Help! My african cichlid had babies in my 10 gallon tank.. and I think she has ICH

[nici]

Ive noticed two white bumps on her back fin, and shes been rubbing on things and twitching her fins. She refuses to eat... and she hides in the cave all day. Today I found like 20 babies! So my questiion is, if Ive been treating her with a teaspoon of ickaway every day, can I still do this with the babies? Also, how long do you have to turn off the filter while treating the ich? I also like to know when I can start giving these babies away as I realize a 10 gallon tank isnt going to cut it with so many fish. Ive had this fish for a week, so far she has killed off the electric yellow lab that I also got with her. The lab was fine until she nipped at it several times. But I have not seen her eat in the week that ive had her. Ive tried EVERYTHING. Freeze dried shrimp, flakes, zucchini like in the pet store... what do i do????

Anyone with any advice please help! My aim is nicifrog if you want.

[turtlehead]

is a DWARF african cichlid? if it's not, you using a tank WAY too small.

[nici]

Im not sure. I bought it from petsmart. The lady told me the two would be fine in a 10 gallon. But now there is just the momma and her many, many babies. Im not about to go buy a huge tank because I dont have the money or the space. I can describe the fish. Its completely silver, has one black band over his eye. Probably about 2 1/2 inches.

[X-Pande-R]

It sounds like a you got a braziliensis, if that's the case it will have killed the lab because they are not meant to mix.How many fish you got in your tank????Check your tank from ammonia,nirite and nirate...If they are high do a quick 40% water change.The reason why the fish might not be leaving the caves is to protect her eggs.

[nici]

Yeah your right. She was heavily guarding the cave for days. Which is why the yellow lab probably got taken out. Odd because they were together in a tank when I bought them. Ive managed to take a picture. If you look close Ive circled where you can see a fry in her mouth! Pretty neat stuff. Ive done the tests. Im good on PH and amonia. Im wondering when I should seperate them. She will probably eat them soon no?

http://home.comcast.net/~wrmoen/voldemort_copy.jpg

[nici]

Ive appropriately named her "Voldemort" because she killed off my favorite yellow lab, which I liked to call "Lumos." Bit of a Harry Potter fanatic!

[X-Pande-R]

it's hard to tell what is,but it does look like a braziliensis.The lab could survive with it for a while,but it's time would be ticking.

[nici]

Does anyone know when to seperate them from her? Will she eat them?

[X-Pande-R]

sorry i don't really know how they breed, my guess is i think they will be safe with her.

[Fishfirst]

should post this on the cichlid forums... you might be able to get an answer there

[joe kool]

Lord valdemort should be "lady" valdemort as "she" is a female ... from the looks of it she is a hap obliquidens (African cichlid from lake Victoria) She show's signs of thinning out (belly sucking in after the pelvic fins)

if you can see the fry (baby fish) wiggling around in her mouth I'd go ahaed anf "strip" her (take the fry out of her mouth by holding her in 1 hand wet and coated with stress coat or similar product and force her mouth oper gently with a tooth pick or similar item ... gently being the key word)
They will need to be seperated after this because she may either eat the babies or suck them up and "carry" them in her mouth again trying to keep them safe.

with that out of the way ... NO cichlid will be happy in a ten gallon tank (even very few dwarf cichlids) the lady at pet smart needs a good "slap into reality" as do most "chain store" type pet store employees (no offense to anyone on here trying to learn or that IS educated) "MOST" barely know anything about cycling in a tank, much less fish specific information.


Hope that helps a little

[nici]

See, I hear that and then someone else says something different. Can anyone explain why one fish needs that much space? Granted a 10 gallon isnt the ocean, but if shes the only one! Shes definetly not stuck in a corner somewhere. Ive got a cave thing as well as a life plant and she has plenty of room. But again this is just my non educated opinion. Now that I have her and everyones telling me not to, where do I take her and her babies? And what in your opinion can I have?

[chrisinha]

well, i guess the size of the fish matters as well. you have to use common sense. think about this: how would you feel if you lived in a studio (by yourself) without being able to ever go out?

anyways, i hope you can find a solution to your problem. im sorry you have to go through this now.

[joe kool]

Exactly ... how would you like to be "stuck" in a closet for the rest of your life .. granted you have a place to hide .. I'll open a door and throw some food to you once or twice a day if you're lucky and you live a long fruitful life...

maybe not quite to that extreme but pretty much what you're asking that fish to do! would you like to live in a closet or a house? a 500 sq foot apartment or a 2300 sq foot house ... yopu're going to be MUCH happier in the house anyday of the week than cramped up on a "room" of an apartment. AND "most" fish don't "like" being alone ... it's unhealthy for them. Imgine living in a "world" where you were all alone with no one or nothing to interact with and a couple times a day this HUGE scarry form came by and scared the hell out of you then all the sudden you found a little to eat ... then you're alone again unless you're unfortunate enough that the huge form has a couple not so huge forms that come by often and BAMM BAMMM BBBAAAMMMM... tap on the invisable force that you can never seem to swim past and ... you guessed it scare the heck out of you again, only this time no food. ... or all the sudden showers of food that starts to burn your "lungs" after a day or so cause you could only eat a small portion of the blizzard of food that fell.




well that's one point of view anyway...

I try to give my aquatic friends a happy fruitful life

[Lexus]

LMAO at Joe Kool oh god... that cracked me up

[Fishfirst]

I've made this arguement too many times...

[E]

Don't turn off the filter, just take the carbon out. If it has cartridges, replace the cartridge with filter floss. Raise the temp. to 80F and add some salt. I like quickcure for Ich, follow the directions. If you don't have a heater, get one or you will keep getting ich.

[E]

If no fish in your tank is eating, DONT FEED IT. Mouthbrooders often don't eat for weeks when carring. Give her lots of cover, so she will feel secure to release them. Live or frozen brine shrimp are more tempting than anything dry, but don't feed her until she lets out the babies and comes up looking for food. Cichlid breediers often put a brooding mother in a 10 gallon tank, but only until she release her fry. The smallest tank I would breed mouthbrooders in is a 29 gallon. This works for small victorian haps, or young P. Salousi. The key is to have only one male and to remove brooding mothers to another tanks.

[nici]

Well good lord! If thats how I take care of my fish then I must be just walkin around with my eyes closed bumping into walls! Ive come to a solution, since I got landed with her. Im going to get her a friend, something SMALL. If she dies... she dies. I did the best I could. Im not going to go out and spend 200 + on a 2.5 inch fish! I feed her, i keep her water clean... heated.. If you ask me shes got it way better then she had it at petsmart. So.. sorry if im not meeting your guidelines. Perhaps you should start a petition to get pet store workers to learn a bit more about what they are selling. Just an idea, you seem very passionate.

[Fishnut2]

I agree with Joe Kool, although he exaggerated things a bit...to make his point. Don't get ANOTHER fish for the 10 gallon tank...it's overcrowded now The female isn't eating now, because she's still holding fry. You should expect more babies to appear within a few days. Nici: you are in serious need of a bigger tank. If you can't afford one...get rid of the fish. They are suffering under thier current conditions