My diminishing yellow labs

vequalsir

vequalsir

AC Members
Jul 7, 2008
230
0
0
Cleveland, OH
www.sayresaves.com
Real Name
Tom Trautman
In the last month I've had two Yellow Lab deaths in my tank.

My stock as of today:
3 yellow labs (lion Cove 1male/1female/juvi)
4 Ilyodon whitei
6 Pseudotropheus Acei

The tank is 50 gallon half hex with sand and crushed coral substrate and sandstone rock pile with plenty of hiding spots.

I have a magnum 350 for filtration and a bubble wand.

The tank is kept at about 75F

The PH is at 7.4 tested with an API liquid test kit. Ammonia was not measurable. Zero Nitrates.

I will typically do a water change weekly.

When I find these fish dead, they are typically resting near the bottom of the tank with obvious wounds. All the fish tend to get along. I don't see much chasing or flaring. The Juvi Lab is timid, but he's just slightly bigger than food.

My biggest issue is that I don't see a problem. The water is good and stocking seems to be alright as well.

Is it bad luck?
 
You have a rogue fish possibly another Lab causing the problem and at times you will not see the aggression coming unless you watch your tank all day.. I would rearrange the rock work and or add more caves to see if you can curve this situation..
 
vequalsir said:
In the last month I've had two Yellow Lab deaths in my tank.


The tank is kept at about 75F

The PH is at 7.4 tested with an API liquid test kit. Ammonia was not measurable. Zero Nitrates.

I will typically do a water change weekly.
Click to expand...

I have 3 questions:
1. What do you mean with "kept at about 75F"? If it goes below that sometimes, that's a little bit cold IMO. Ideally, I think it should be kept at 78-80F.
2. Zero nitrates or nitrites? Nitrites should be at 0. Zero nitrates sounds strange. You should check both: nitrites and nitrates.
3. Will you do weekly water changes or are you doing them already? You should do at least a 25-33% water change, weekly.
 
The problem is a rogue or a cold tank. The problem is you have 13 fish in space not meant to hold that many fish. Get rid of all your labs. There were too many to begin with and there are too many now.

On a side note about the temp - just a quick question for those out there who read this. How warm do you think the rift lakes are 1-2ft below the surface? How about 10-15ft where more of our fish come from? In the summer, ever take a dip in a pond on a hot day and swim down 10ft or so?
 
rogersb said:
The problem is a rogue or a cold tank. The problem is you have 13 fish in space not meant to hold that many fish. Get rid of all your labs. There were too many to begin with and there are too many now.

On a side note about the temp - just a quick question for those out there who read this. How warm do you think the rift lakes are 1-2ft below the surface? How about 10-15ft where more of our fish come from? In the summer, ever take a dip in a pond on a hot day and swim down 10ft or so?
Click to expand...


If I have to rehome anybody in the tank, I'd prefer to move the llyodon out. I'm new to keeping cichlids, but I've seen many people run these tanks over stocked to curb aggression. My ammonia levels are immeasurable, so it would seem that my filtration is keeping up with the bioload.

-BTW my weekly changes are around 25%. The 75F for the tank is a minimum value.
 
75 degree is ok i try to keep mine at 78 to 79 falling below 70 would be bad.. More than likely your labs are the problem..
 
Lab on Lab Violence... What a shame.

I'm going to try some rescaping and keep an eye on things. It has been suggested the Illies are causing the trouble. I guess they are protective of fry...any fry.

I don't have the room the room to isolate the labs when they are holding, so hopefully I can add more hiding spots in the rock.
 
Cool some of the fry will make it to adulthood if you add several holes or caves..
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom