I have a 55 gallon tank which has been established for over a year. I have 8 African cichlids in it (now, as 1 died), and I'm sorry to say that I cannot name all of them at this time, as I have misplaced the card of their identities. (I'll research and provide that later if necessary)
Here's my concern: My cichlids have been doing a lot of scratching and shimmering, even when there are no other fish near them, so I am doubting the dominance thing. I had two algae eaters die about 3 weeks ago and a cichlid 2 days ago. My blueberry (?) cichlid was not using one of his gills yesterday. I figured he may be suffering from gill flukes. As I went to net him (for a scrape to be examined under a microscope), he began to use it again and seems to be ok today. He seems to have lost weight as well. Another cichlid had a fungus infection on his body about 2 weeks ago (near site of injury). I started to treat the entire tank with Coppersafe, Melafix, and Pimafix for a week. I then did a 50% water change. Today, another fish has his belly resting on the substrate and does not seem very active, he looks alright otherwise.
And, now I have a white slime building on my tank walls, air tubing etc.
I am constanly abserving my fish for signs of disease, and have not had a problem until now.
I do a 30% water change weekly, change the filters every 2 weeks and my readings always look good. They are:
pH 8.2; Ammonia 0 ppm; Nitrite 0 ppm; and Nitrate 10.
I have not added any new fish. I regularly feed them New Life Spectrum (cichlid formula) as well as flakes once a week.
Any idea as to what is going on with my tank? Any and all replies will be GREATLY appreciated, as I love my cichlids!
Thank you in advance!
Here's my concern: My cichlids have been doing a lot of scratching and shimmering, even when there are no other fish near them, so I am doubting the dominance thing. I had two algae eaters die about 3 weeks ago and a cichlid 2 days ago. My blueberry (?) cichlid was not using one of his gills yesterday. I figured he may be suffering from gill flukes. As I went to net him (for a scrape to be examined under a microscope), he began to use it again and seems to be ok today. He seems to have lost weight as well. Another cichlid had a fungus infection on his body about 2 weeks ago (near site of injury). I started to treat the entire tank with Coppersafe, Melafix, and Pimafix for a week. I then did a 50% water change. Today, another fish has his belly resting on the substrate and does not seem very active, he looks alright otherwise.
And, now I have a white slime building on my tank walls, air tubing etc.
I am constanly abserving my fish for signs of disease, and have not had a problem until now.
I do a 30% water change weekly, change the filters every 2 weeks and my readings always look good. They are:
pH 8.2; Ammonia 0 ppm; Nitrite 0 ppm; and Nitrate 10.
I have not added any new fish. I regularly feed them New Life Spectrum (cichlid formula) as well as flakes once a week.
Any idea as to what is going on with my tank? Any and all replies will be GREATLY appreciated, as I love my cichlids!
Thank you in advance!
