Is this fish difficult to keep? With my first flametail everything was fine until it started to color up. Then it became withdrawn and stopped eating and eventually died. It was not being picked on. I bought another one about 2 months ago from a different shop. The same pattern is appearing. It was swimming all over the tank and eating like a little pig. It is starting to color up, now is losing interest in eating and kinda just hangs around the bottom. All my other fish are doing fine, and the flametail is not being picked on. If I added cichlid salts to the water, would that help? My water is already quite hard. I am at a loss. This fish is so beautiful, I really want to have one in my collection. I am feeding Spectrum Cichlid food every day and blood worms a couple times a week. Thanks!
Ngara Flametail cichlid
- Thread starter mocaman
- Start date
Aulonocara stuartgranti should not be a difficult fish to keep, given proper water conditions and chemistry ... none of which you given except to say it's 'hard'? what size tank is this fish in? how many and what type of other fish are in there with it?
The flametail is in a 55 gallon tank, with about 10 other assorted peacocks and haps. It is an all male tank except for a male and 3 female yellow labs that have babies all the time. The colors of all the fish are gorgeous and all are getting along fine except for minor chasing. A breeder told me I didn't have nearly enough fish in the tank and I would have problems down the road when the fish started to grow and mature. He recommended between 15-20 for my 55 gallon tank and that I should get my numbers up a bit. That seems like a lot when I take into consideration that they are going to grow. I am relatively new with keeping the Africans and it seems opinions vary depending on who I talk to. I am having no problems with any of them except the flametails.
you don't need to 'crowd' your cichlids ... i'd say you're just fine. you've still not given your water chemistry parameters so it's nost possible to assist you in any meaningful way. i might suggest however, that if the Aulonocara stuartgranti is the only species giving you problems, you may be getting a fish that comes from an original wholesaler with diseased fish. don't buy any more of them and make sure the rest of your fish are doing well before purchasing any.
Thanks for the input. I thought I was fine too with the number I have, but like I said, I am relatively new in keeping the Africans and I just want to keep everything healthy and happy.
I just ran my water tests this morning, everything is normal. My ph is at 8.2. This morning the flame tail seems a bit perkier, and ate some. So maybe he is stressed out a bit. I did move rocks and things around in the tank a couple of days ago.
I just ran my water tests this morning, everything is normal. My ph is at 8.2. This morning the flame tail seems a bit perkier, and ate some. So maybe he is stressed out a bit. I did move rocks and things around in the tank a couple of days ago.