Need help quick!

[Danielle88]

I'm new to this site, I just joined because my fish are going crazy all of a sudden and dying and killing eachother!

To start, I got my cichlids about a year ago, 7 of them, all different kinds, but all males. They have all been fine up until now, before there was one that was the main dominate fish in the tank, my electric yellow, he would chase the rest of them around and so on, but a few days ago, they all started to go after eachother. My blue ahli was never aggressive, he was the most calm, but he's attacking now. Yesterday I woke up to see my frontosa dead, he was fine the day before, and then I noticed my ruby red was dying, so I quickly seperated him and did about a 50% water change in the tank. But the ruby red was dead this morning.

I suspect that the puffer fish I got a few weeks ago (that died a few days ago) could be the cause for this, he never seemed sick or anything when I got him, but he all of a sudden stopped eating and died. Now the rest of my fish aren't eating like they were.

I don't know what to do, I was told to quickly clean my tank yesterday and I did, but I dont see any improvment. I don't want to see them all slowly die. Can anyone help me at all??

Thank you.

 

[HN1]

What size tank is this? What is your maintenance routine? Do you test the water for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? If so what are the results? What fish are currently in the tank?

Sorry for all the questions, but the more info available the easier it will be for someone to help out. It may be a matter of your fish reaching sexual maturity and not being properly stocked.

 

[Danielle88]

Oh sorry, I forgot to mention all that, I'm so upset over all this. It's a 55 gal. tank, the fish that are left are my ahli, electric yellow, a peacock, man, I am terrible with the different names of them...I forget the name of the blue and black striped one with the yellow down the top fin....I want to say a mamba? And I had just introduced a rope eel, but he just hides alll day.

Oh I tested everything today, it all came out good, as it usually does, which drives me crazy too, because I can't find a cause for this! =(

I dont know if it helps, but I bought all my fish, except the eel, from a breeder about a year ago, and put them all in together. The guy I got them from told me since I just wanted a "show" tank, that all males would be the best idea, so they wouldn't fight over any females, but I see they have other reasons to fight. lol

 

[spoonman]

I have learned that Cichlids need to have females or they will get really aggresive toward each other. And usually not just one female but a couple because they will harass one female too much at breeding time. Sorry to hear about the loses. I dont know if introducing females at this time will help or not. Also maybe changing the rocks and stuff in the tank around so that they are forced to stake out new territories? Others on here have more experience than me but just my two cents. Also the puffer is not a good idea since he is brackish now and will eventually have to become a marine fish. Not a good mix for cichlids. I know from experience. I had one and took it back after some research.

 

[Danielle88]

Oh they need females?? Yikes, I guess I shouldn't have listened to the breeder I got mine from. Now that I think about it, when I started with cichlids I tried to pair them off in twos, each with a female, and at that time, there was less aggression, until they all started to have babies. lol I'm planning on trying to indroduce a few new fish soon, since I'm down to only 4 now, so I'll see if maybe a couple females will make them chill out. It's just really odd seeing my blue ahli going nuts controling the rest of them now since he was SO calm all the time.

Oh I did rearrange the tank the other day, and I made sure that each fish including my rope eel, has a hiding spot they can call their own, but my electric yellow wants ALL the spaces for himself. lol!

But I am happy to report that I haven't had any more losses, and the remaining fish seem to be doing ok aside from the extreme aggression. They still aren't eating as much as they used to, but they're eating a bit more now!

Oh, can anyone reccomend a good way to introduce a few new fish to a tank like this? I know they're not going to be happy with new tank mates, I was told by someone that setting up a temporairy tank and putting the fish I have now in there for a few days until the new fish get settled in the big tank would help...?

Thank you!