fish dying

adamjacobs · 11-17-2005, 04:08 AM

A friend of mine has a relatively new setup (matured tank, bacteria wise) with some Cichlids in it and they keep dying.

He received the whole setup (minus fish) free from a friend. The water is fine (maybe slightly high nitrates, but only slightly), the fliter is fine, the water is aerated, gravel substrate.

The fish don't have any external symptoms other than being a little lethargic before they die. He's had about 4 fish die within the last few weeks and it doesn't make any sense to me.

Any thoughts?

Georgia Peach · 11-17-2005, 05:33 AM

well, first off in order to receive proper advice, you need to post the water parameters, i.e, PH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, temp. You also need to post what type of cichlids as well.

fishfreaks · 11-17-2005, 05:58 AM

What exactly are the water parameters? What fish are in there? And what size tank are we talking?

adamjacobs · 11-17-2005, 07:23 AM

Sorry, I don't know the water parameters; it wasn't me who checked them.

I didn't recognise the fish. They are all about 2 inches long with big mouths. They are the same shape as Burtoni Mouthbrooders, but one is black in colour, another is very orangey with other colours scattered across it. I can't remember what the others looked like.

I know the information is scarce, but I'd like to at least have a starting point to recommend to my friend. A neighbour of his breeds fish and he checked the water and said the only thing wrong with that was the slightly high nitrates.

Would stress cause these fish to just die like that, or would they have any external symptoms other than lethargy? What about the tank? What would happen if the person he received the tank from had cleaned it with a non-fish-friendly cleaning solution?

**Cichlid Man** · 11-18-2005, 08:22 AM

Sorry, can't help you. Best if your friend gets help from someone instead.

Lisachromis · 11-18-2005, 08:27 PM

If the tank was cleaned with something non-fish friendly, it should have killed all the fish right away. As for IDing the cichlids, you may want to look up Pseudotropheus crabro for the black one (look for large males). If the body shape is wrong, maybe try Haplochromis nubila. We would really need to see the water parameters other than to tell us they are fine. It would really help to solve the problem if we knew more info.
Tank size, water parameters, the food he feeds, the size of the fish, his water change schedule, anything you can think of....

11-17-2005, 04:08 AM	#1
adamjacobs Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 3	fish dying A friend of mine has a relatively new setup (matured tank, bacteria wise) with some Cichlids in it and they keep dying. He received the whole setup (minus fish) free from a friend. The water is fine (maybe slightly high nitrates, but only slightly), the fliter is fine, the water is aerated, gravel substrate. The fish don't have any external symptoms other than being a little lethargic before they die. He's had about 4 fish die within the last few weeks and it doesn't make any sense to me. Any thoughts?

11-17-2005, 05:33 AM	#2
Georgia Peach Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Gray, Georgia Age: 42 Posts: 1,706	well, first off in order to receive proper advice, you need to post the water parameters, i.e, PH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, temp. You also need to post what type of cichlids as well. __________________ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *Cichlids have more personality than most people I know !*

11-17-2005, 05:58 AM	#3
fishfreaks M&F Couple Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: PA Age: 21 Posts: 4,281	What exactly are the water parameters? What fish are in there? And what size tank are we talking? __________________ VOTE FOR FISH FORUMS

11-18-2005, 08:22 AM	#5
Cichlid Man Super moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 2,095	Sorry, can't help you. Best if your friend gets help from someone instead. __________________ If you have a big enough tank with enough hiding places, pH of around 7, you can keep virtually any fish together as long as all the fish are around the same size and these two groups of fish are avioded: Serrasalmus Tetradon(figure eights and dwarfs are the exception). I keep a successful community of fish in a 4 foot tank including the following families: Cichlids, tetras, loaches, gouramis, barbs, rainbows, livebearers, killiefish, catfish, puffers.

11-18-2005, 08:27 PM	#6
Lisachromis Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 280	If the tank was cleaned with something non-fish friendly, it should have killed all the fish right away. As for IDing the cichlids, you may want to look up Pseudotropheus crabro for the black one (look for large males). If the body shape is wrong, maybe try Haplochromis nubila. We would really need to see the water parameters other than to tell us they are fine. It would really help to solve the problem if we knew more info. Tank size, water parameters, the food he feeds, the size of the fish, his water change schedule, anything you can think of.... __________________ Lisa's Lair Cichlid Room Companion

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11-17-2005, 07:23 AM	#4
adamjacobs Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 3	Sorry, I don't know the water parameters; it wasn't me who checked them. I didn't recognise the fish. They are all about 2 inches long with big mouths. They are the same shape as Burtoni Mouthbrooders, but one is black in colour, another is very orangey with other colours scattered across it. I can't remember what the others looked like. I know the information is scarce, but I'd like to at least have a starting point to recommend to my friend. A neighbour of his breeds fish and he checked the water and said the only thing wrong with that was the slightly high nitrates. Would stress cause these fish to just die like that, or would they have any external symptoms other than lethargy? What about the tank? What would happen if the person he received the tank from had cleaned it with a non-fish-friendly cleaning solution?

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