Im A Novice That Been Misled!

[snowflake311]

i know ive gone into this a bit blind, all the advice ive been given is from some old boys i know. what threw me out was i would read books on tropical fish and when i read about some cichlids it would say they are community fish so i thought that ANYTHING community not species only could be mixed.how wrong was i! but to be fair in all the books ive read they do not say DO NOT put cichlids with other smaller fish . im so pi@@ed off!

See you live you learn this is all part of getting it right. I think you are slowly heading on the right track and will have a good tank in no time.

Get your own test kit for ammonia, nitrites and nitrate. A ph test kit is good too.

Ask for help and take it all in. You seem to be doing that so good job.

Some cichlids are fine with other fish and some can never be trusted. Rams ,keyholes, dwarf flags, rainbow cichlids are. Few that play nice with others.

I would say you are over stocked. Sort out your fish and you will be fine.

 

[afishdude]

You might want to re-home the crab as they need brackish water and a way to get out of the water.

 

[JohnRossDele]

Flying Fox are much like Red tailed sharks in that they don't tolerate their own species when they mature, two need to be rehomed.

I am Sorry but where did you get that info from..
Flying Fox's are Very Peaceful and happily live together in groups. I have kept them in a number of tanks in groups of 4+. Even into Maturity they are peaceful.

nope flying foxes arent peaceful far from it imo, territorial is the word your lookin my baby bgk was killed by one of these!!

 

[keevil]

thanks for all the help everyone! unfortunately the elloit cichlid died,well gutted. but all the fish seem a bit happier about it. next prob the dalmation mollie has had 11 fry.Whats the odds drama after drama!

 

[saz326]

dalmation mollie has had 11 fry.Whats the odds drama after drama!

Yep - That'll happen another couple of times yet. They can hold onto "baby juice" and use it to bring babies into the world without boyfriends.

Sounds like you have had all the fun - sorry to hear you have been so mislead.

Whats the surrent stock in the tank after the deaths etc? Have you been able to re-home the crab?

Really truely you're better off taking all remaining fish back to the shop and getting a store credit note if they dont give refunds. Tell them that they badly advised you and you need to separate fish before they all die. (a little drama helps them to get the message)

Keep the minnows and reduce the tank temperature for them a bit - They are not a tropical species.
These little guys are very hardy and seeing as the tank has been going for a while I recon the filter is probably close to being cycled if it isnt already.

Do water tests as previously mentioned and when you get good results (ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate above 0) you can think about the whole world of stocking. Remember to do water changes though if the ammonia or nitrite are above 0.2 on the test kit!

At least if you start with an empty tank you can have a good think about what you want to keep in it. Group of cichlids? Community of small fish? Or even loose the water and have a lizard!

Good luck.

 

[BecciMac1987]

Guys, are we all missing the point that the OP said yes its cycled, I left it running for 3 weeks. Its not cycled, thats not cycling, thats what dappy LFS workers tell you.
So the tank needs to be cycled properly. Take the fishes back, and start from scratch, or in no time you are gunna end up with a tank full of mollies and fry and nowt else.Read the pinned threads on cycling, Miss Wiggle did a good one I think...