New Cichlid...

[Kilo]

I don't have a picture of my own yet. What you see is from an online fish place. I may wait a couple days until its color comes in a little better before I take one of mine. He/she is mostly brownish now. At the same time of having this new fish, my male GBR might be dying. They have no idea what's wrong with it. It's lost all it's red, even the red in the eyes is fading, and the amber-yellow has faded to a brownish color. I have no idea what to do for it, so I have it in a tiny tank now doin the best I know how and mostly with prayers. What do you all think it could be since we see no ick, fungus, parasites, ect? He (the GBR) still has his blue.

 

[denis coghlan]

="Garamond"]At the same time of having this new fish, my male GBR might be dying. They have no idea what's wrong with it. It's lost all it's red, even the red in the eyes is fading, and the amber-yellow has faded to a brownish color. I have no idea what to do for it, so I have it in a tiny tank now doin the best I know how and mostly with prayers. What do you all think it could be since we see no ick, fungus, parasites, ect? He (the GBR) still has his blue.

Think I must be getting on in years or else I'm going to look really thick, but what is GBR? It this a local term in the states for peacocks? Also, it there any chance you could provide some more information regarding the tank setup that the "GBR" was in before it started to get sickly? By the way putting it in a "tiny tank" and praying might not be the best solution, so more information would be a significant help and then we can be proactive about nursing the fish back to its normal self.


GBR? I know this is really going to make me look stupid!

 

[denis coghlan]

Just had a quick look at your signature and it says the following;

46G bow front tank (25% Blackwater, 25% Brackish, 50% Tropical)

and then it list the fish;

1 Wild Ram [Cichlid]
4 Madagascan Rainbows [Community]
2 German Blue Rams [Cichlids]
1 Kribensis [Cichlids]
2 Bolivian Rams [Cichlids]
1 Albino Ruby Peacock [Cichlid]
2 Spotted Hi-fin Plecos
1 Striped Peacock Eel

Do you actually have a 46 gallon tank divided up into three separate compartment with three different types of water and then are all the fish listed above in these three separate compartment?

 

[Kilo]

Just had a quick look at your signature and it says the following;

46G bow front tank (25% Blackwater, 25% Brackish, 50% Tropical)

and then it list the fish;

1 Wild Ram [Cichlid]
4 Madagascan Rainbows [Community]
2 German Blue Rams [Cichlids]
1 Kribensis [Cichlids]
2 Bolivian Rams [Cichlids]
1 Albino Ruby Peacock [Cichlid]
2 Spotted Hi-fin Plecos
1 Striped Peacock Eel

Do you actually have a 46 gallon tank divided up into three separate compartment with three different types of water and then are all the fish listed above in these three separate compartment?

Sorry about the confusion. GBR is German Blue Ram. No, my 46G is not divided. All those fish in my signature are in the same tank. I have mostly freshwater, and then added a little bit of salt and a little bit of Keta Peat—which is a water-conditioner that makes fresh water simulate Blackwater. It's not actually 25%/25%/50%. I don't know exactly how much percentage I have of each. I just got in a hurry and typed that. It's probably more like 12% Blackwater, 7% Brackish and 81% Tropical. I added salt to help keep their stress down, to add slime coat and to help protect their gills. The Keta Peat is for enhancing their color and to help promote breeding.

The tank's set up (if you meant the water levels) before the GBR got sick and after he died (he died last night)... everything that was bad such as Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate was low to 0. The pH was 7.1, the water was just a tiny bit on the soft side, and the alkalinity was normal. I saw nothing wrong with him inside nor out. All I know is that he lost his true colors and wouldn't eat and wouldn't associate with the other fish anymore. Now after I get paid, I'll buy another or two,`cos I'm down to one GBR now. I would like to have three. The female is who's left.

 

[denis coghlan]

There are a couple of potential problems that I can see,

The salt you have added is fine for the majority of the cichlids but it is not recommended for use in situations where you have plecs in the tank. The reason being is that it aggravates their flesh. Also, the addition of salt is only really necessary if the fish have been exposed to stressful condition such as ich, external or internal bacteria or if you are treating with medication that reduces the dissolved oxygen content of the water. Other wise I would stop adding it.

The kenta pete that you have added is full of tannins and decomposed organic material, this will lower your pH making it suitable for some of your fish but not all of them. You are going to have to decide if you want rift lake cichlids or central/south american cichlids. By your species list, I would suggest that you return the ruby red peacock as they prefer a higher pH. Although, yours is 7.1 this is really the lowest they should be kept in.

I would also suggest that you do not buy anymore fish until, you decide on what variety of cichlid you would like to keep and wait a few more weeks to see if any more moralities in the current stock occur. Introduced fish will be far more susceptible to adverse tanks conditions if there are any, the LFS will always have more fish so there is no rush to buy.

Regards

Denis

 

[Kilo]

There are a couple of potential problems that I can see,

The salt you have added is fine for the majority of the cichlids but it is not recommended for use in situations where you have plecs in the tank. The reason being is that it aggravates their flesh. Also, the addition of salt is only really necessary if the fish have been exposed to stressful condition such as ich, external or internal bacteria or if you are treating with medication that reduces the dissolved oxygen content of the water. Other wise I would stop adding it.

The kenta pete that you have added is full of tannins and decomposed organic material, this will lower your pH making it suitable for some of your fish but not all of them. You are going to have to decide if you want rift lake cichlids or central/south american cichlids. By your species list, I would suggest that you return the ruby red peacock as they prefer a higher pH. Although, yours is 7.1 this is really the lowest they should be kept in.

I would also suggest that you do not buy anymore fish until, you decide on what variety of cichlid you would like to keep and wait a few more weeks to see if any more moralities in the current stock occur. Introduced fish will be far more susceptible to adverse tanks conditions if there are any, the LFS will always have more fish so there is no rush to buy.

Regards

Denis

Yeah, Keta Peat can lower the pH, but I haven't noticed it happen in mine. You'd think mine would always be very low with the Mopani wood and the petrified Arizona wood in my tank, but it never seems to go less than 6.7. It use to hit 7.8. I always try to keep it at 70, but it isn't easy. It's was 7.4 yesterday. Probably 7.5 now that I did a water change today. Ever since I been adding salt, I've had less sick fish, but I didn't know it would hurt the plecos, and so far after all these months, the plecos are fine, but I might be trading them for something else since they eat the most and produce the most waste. My tank never seems to get algae, so I've been feeding them algae wafers and shrimp pellets. My eel is the same way, so I might trade him for something else, too—and just have mostly a Cichlid Aquarium.

I've asked the FS to try to find me an authentic Sunshine Peacock, since the company they order from sent them an Albino Ruby Peacock instead last week. I'll keep it anyway, and have it be the only albino in the tank. I have no clue what Cichlids to get and not to get according to water hardness/softness and pH levels. I just try to see if they can adapt to conditions they weren't exactly meant for. That's what some of the guys do around here and their Cichlids live their entire life-spans. Most just live most of their life-spans if not all. But I just enjoy having colorful Cichlids. In the beginning, I was gonna try a saltwater fish since they are very colorful—until I saw and heard about Cichlids. Tonight I saw a Cichlid book the store had that wasn't for sale, but it had authentic and hybrid Cichlids that were so colorful, it blew my mind.