A couple of months ago I lost two electric yellows to dropsy. this was followed by a round of pop eye in the other cichlids in the tank. Only one of them lost an eye. One of the fry from the second breeding. The pop eye recently cleared up when the water temp dropped below 26 c. And only the cichlids were affected. None of the other species in the tank showed any signs of being infected. Ammonia levels are at 0 as well as nitrites. I have to get a new test kit for nitrates. I read that pop eye can occur in association with dropsy. I've also read that pop eye is usually a sign of toxic conditions. Such as copper or from supersaturation of gases in the water. But why is it only the cichlids that are affected? I'm leaning towards bacterial problems. The fish are spawning just fine. I have had 4 spawnings from one pair, one from the red zebras and I've even had one form the lemon tetras. And oh the blue crayfish also succesfully reproduced. (Cichlids love 'em). Any ideas on what could be going wrong?
Dropsy and pop eye
- Thread starter WarNerv
- Start date
I had a gourami in a 20 gallon get popeye and no other fish did, they never showed any signs of illness. I used maracyn 2 and it seemed to clear up and never returned. During the whole process the other fish reacted normal. I never got any signs of dropsy in the tank though. From the readings I did popeye can be a symptom of many different things, some say even gas bubbles in the water as you mention.
I am no cichlid expert but is there a chance your cichlids are not getting the proper diet? I know some cichlids require more protein and some much less in their diets and the wrong diet can lead to bloat. Hopefully a better cichlid person will come along.
I am no cichlid expert but is there a chance your cichlids are not getting the proper diet? I know some cichlids require more protein and some much less in their diets and the wrong diet can lead to bloat. Hopefully a better cichlid person will come along.
What exactly are you feeding your fish?
Malawi bloat is very common in malawis, especially mbuna, and is usually the result of a 'poor' (improper) diet. Large inflated belly, prickly scales, buldging eyes, stringy white feces, and loss of appetite are all major indicators of deadly bloat.
Google malawi bloat to get more information on it, since if you keep africans YOU MUST be familiar with this condition and treat it right away, since it is so common. Even with a good diet fish can succomb to it. When its related to diet issues its because the fish arent getting enough vegetable matter in thier diet, since mbuna are generally vegetarian. A diet too high in protien spells disaster.
HTH
-Diana
Malawi bloat is very common in malawis, especially mbuna, and is usually the result of a 'poor' (improper) diet. Large inflated belly, prickly scales, buldging eyes, stringy white feces, and loss of appetite are all major indicators of deadly bloat.
Google malawi bloat to get more information on it, since if you keep africans YOU MUST be familiar with this condition and treat it right away, since it is so common. Even with a good diet fish can succomb to it. When its related to diet issues its because the fish arent getting enough vegetable matter in thier diet, since mbuna are generally vegetarian. A diet too high in protien spells disaster.
HTH
-Diana
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Thanks for remidning me about malawi bloat. It's not in the books I have about fish disease and I've been really busy trying to get the aquarium room project underway. I did purchase another brand of food shortly after I purchased these fish. I will read up on it and get new food for them this week end. Thanks again.