Neverending Death

[JHAYES6405]

So, here is my problem. I am currently in Iraq and have been for the last 3 months. It seems that every time I call home, my wife tells me of another of my fish has died. I know keeping cichlids with other tropicals can be an inherent problem. But, my cichlids are the smallest fish in my tank. I had 2 gouramis in there that dwarfed any thing else. It's my understanding that they appeared they were beat to death. Then one of my red fins died. Now one of my smaller yellow labs died. And just today my wife noticed that one of our loaches is missing during the most recent water change. All the fish that have died so far, have been found half eaten at the bottom of the tank. I have a suspicion that it is a cichlid gang fight, but since I am not there, I don't know. I know they are fed well. The tank has been up and running for about 6 months now. Is this to be expected as the cichlids age? My plan was to start another tropical tank upon my return and add the peaceful fish (gouramis, etc.) to another tank we were going to start. My thought process was; the cichlids aren't big enough to do too much so there should be some degree of peace until the get much bigger. Also, my filtration is a HOB filter made for tanks my size and an Ehiem.

Tank size: 55 gal cube
pH: mid to high 7s i believe
ammonia: as far as I know, all water parameters are normal
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp: 78

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 55gal and my wife does a 10% every 2 weeks

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: none, the water is treated with a cap full of Seachem Prime every change

Tank inhabitants: 5-7 small african cichlids, 2 (was 3) red fin sharks, 5 inch pleco, 4 inch upside down cat, 2 loaches,

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

Exposure to chemicals: none

 

[dthoffsett]

Well, most mbuna (I'm assuming all your african are mbuna since you mentioned yellow labs) generally reach sexual maturity at around 2-3 inches. While they can school together with little aggression as juveniles, once they reach maturity their aggression levels can rise dramatically. Do you know what species you have and their male to female ratios? Most mouthbrooders are harem breeders where I male will mate with as many females as possible so they should generally be kept in ratios of 1m/3+f. Many mbuna species do not tolerate more than one male of their species per tank either which could be one of your problems.

I'd also suggest your wife do either larger or more frequent water changes as IMO with your stocking she's not changing enough.

I know it's difficult for you to handle things in your tank being so far away, you might see if your wife is willing to post on here so we can help her and you more directly.

 

[JHAYES6405]

Thanks a lot for the feed back. Yes I do have mbunas. That much I know. I only know how big they were when I left. I don't know the sex of any of my fish. There isn't any fish store back home that can tell you what sex you are buying. I know that you can sex fish but, I think that is a bit over my head. I have 2 acai that were about 2 inches, two that were orange with darker stipes about 1.5 inches, the yellow lab 1.5 inches, and one that was about two inches that is blue with darker blue stripes which was particularly aggresive. I haven't been into this hobby long, so the whole mail order thing is something I have yet to try.



I'd also suggest your wife do either larger or more frequent water changes as IMO with your stocking she's not changing enough.------ can you give me more specific advice?

 

[Marco84]

Do a 10% everyweek instead of every 2 weeks.

 

[dthoffsett]

Do a 10% everyweek instead of every 2 weeks.

I'd go even higher than that, mbuna are pretty messy fish, I'd say 25-30% weekly.

The acei would be Pseudotropheus acei, they max out at around 7-inches and are one of the more peaceful species. The yellow labs would be Labidochromis caeruleus, another relatively peaceful species, the orange ones might be Metriaclima estherae you can sometimes see their stripes. The blue one could be any number of species are it's stripes horizontal or vertical?