african chichlids dying 1 by 1 ?

[candymancan]

So my mom wanted to convert her 30g tank that weve had for 20 years to african chiclids. Which we did like 5 months ago maybe more.. Removed all the gravel and put in Argonite sand for higher PH, got slate stones from outside and made a million caves and hiding spots.. there are a ton. No plants or anything like that.. I change the water every week or two i do about 60-70%.. But latetly they have dying in droves.. I keep thinking its because she got too many of them and the bigger they got the more teritorial they got and a 30g tank is only 3 feet long. They were 2 electric yellow's in there, 2 blues, and 2 solid orange ones, and a sherbert colored one...

In all there were like 8 or 9 in the tank. And we have had i think 3 or 4 die and are completetly eatin up. And 3 of them i have rehomed to my other tanks in an attempt to save them.. I put one of the larger blue ones who is like 3-4 inches long in the 55G tank which has Gouramis Angles and red tail sharks. He seems to be getting along fine with them and he isnt dead yet..

I also rehomed two of them a smaller solid orange one about 2 inches in my 92g discus tank, and a larger electric yellow about 3-4 inches in there just now as well. Im keeping a watchfull eye on these chiclids so they dont attack my other fish because if they do i will sell them or toss them in the toilet especially if they attack my discus.. Although so far the 2 arent bothering my discus as my discus are 4-5x their size lol. They dont seem to bother any of my fish, my neons, my gold barbs, my electric blue ram.. All 3 that i have rehomed in my 55g and 92g were sitting on the top of the 30g tank in the corner.. not eating and being chased away by the more aggressive chiclids.. They are all doing fine now, swiming in the tank like torpedo's and eating everything in site lol

So i dont think its a disease its aggression. Right now the 30g has only i think 3 chiclids left in it. And honestly with no fish its starting to look like crap. This was my biggest worry i told my mom they might get aggressive when they get bigger and i dont think the 30g can hold 9 african chiclids.


What should we do ? Should I take the other 3 out of the 30g and put them in the 55-92g tank's. And just reconvert the 30g to a community tank or what ? Im not sure what to do with these fish, i know they technicly dont belong in a community tank with neons and discus and so forth but i had no choice.. These fish some of them were expensive $10 a pop so i cant just keep letting em die like they have been

 

[Tbox]

Can you get a picture of said African cichlids?
I do believe you're correct with the aggression issue though. A 30g is more of a battle arena if you're homing particularly mbuna. The "orange ones" possibly are maylandia estherae or red zebra.
Everything will go smoothly as juveniles, but they'll soon need a 92g accommodation to try and make it work.

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[jmats]

Types of fish instead of a color description will help us help you tremendously.


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[candymancan]

I have no idea what they are.. lol


Here is a picture of the two in my 92g with my discus right now. The others are of the same species i think, they all are solid colors like this.. They were listed as assorted chiclids in the store.. sadly they dont really give names to most african chiclids in stores these days

 

[Nils]

I'm hoping you're not seriously considering the toilet as a method of getting rid of fish. Not only is it really cruel to the fish but if they survive and get into the water system, who knows what could happen. It definitely sounds like aggression from the fish. I would get those 3 out of the 30 gallon ASAP and rehome them to a species only tank because when they're big, they're nasty and you don't want to deal with a full grown African cichlid in a prized discus tank.

 

[Tbox]

Agreed with what Nils said about disposal of the fish. Hope that was just a joke. Its not real funny in a forum of aquarium hobbyists. At worst, the lfs you purchased them will give you in store credit for them.
The second pic is a Labidochromis caeruleus.


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[candymancan]

Fish stores dont take fish in my area due to being paranoid over disease.

 

[jmats]

The first fish you posted looks like a male kenyi, that could be your problem right there.


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[TMRC Exotics]

This has got to be the most ignorant thread I've ever seen. The single most.

First the idea of flushing them in the toilet is the most abhorrent thing I've seen here. Completely senseless. Stupid.

Next, your idea to put mbuna with discus? Holy crap that's dumb, I don't know how else to say it.

The first fish looks like a red zebra, definite mbuna on the second(perhaps Kenyi or pseudo tropheus), they WILL tear your tank apart but do not flush these fish, I'm serious.

30 gallons is far too small for any of these mbuna but if you had done the proper research you would know this, instead you enabled it. Wow.

 

[LayzorBeams]

Well i know little about Old world cichla, but i do know the basic practices involved in keeping fish.

I mean, how did you go to the store and buy the fish and not know the names...? Lots of these people remember the common, and scientific names as well as the variations of them for all the fish they keep. I hope i don't sound rude, but you should at least know the names. That helps everyone be able to help you.

