Cichlids dieing

[Epaulette Shark]

ok i have not been on here in a while but I need an answer that i have not been able to find so there for i am asking for help. I have had a couple of my cichlids die in the past couple weeks. they have been yellow labs, kenny, cobalts. they show no signs of being sick (as in spots, bloating, major discoloration.)
here is my problem.
1. over a piriod of a few days they start lossing color and
2. they switch from using the left to right fins. like it has become paralized.
3. they start swimming a little more nose high as the days go by.
4. they swim / flote around for a few hours straight up and down and or up side down
5. they are dead.

1. water levels and temp is fine
2. moved my tank 3 months ago (this just started a couple weeks ago)
3. feeding has not changed in years.

any help and i would be greatly thankful

[spoonman]

By water levels being fine do you mean ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

[JPKeenan]

Swimming up and down. As in nose up tail down?

[Epaulette Shark]

yes water test all show good.

never said any thing about swiming up and down.

"3. they start swimming a little more nose high as the days go by.
4. they swim / flote around for a few hours straight up and down and or up side down"

like i said...
Any Help Here Would Be Great....

[spoonman]

Anything that you can think of that changed in the tank? Added fish, decor, plants, stirred up the substrate, new dechlorinator, new food, filter, kids visiting that could have put something in the tank, exterminators spraying outside, temperature change, jealous girlfriend (just thought I would throw that one in there)....etc...??? Happening that fast seems like a poisoning of some sort. Very strange.

[mfdrookie516]

what are you water parameters? you say theyre fine, what are they? ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, ph, temp... what substrate are you using and how deep? is the temp consistant? lots of variables that could result in something like that, i would agree with spoon had i not been through something similar recently with NO changes in anything...(not disagreeing by any means though)

[Epaulette Shark]

i am using sand 2-3" deep in a 150G Standerd, cascade canisters (1) 1000 (1) 1500, temp stays the same and nothing has changed..

ok so i think i have found my problem. I have been testing my water parameters once a week. i have just retested my levels again. every thing is ok... well almost..... PH level is running about 6.8-7.0 it has never shown that low sence i moved. so it has gone down some how...

I added 2 new fish when i moved. but both of them are ok. they also spent a month in the QT... (1) Male (1) Female Red Emperorise

so if it is some thing the fish brought in what could it be?
I need to up my PH but slowly.. If i can do it with out adding chimicles then that is the way I want to do it...

[mfdrookie516]

Ph being that low wont kill them if theyre acclimated properly and it isnt going up and down. If it stays a steady 7.0, they'll be fine. Its been said that cichlids prefer 7.4-8.2, but as long as its steady, 6.8-7.0 is fine. Now if the lfs keeps their ph higher than that and the fish arent properly acclimated, it could kill them. If youre adding water to the bag as you acclimate them, then that shouldnt be a problem. You can get some limestone or crushed coral as a buffer, but any time you start messing with your ph, youre asking for alot of monitoring. All of my tanks run a steady 7.8, every fish i have or have had, from cichlids to gouramis, to guppies, mollies, bala sharks, crabs, and shrimp.

[Epaulette Shark]

i still do not know what to do about this problem.. I have another yellow lab doing it now. only using one front fin and tail fin and she is using her right side. she is also hovering next to my filter intake. in nose up stance. and I mean she is streight up and down.
I have been through a lot of list of things. I can not find any thing that matches....

what can I do?

[mfdrookie516]

is there alot of surface agitation in your tank? if not it could be a lack of good oxygen exchange