Think My Cichlids Have A Parasite?

[razer121]

ok so recently they have moved to a new tank, its about 135 Litre water states are all ok although

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 20

so anyway the tank contains some tannins due to some drift wood, erm its heavlily planted and also contains a few fake plants, the filter is a fluval 4U

so the problem...

since moving into the tank they dont seem to come and eat at the top anymore, although i know they must be eating it as the food does go after its in there for 5 mins, for some reason i have to leave the room. as soon as i go back in there both out eating but soon speed of and hide also i noticed that the females poo is white!! not lumpy just like a white string, i havent seen the male poo. the male is flicking real badly, when he is out i can almost always catch him doing it...that only started today, is my tank infected?? any ideas??

 

[KittyKat]

Sounds as if they're just not used to the new environment. One big question, what were the water parameters before move and after? (pH, hardness, temperature) And a second smaller question, what species are we talking about in a what sized tank out of what sized tank?

My advice is to try and keep quiet around them for a few weeks while they get used to it.

 

[snowflake311]

Wite poop can be just stress it should clear up in a few days if it is just stress. As for the flicky that's what scares me. This is all new water right? Did you use enough water treatment? Sometimes I will add extra to make sure they do not get iritated. Try added extra water conditioner first like one capfull that could be it.

Did you add any new fish with in a week or so? If so then I would bet it is a parasite. I would treat the whole tank with copper safe for a week or longer depending on how bad it is.

 

[razer121]

well, there t-bar cichlids, they have came form a 90L tank (it was a temp tank) in a year or so im intent on upgrading this tank to a 250L aswell, erm water hardness would of been the same i guess? yes the water was treated and it had nothing in before hand, was a freshly cycled tank ive turned the lights out now, going to hope this helps them abit, anything else i can try? i dont have any of that copper stuff....where can i get hold of it? thanks!

 

[Amerce]

was the temp tank planted, eg bogwood etc.

If not then the tank they are in now might have a lower or high ph, check how diff it was.

Bogwood and plant material normally soften water.

 

[razer121]

erm....how do i do that?? im sorry this is the first time ive used this bogwood (although it was labeled driftwood)

 

[River Dog]

Have you got a PH test with your test kit ? The change in PH could be the reason. Also what test kit are you using ? as the strip tests are notoriously inaccurate. If using bottles, make sure they are within their use by date as this can give false readings also. If everything is ok with your test kit, you could try getting some Melafix from your lfs, this may help and it should not upset your filter bacteria.

 

[Amerce]

If you buy a test kit to check the ph that will help.

If you have a kit for doing ammonia etc then the same manufacturer will do a ph test kit