Seizures??

[Idgie]

Hello, I'm hoping someone can help with a problem occuring in my Husband's cichlid tank. Here are the basics, then I'll go into what the problem is.

Pseudotropheus lombardoi, Kenyi Cichlids
1 Male, 2 Females
1 rubberlipped Pleco

29 gallon Eclipse tall w/bio wheel and charcoal filtration
Temp - 75'
KH - 1' dKH
GH - 17'
PH <6
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Monthly Water changes
No medications, only Dechlorinator

My husband recently added 3 new fish to the tank from having just two Kenyi's to 4 and another cichlid (The other Kenyi died within days and was obviously sick, the third met a tragic end in the filter). Its been 2 weeks since the deaths and suddenly the newly added female Kenyi had started having seizures. If it weren't for the fact I witnessed one, I would've thought the other two fish were picking on her. Thankfully they've welcomed the newbie with open fins.

One afternoon I was feeding them some cichlid flakes. The sick girl immediately chowed down and suddenly started spazzing like a grand mal seizure. She darted all over the tank on her side, bouncing off of any surface she encountered (leaving obvious damage to her scales) before she settled to the tank bottom on her side. There was barely any gill movement, so I was convinced whatever happened was going to kill her. Anyway, she found a hiding place so I couldn't keep an eye on her, but a couple of hours later she appeared again and was swimming normally.

She's had several episodes since, though we haven't seen them directly the evidence is all over her battered little body.

The only unusual event in this tank was a bizaare algae bloom prior to the tank addition. I'm not totally convinced it was algae because it appeared suddenly, looked white (though hubby said it was green when he removed it from the water) and looked like little coral polyps with a definite structure. As far as I can tell the only source for this stuff was the food we've been feeding the fish for months.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Lobo.]

wth... i dont know about the spazums... but it would help in the area of "mysterious deaths" or the evil filter, if you did waterchanges weekly or every other week... and although im not an expert on cichlids, but im gona say that a 29 is probably too small for those fish... also you might want to get a quarantine tank for new fish and fish that get sick, this would prevent any diseases from entering the tank through new fish... and if the food worries you, id go buy from a dif. brand and see if anything gets better.

general advice for sick fish... be quiet around the tank, turn off any CO2 bublers (if you can pump plain air through the bublers if you have any for more airation.. if you dont have bublers dont add any as the new sound may freak out the fish) and turn off the lights during the day.

gl, and i hope someone can do better with describeing EXACTLY what is wrong with the tank!

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Well at first I was thinking she was just exhibiting mating ritual, but if she was hitting the sides of the tank then something is wrong. Possibly some sort of internal infection. There are several diseases that may cause seizures or "wobbling" spasms, unfortuneately its extremely difficult for me to tell based on the info you provided...

A 29 gallon is FAR too small for kenyi cichlids, they are one of the most aggressive mbuna and will kill each other off in a smaller tank.

What exactly is your pH? You say its less than 6!? That must be a typo. Malawi cichlids require a pH of above 8.0.

With three africans in a 30 gallon you need to do more than just monthly water changes... what are your nitrates?

I agree that you should quarentine all new additions to prevent the spread of new diseases into the tank.... possibly upgrade your tank size and use the 29 gallon as a quarentine?

The little 'coral polyps' weren't hydra were they?

Also, what are you feeding these guys?


:)
-Diana