missing fins! HELP!

[mtdewlover]

Oh I need help. I have a 55 gallon cichlid tank. It has three red zebras, two yellow tailed violet cichlids, three Kenyi, two blue zebras, one large pleco, two little yellow labs.

One of my Kenyi is missing fins! I'm pretty sure it's a female and the other two are males. The males are a pale yellow/white color and she has more blue in her. Though her color looks dirty lately. Her tail fin looks like it has been half ripped off, and her side fins look ripped too! I never see anyone pick on her. Even the little ones are fine in the tank. What is wrong with her???

They have been rearranging the tank latley too. More than usual. They have a huge pile of gravel in the corner, and in one spot in the tank you can see the bottom. Crazy fish!

 

[JSchmidt]

I would bet she's being hounded to death by the males. Two males and one female is almost a sure recipe for a dead female... you really need to have a about a 1:4 ratio of male to females, esp. with kennyi. Personally, I'd get her out of there...

Jim

 

[mtdewlover]

I'm so sad! I've had this tank set up for a long time! I don't have anywhere else to put her. The pet store buys fish back for half price, but I don't know about injured fish. I'll have to call and check. I just didn't know if she was sick or anything.

Also, do you think my tank is well stocked?

 

[JSchmidt]

Personally, I won't keep zebras or kenny in anything smaller than a 75. They are just too territorial and too aggressive for smaller tanks, IMO. To my way of thinking, you would be OK if you removed the zebras and the kennyi, but you still would be moderately stocked for a tank that size.

Jim