Firemouth Cichlid Not Eating / Hiding

[GouramiFanatic]

I bought 3 juvenile Firemouth Cichlids a couple of weeks ago. They were all initially doing really well, but one of them (one of the smaller ones) has since stopped eating and rarely comes out of hiding. The other two are thriving, are active, and eat like pigs. I haven't seen anyone picking on anyone other than the ocassional chase where not much if any contact is being made. All of hte other fish in the tank are doing fine. I don't have a QT tank.

My water parameters are fine. The only different thing in the tank is that I got a new Rena air pump which is adding a lot more bubbles to the tank. Is it possible I'm over oxygenating the tank? I have the bubble wand going 3/4 the length of the tank and I had it on high (I turned it to down to see if it'll help) so there's a LOT of bubles. It's actually making the water look kind of cloudy because of the air bubbles.

Any other ideas? Should I treat the tank with Melafix/Pimafix?

 

[alLexX]

looking at the stocking in your signature,its possible that the other firemouths or the tiger barbs are picking on him. or he's sick

 

[DragonFish71]

I wouldn't treat for anything unless you see signs of disease.

I breed firemouths myself and it is a normal thing for the runt to get picked on. In my main FM tank, I had one runt who got chased into hiding whenever it was feeding time. I moved him to a new tank and now he's fine (the funny thing is he's in my 120 with JDs that are 5 times his size). No one in the new tank bothers him.

I would suggest rehoming him, either in a different tank, giving him away to a friend, or back to the store.

You know the saying only the strongest survive? The runt, unless you do something so that he can eat and grow, won't survive.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Thanks for the input. I'll bring him to work tomorrow to go in my 46g. The tank at work is pretty quiet with just a pair of medium sized angels and a clow pleco (my signature is way out of date). I'll see how he does with the angels and if it doesn't work out then I'll bring him back to the store.