Cichlid always at bottom hiding

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

RWineriter

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 15, 2011
Messages
13
Location
Greencastle, PA, USA
Hi, I have a 1 month old 37g "Assorted African Cichlid" tank. I did a fish less cycle well in advance of adding stock and my readings are 0-0-10. If you look at the attached pics, all fish are active except for two of the kind I show in the individual shot. Both of these either sit, hiding at the bottom like the one shown or sit within the false plants hiding. I'd like to know if anyone is familiar with this particular species and if this is normal behavior? If not, should I be looking out for anything in particular as far as health?
 

Attachments

  • image-123978136.jpg
    image-123978136.jpg
    68.9 KB · Views: 130
  • image-2820027617.jpg
    image-2820027617.jpg
    67 KB · Views: 109
I can see only half the picture but it looks like a Kribensis. They are cave dwellers. Mine are always in a cave unless defending their space.
 
I dont see it well but it looks like a kribensis!! If its the case, remove him as you have labido and Mbunas if i saw correctly!! Kribensis are african river fish, so they dont like very hard water like the others and they are not as aggressive, they wont live long!!!

Only if its kribensis!!
 
That's a krib. IMO it shouldn't be in there because a)it will probably get bullied to death by others, and b)they require different water conditions.
 
What is the ph of your water? It may be the water is more favorable for the Krib...mine ph is 7.4
 
Thanks for the replies. That's 3 for these 2 being Kribs so I'm fairly convinced! My PH is steady at 7.6 to 7.8 depending on the light avail when I test with the API liquid kit. Would these guys live peacefully with bala sharks, false SAEs, cat sharks and Cory cats?
 
this is not a krib?????? seriously guys have we never seen an auratus lol.
this is not normal behaviour. auratus are bossy, big and like to eat foreigners, i have an evil female whos grounded atm.
auratus will behave like this until they get the confidence to boss around and eventually kill off the ones they do not like. some people are lucky and have gentle auratus, but this is not often the case.
watch out for these fish!! i dont think they will stay like this for long!
how big are they? x

p.s kribs do not have that colour or pattern or shape.... srsli? its kinda funny :L
 
Auratus! That's exactly what this is now that I googled it. Thanks. I will do some reading now as I have 2 and they are both behaving this way.
 
do they get access to food?
per chance, do u find the kenyi in there dont like them the most?

and im quite surprised it was called a krib in the first place :S lol
 
IMO he looks like he's being bullied I have one ( mbuna )that does the same thing but hides behind the filter. She comes back for food and is chased back by her boyfriend.... She stay behind the filter :((
 
They both get food but go right back into hiding after. Now that I know they need algae too I will add that to my feeding schedule. I've never "seen" any of the others be aggressive to them.
 
Well, I got up this morning to one having died. The other is still lurking around in hiding and no other fish acting differently. :-( I've read a lot that this could possible be Malawi bloat and to try not feeding for a WEEK to allow bowels to clear? That seems a bit extreme. Opinions?
 
feed peas, this seems to help the digestive system. also add epsom salt to the tank or a hospital tank to help act as a laxative.
i must say however, are you sure these fish displayed the signs of malawi bloat? this is usually a bowel irritation or blockage, normally brought on by foods like bloodworm. i think your fish just got bullied to death personally x
 
Second one was dead this morning, missing for several hours until I took out fake rock formations and after some massive shaking, it was dislodged. Still no other fish active differently and all parameters are good so it must have been too much for these two. Thanks for the identification and advice in this thread.
 
Back
Top Bottom