Sick Festivum

[Ranoa]

Hi guys,

I've just bought a new festivum yesterday (about 1 1/2" long) and he doesn't seem to be eating. Where as my happy Protomelas (Taiwan Reef) are swimming around happy, my festivum seems to just float around bored.

I did notice that he is not eating any of the flake food that I place in the tank which my Taiwan Reef are and I also noticed that he spat out the flake food a few times which accompanied some sort of white stringy looking substance. I'm starting to get worried that I don't have the right foods for him and he'll end up dying

I'm still new to this "taking care of fish" business, so any advice would be great.

Maybe I need a variety of foods?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Ranoa]

Bump!

Any suggestions guys? Anything would be helpful!

 

[freddyk]

These types of fish sometimes need some time to adapt, so I think patience is the key. As far as variety in food - always a good thing. The white stringy poop is not a good thing though - it is a sign of internal parasite or constipation - more likely the former at this stage. Remove him immediately, and frankly, bring him back because not only should you not have to accept sick fish that you paid full price for, but he really doesn't belong in your tank.

See, mixing new world cichlids like Severums with African Rift lake cichlids like the Reefs only leads to troubleand I doubt you'd ever see your Severum truely 'happy' in that environment, if he survives in the long run. If you want what's best for the fish and a nice tank stick to appropriate cichlids from lake Malawi to share the space with your Malawi Haps.