I hope it should've come across by now that you should always do what research you feel is sufficient, multiply it by four and add on a day; that should be enough. (Thats a bit of a hyperbole but you should do a ton of research... I refresh my memory on all my fish at least once every few months...)

Also, Discus are fragile... Those "intruders" are going to harm them at some point.

The most humane way to kill them that i know of is to put a pitcher of water in the freezer with a bit of salt in it, and let it get super cold without it freezing. Then plop the fish in it should die almost instantly.

If you were even slightly serious about flushing fish then you shouldn't have fish. Period. It is totally inhumane and quite ineffective.

Don't want to sound rude... But I've done this since i was 6, and that makes approximately 8 years I've done this, because for a few years in between then and now i didn't have tanks... But you learn a lot. Even as a 17 year old i personally feel that i know a decent amount about aquariums fish in general and a lot about the fish i choose to keep.

I hope next time you use the resources you have to make a little bit better of decisions regarding the lives of these animals.

I wish you luck


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[Ulrichsd]

Layzor, lots of stores have tanks labeled "miscellaneous African cichlids" so not surprised someone might not know the names.

There are articles on this site for euthenizing fish. You can use clove oil it's a natural anesthetic. But shouldn't be too hard to give them away on craigslist if you live anywhere near a city.

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[coralbandit]

You mentioned you think your tank has TB or columnaris in this thread;http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/bleaching-tank-339275.html
????
Have you ever treated for the columnaris and what did you use.
I am very sorry to say that IMO you have infected every single tank you moved fish to or share equipment with(like nets and syphons...).
IMO your fish have columnaris but I have no real proof to lean on besides your statements in another post(why wouldn't you have mentioned this in this thread?)

 

[LayzorBeams]

Layzor, lots of stores have tanks labeled "miscellaneous African cichlids" so not surprised someone might not know the names.

There are articles on this site for euthenizing fish. You can use clove oil it's a natural anesthetic. But shouldn't be too hard to give them away on craigslist if you live anywhere near a city.

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Get that they have fish in "assorted" tanks, but you should either not buy them or know enough to be able to recognize the different types of fish.


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[TMRC Exotics]

Agree with layzor, while there are assorted tanks barring hybridization its not hard at all to differentiate species. Very easy to the trained eye.

 

[LayzorBeams]

Agree with layzor, while there are assorted tanks barring hybridization its not hard at all to differentiate species. Very easy to the trained eye.

Finally i feel smart????


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[candymancan]

Id appritiate you guys stop attacking me on species lol i have been in the hobby for 20+ years but never cared about africans nore paid attention to them.. Im sure there are plenty of things in this hobby you dont know.. So please back the **** off


I cant believe i had to just to defend myself over a subject like this


As for my post you linked coralbandit whatever i had in that tank only affected live bearer fish. trust me

 

[jmats]

Id appritiate you guys stop attacking me on species lol i have been in the hobby for 20+ years but never cared about africans nore paid attention to them.. Im sure there are plenty of things in this hobby you dont know.. So please back the **** off


I cant believe i had to just to defend myself over a subject like this


As for my post you linked coralbandit whatever i had in that tank only affected live bearer fish. trust me

You've been in the hobby 20+ years and didn't think to do a quick google search on the fish you were putting in your tank?


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[candymancan]

You've been in the hobby 20+ years and didn't think to do a quick google search on the fish you were putting in your tank?


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There are so many different kind of mixed species in african cichlids its kind hard to find what exactly some of them are.

Hell only 2 people in this thread have mentioned the names of the fish i have.. Of course i looked on google, its like discus almost there are so many of them you cant figure out what some of them are anymore,


I dont like smartass's btw so i'd appritiate you keep those kinds of comments to yourself before i blow up on you. Thanks

 

[LayzorBeams]

Hey man. Calm down. We are all friends here!! Its ok to make mistakes but everyone is just giving you advice to help you next time!! Everybody in this forum has messed up at some point, and its all good!! The key is just to know what to do different. No need to be rude, its no fair to everyone trying to help. And we arent questioning you're experience in the hobby, but everyone can use some help every once in a while! Without forums like this i would still be keeping Bettas in bowls!

So don't be rude. And i truly didn't mean to offend you. Im really sorry if a said and harsh words.


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[candymancan]

Giving me advice is one thing, but being a smartass and pointing the obvious out like he did pisses me off. Internet warriors who wouldnt otherwise act like that in my face piss me the hell off !!