What Is This?

[eldraW]

Any ideas what this is? We got it yesterday with our setup but we can't seem to find out what it is... It is about 5 inches long and 2 inches in height and purple.

 

[KittyKat]

A Malawi Mbuna, only compatible with other Malawi Mbuna. Not sure of the exact species, but they are aggressive, prefer hard/alkaline water and needs lots of rockwork to hide in.

 

[eldraW]

A Malawi Mbuna, only compatible with other Malawi Mbuna. Not sure of the exact species, but they are aggressive, prefer hard/alkaline water and needs lots of rockwork to hide in.

We have it in with another 2 yellow labs, 3 convicts, a larger chichlid, 2 albino sucking loaches and some other fish which we arn't sure about.

It doesn't seem to be bothered around the other fish and doesnt seem to attack anyone but has the odd go at the larger one every now and then.


Thanks for letting us know what it is as we were baffled.

 

[KittyKat]

A Malawi Mbuna, only compatible with other Malawi Mbuna. Not sure of the exact species, but they are aggressive, prefer hard/alkaline water and needs lots of rockwork to hide in.

We have it in with another 2 yellow labs, 3 convicts, a larger chichlid, 2 albino sucking loaches and some other fish which we arn't sure about.

It doesn't seem to be bothered around the other fish and doesnt seem to attack anyone but has the odd go at the larger one every now and then.


Thanks for letting us know what it is as we were baffled.

I would very, very strongly advise you to decide between an African or a South American set up. It is not good for Malawi fish to be in soft, acidic water, nor for convicts to be in hard, alkaline water. Mixing the two is 90% of the time a disaster waiting to happen and the fish do not get the best care that they can.

 

[eldraW]

They come with the tank and the previous owner had them all together for a while now... They all seem to be getting on really well.

We don't know much about fish as this is our first tank so this is going to be a trial and error for us.. We are doing research into what we can do and what not but its all abit complicated for us at the moment.

Something we have noticed about the fish is that some of them seem to be scratching/darting themselves against the rocks as if they are itching or something

 

[karin]

Itching or commonly called "flashing" by fish folks is a potential sign of an issue. It could be parasites. It could be the odd itch. Since this sounds like a new tank, keep a close eye on things. The odd itch is not an issue but if several fish are doing repeatedly it then it may be time for action. Again since this is a new tank , I would make certain you have a good liquid base test kit to test for ammonia, nitrites, and Ph at a minimum. Moving a tank can cause it to go into a mini cycle. Also there may be issues with differences in your water versus the water where they were before.

I would start doing daily water changes to see if that clears it up. If ammonia and nitrites are zero then a 10% change every day will ensure good water and healthy living conditions. I would do this for a week. If ammonia and nitrites stay at zero then I would scale back.

Also have a read here under "i" for itching. I'm not advocating for any of the particular brands here, just a problem solver chart. Good luck


http/www.gbasonline.org/disease_chart.htm