Help For A Newbie

[JHAYES6405]

Hello all. I am a bit new to this aquatic hobby. I started out with just a 10 gal for my son, but it became addictive. So, I went out and got a 55. The 55 is a community tank for many different types of tropical fish. 2 Gouramis,3 Red fins,2 Zebras,3 Tiger Barbs, a 6" Pleco, 2 clown loaches, and 3(was 5) little neon Tetras. I dont know where they are disappearing to! The 10 was going to be used as a quarantine tank. Turns out, a guy at work used to raise cichlids. He finds out I am into this kinda thing now, and proceeds to tell me all about "the greatest freshwater fish ever." So I get two baby(1.5 inch) african cichlids for my small tank. I don't have those guys for 2 days before one pretty much beat the other to death. Here is where I get to the problem. I have developed an ick problem in my large tank. The ick only seems to effect one species at a time. First it was balas now, my wife's tetras. So here are my questions that I hope one of you nice fellas can answer;

1. Is cichlid on cichlid crime a natural thing?

2. Could I add the one cichlid I have now to the community tank to free up the small one for quarantine? None of the fish are large enough to eat him! I know as he grows he would dominate, but I will be getting another tank in a few months.

3. Any help with the ick situatuation? I have researched a bit and everyone seems to have their own theory. I don't know what direction to go in!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lily-rae]

Hello all. I am a bit new to this aquatic hobby. I started out with just a 10 gal for my son, but it became addictive. So, I went out and got a 55. The 55 is a community tank for many different types of tropical fish. 2 Gouramis,3 Red fins,2 Zebras,3 Tiger Barbs, a 6" Pleco, 2 clown loaches, and 3(was 5) little neon Tetras. I dont know where they are disappearing to! The 10 was going to be used as a quarantine tank. Turns out, a guy at work used to raise cichlids. He finds out I am into this kinda thing now, and proceeds to tell me all about "the greatest freshwater fish ever." So I get two baby(1.5 inch) african cichlids for my small tank. I don't have those guys for 2 days before one pretty much beat the other to death. Here is where I get to the problem. I have developed an ick problem in my large tank. The ick only seems to effect one species at a time. First it was balas now, my wife's tetras. So here are my questions that I hope one of you nice fellas can answer;

1. Is cichlid on cichlid crime a natural thing?

2. Could I add the one cichlid I have now to the community tank to free up the small one for quarantine? None of the fish are large enough to eat him! I know as he grows he would dominate, but I will be getting another tank in a few months.

3. Any help with the ick situatuation? I have researched a bit and everyone seems to have their own theory. I don't know what direction to go in!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

would you still like advice

 

[JHAYES6405]

definitely!!!!

 

[OldMan47]

The easiest question to answer goes first. There is a link in my signature area to ich info that tells all about the parasite and its life cycle. With that background it goes on to describe some of the better treatment options.
I have never kept african cichlids but they are known to be aggressive and territorial. If you had them both in a little 10 gallon, I would guess that your
outcome should have been expected.
The single cichlid could be added to the community tank if you are willing to risk breaking quarantine to do it. In the meantime, the ich treatment should be completed and monitored for a short while before adding anything to any tank. The cichlid is feeling crowded so there is no room in that tank and the ich would prevent me moving anything into or out of that tank until it was well behind me.