichlids back. the sharks won't be able to turn around in the tank, let alone fit in it.
And zakk, you are deffinitely right about black mollies being susceptible to velvet.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

don't forget columnaris, aka 'black molly disease'. In my experience, mollies get real fragile in soft water, but thrive in really hard, or slightly salty water. The wild-type mollies are hardier, silver, & green sail-fin are some. Ballloon mollies are real prone to early demise, esp. pregnant ones. A 'yucky' tank will often grow algae for them to eat.


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## DTetras2 (Jan 20, 2010)

Oh ya, thnx. :fish:


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## styleguru (Mar 23, 2010)

Amazing Guys

I really feel amazed with all your knowledge.

Thank God i dont have black mollies.

I Know that the chiclids are there and would create troubles but i have plans for them.
the moment the get bigger i would have them separated.

M a bit concerned about my BALA SHARK.
Let me see if i can get them replaced before they get them any longer.

I fail to understand that why my pet store guy does not even bother to tell me that the fishes would not fit in my tank. 

Zakk Bhai Tell me where can i find good stores in delhi if u have an idea.


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## Guest (Mar 30, 2010)

honestly u will have better luck on www.indianaquariumhobbyist.com. its an indian fish keepers forum where i go to when i need to source fish. i personally dont like the advice they give but people will be able to point u in the right direction in terms of shops. post in the Want To Buy. lol i pretty much use that site only for the WTB section.


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