We just adopted a cichlid

R

robsluv

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Sep 8, 2008
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We've had a couple of aquariums for a few years now - a 20 gal and a 30 gal - and our experience has been with angels, guppies, tetras, clown loaches, etc. About six months ago we moved into a house that's on a well, and we've lost about 50% of our fish - in fact, everything in the 20 gal tank was lost except the plecko. Every time I put more water in the tank somebody dies. We think it might be a higher concentration of chlorine in the water, so this last time I treated with double the amount of Aqua Plus I normally use and so far, so good.

In the meantime, a neighbor is moving and she has a large cichlid (black with white stripes) that she no longer has time to care for. Since we have a basically empty 20 gal tank, we volunteered to adopt the cichlid. We thought she'd get along okay with the plecko - but he started chasing her, so we moved him to the 30 gal with another plecko, 10 small tetras, an angel and a clown loach. But now the two pleckos seem not to be getting along very well - so we will probably give one to a friend who's having an algae problem in her tank.

Anyway - we're enjoying the cichlid so far, trying to get used to her and she to us. She's shy - not used to being in a high traffic area, so she startles whenever we walk past the aquarium. I'm wondering things about feeding her (the packet of pellets the former owner gave us says "several times a day as much as she can eat in several minutes". She's about 7 inches long, and seems to want about 20 pellets 3 times a day. Does that sound reasonable? Secondly, temperature . . . I've no idea whether they like cooler water, or warmer. Thirdly, she's somehow moved a 4-6 inch oval area of the gravel at the bottom of the tank so that the tank bottom is exposed and the gravel piled up against the side. Is this normal, or an indication she's not happy? And last of all - will we have problems with algae in the tank now that she's the only one living there? She was the lone fish in her other tank - she seems she will not tolerate company of any sort - just wondering if it will be okay for the tank.

Thanks for any suggestions on any of my "issues".
 
A pic would be great to help identify what cichlid it is, hard to say what water temp. etc. would be best without knowing what type of cichlid it is. 20 pellets 3x a day is WAY too much for a 7 inch fish, though I'm sure she would eat it if you fed it. Also, a 7 inch fish is far too large for a 20G, and the clown loach in your 30G will grow to 1 foot long and really needs friends, they are very social fish, so you may want to rehome these fish.
 
Any chance of a pic to identify the type? You may want to feed a little less each time, fish will always act like they are starving but in such a small tank (for the size of fish) water quality can quickly go downhill. Temp should be around 78F and digging a pit is normal cichlid breeding behavior.
 
I don't know what kind of cichlid you have and yes they are aggressive. Second: many species of pleco's are not tolerant of their own kind and mainly of "strangers" so both will want to establish a pecking order. Black with white stripes, 7 inches, if the fins have a blue hue could be Cyphotilapia frontosa or Neolamprologus tretocephalus. You will need a picture and or ask neighbor for more info.

As far as feeding, 2X a day is usually enough. I don't know what king of pellet sizes you are using either. I Feed 2 Oscars 6-8 Large Hakari Cichlid Gold Floating pellets 2X a day. The Oscars are over 10" each and are far from starving.

Temp 78-82 is ideal.

Floor cleaning (moving gravel) is a normal nesting habit.establishing her territory.
 
its probably a frontosa
and it will need a bigger tank
i think something like 75 gallons or more
and it will eat all your tetras


EDIT:
i might be wrong i think i read your post wrong.
 
robsluv said:
We think it might be a higher concentration of chlorine in the water, so this last time I treated with double the amount of Aqua Plus I normally use and so far, so good.
Click to expand...

Well water doesn't normally contain chlorine. They put chlorine in municipal water. So if you're not putting chlorine into your water, it's most likely chlorine free.

My guess would be that it's either pH or GH that's killing the fish. Have you tested these? The other thing it could be is heavy metals. You might want to have someone come and test the water for your own health.
 
are you changing the water or just adding more when it gets low from evaporation?
 
jaylin said:
Well water doesn't normally contain chlorine. They put chlorine in municipal water. So if you're not putting chlorine into your water, it's most likely chlorine free.

My guess would be that it's either pH or GH that's killing the fish. Have you tested these? The other thing it could be is heavy metals. You might want to have someone come and test the water for your own health.
Click to expand...
We did have our local aquarium store test the water - they couldn't find anything wrong . . . but that was after it had been treated with the Aqua Plus stuff. We've thought about having the tap water tested - before it's treated and in the tank, but it's a long way now to the aquarium store from home so we've not done this yet. Normally I'm just replacing water that's evaporated . . . but it seems whether I'm doing that, or doing the whole vacuum the gravel, change the filter thing - I lose somebody. We drink bottled water - and have thought maybe we'lll just start buying those big 5 gallon bottles and use that to replace the water in the aquarium, too.

Here's a pic of the fish - she was in a 10 gallon tank before, thought she'd be happy with a 20 in comparison. Glad to hear the digging is normal behavior - and she's alone . . . the tetras are in the community tank. We knew going in that she'd eat all the smaller fish, so she's got her own home. And maybe she's about 5 inches . . . it's hard to tell, she never stops moving!! You might be able to tell by comparison with the heater behind her.

Cichlid.JPG
 
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