Mal-Nourished

[PBirdsong]

Well, some of you know I have a new mated pair of Electric Blues in my tank. What I noticed when I introduced them, though, was that the female was pretty mal-nourished. Her fins also showed some wear & tear in them.
Here's my theory: the couple was being kept in a twenty gallon tank; a little too small for them. They are short of full grown. And I'm betting the male rulled the tank and bullied her all day.
Since she's been in my tank, she has been more active and has gotten to eat plenty. She definately has more room, and she's not the only fish for the male to pick on too. In short, I can already tell she's doing much better . . . and looking better too. So is there anything else I should do?

Sorry I don't have pictures. I'll have them this weekend, though.
Also . . . do you call the female an Electric Blue? Because we all know the female isn't exactly the bluest fish out there.

 

[Peregrine]

Sounds like your doing fine to me! Keep it up.
The only thing I'd recommend, which you are probably doing already, is feed a variety of food.

 

[malkore]

many cichlids are mouth brooders...when the eggs are laid, the female holds them in her mouth til they hatch. this often leads to skinny females.

as long as she's getting fat again, and you're given them a good variety of quality foods, she'll be ok.

 

[PBirdsong]

Yeah, I have six different types of food ranging from flake to frozen, live food that I feed them. I'm actually watching her right now and she seems to be doing well.

 

[PBirdsong]

Sad news . . .

I introduced two otos into my tank this week to help control the algae until CO2 shows up. Well, the female Hap tried to eat one. The oto got stuck in her mouth and then migrated to her gills. As silly as it may sound to some; I don't want to talk about the rest all that much. Anyways, tried everything, but she didn't make it.

Went to the pet store today and have two more females on order. Should arrive Tuesday.

RIP: Delilah

 

[nbirdsong]

Yeah that pretty much sucked. For everyone who doesn't already know; otos have small spikes along their body and their fins can act as barbs as well. If a hungry fish decides to try to eat one he will not be able to spit it out if it proves too big.