My Cichlids committed suicide!

[CarlBeery]

Hello,

I am new to Aquaria Central but have been interested in keeping--not raising--tropical fish. I have a 29-gallon-high tank. I have one Clown Loach and two large Plecos in the tank now.
I had five Cichlids, but some kind of infestation sent the Cichlids into frantic and dangerous darting through the tank, slamming themselves into the glass and rocks--often knocking themselves into a comatose-like state--and eventually leaping out of the tank.
It happened to the Cichlids one-by-one (rather than all together) over a period of three weeks. I suspected Ich and raised the water temperature, performed 50 to 75 per cent water changes weekly, and used an Ich remedy--all to no avail. I understand that Clown Loaches are particularly suseptible to Ich, but my Loach is fine.
Does anyone have any ideas for me?

Thanks so much,

Carl

 

[Rbishop]

#1 Identify the cichlids you lost. There are literally thousands of them, most way to big to be kept in a 29 gal tank.

#2 Clowns like to be kept in groups and need a 4 ft to 6 ft tank at minimum.

#3 ID your plecos....most likely, they will severely outgrow that small tank.

#4 What are your current water parameters from a good liquid test kit...ammonia/nitrites and nitrates?

 

[Beowulff83]

water params?, amonia, nitrite nitrate. 1 pleco is too much for that tank let alone 2. Clown Loaches do better in groups of 3 or more and will need prob a 75 gal tank. What type of cichlids ?? 5 seems like alot of any type of cichlid for that size tank.

lol im too slow.

 

[CarlBeery]

I've had the Clown Loach for about three years--in that tank and as a single.
The plecos are dark brown with blackish spots. I don't know more than that.
I regularly check my water chemistry. Nitrates are at 40 ppm; Nitrites are at zero; Ammonia is at zero; pH is 7.4.
The Cichlids were African, peacock blues and some yellows. That's all I know there.

 

[Beowulff83]

african peacocks get to be about 6" and need a 55 gal tank.
there are only a select few types of pleco's that are small enough for your tank. most grow to over a foot long. The loach too can grow to a foot long. Loaches are slow growers but with out adequate space you will stunt your fish. You do not even have a 30 gal long tank its a high . . . def not enough room for your peacocks to swim in, they prob got stressed due to this then the disease hit due to stress.

 

[wataugachicken]

unless you actually saw white spots on the fish, it wasn't ich. in the future, don't treat unless you know what you are treating for. adding unnecessary medications can make the original problem worse, and cause additional problems.

i don't see how every single cichlid jumped out. . . is there a top on the tank? that really doesn't make sense. i would suspect a very bad water issue. fish jump to get food, escape from predators, or find better water conditions. sometimes they jump out accidentally, but that's not the case here obviously, so i would have to blame bad water, possible a chemical contamination.

 

[AfroCichlid]

How long was the tank running? Was it properly cycled? 50% a week is a lot of water to be changing. It's great to change water every week, but I'd cut down to 25% at a time. You can cause rapid fluctuations in your PH and temp this way, if not killing, then opening your fish to disease. Water conditioner is a must as well. Hopefully you know that chlorine from tap water is lethal, and at 50% water changes, if you treat in the tank instead of in buckets allowed to sit at least 15 minutes, there's a good chance you are poisoning your fish. I agree with the above that your Peacocks shouldn't be jumping from the tank unless there is an environmental issue. Cover your tank. Use eggcrate from your local hardware store if you can't get a proper lid for now. Test and post results from a water test ( API makes a good one ), if you can't get a proper liquid test kit, have your LFS do it.

 

[Pablo]

If i was in such a small tank probably i want to kill myself too... Either get the a bigger tank or trade them for smaller fish.!

 

[Star_Rider]

you may also want to check youe equiptment..you may have stray voltage or a leak.

 

[wataugachicken]

there's nothing wrong with changing 50% a week. the more water you change, the closer the water in the tank stays to the tap water, and the less chance there is of shock or old-tank syndrome.