Getting REALLY discouraged!!

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Just my opinion, but you should just let your tank be. Deaths are hard to deal with but its not because your a bad fish keeper. Fish are fragile. You have went thru a lot in the past few weeks. API dosent make a stress test. A big re arrange causes stress. Your tank will stablize. You will lose more fish. You have to sort of just ride it out. If your water is perfect then thats all you can do for now. You cant measure how stressed the fish from the big chain stores were when you got them. Maybe something was set in motion before you even got them home. Chin up partner...Its all a learning expierence
 
Jmedic25 said:
Just my opinion, but you should just let your tank be. Deaths are hard to deal with but its not because your a bad fish keeper. Fish are fragile. You have went thru a lot in the past few weeks. API dosent make a stress test. A big re arrange causes stress. Your tank will stablize. You will lose more fish. You have to sort of just ride it out. If your water is perfect then thats all you can do for now. You cant measure how stressed the fish from the big chain stores were when you got them. Maybe something was set in motion before you even got them home. Chin up partner...Its all a learning expierence
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Thanks brother!! Your right man. Just ride it out. I'm doing everything I can and your right! I don't know what was set I motion at the chain stores before hand. I'm just gonna keep an eye out and in the mean time relax and just do my weekly wc.
 
yeah conster, def dont worry too too much. it could have been the change in ph / salinity from where you bought them to your tank. even though your levels are perfect, the store's could have been off.

& that change can definitely stress out a fish .. add that to them settling in & claiming areas for themselves, & its a stressful place to be .. i probably wouldnt dig it lol

another thing i've learned from AA - your male to female ratio should really be 3females for every 1male .. since you got yours from the mixed tanks & because of how young they are, it'll probably be hard to sex some of them for a while.

if you have a 5male to 1female ratio, it could lead to a few battle royales.. & paired w/ existing stress, could kill.

i've learned about stress the hard way ...... keep us posted
 
I'm gonna throw this out there, and I suspect I'll get my tooshie chewed but here it is anyway....

Sometimes....we have too much knowledge for our own good! What I mean by that is, even though my tank is FINALLY settled, it wasn't always. And it seemed like when I knew less it was fine and when I started learning how to keep them and I started messing with the water, fish fought, fish died, fish we very unhappy! Now days, I leave my fish alone and let them do their fishie thang. I've NEVER even tested my water parameters.

I think my advice to you would be to just let the tank be. Let the situation cool down. Sometimes fish die. It doesn't mean you've done anything wrong (I know it still sucks though). Do your weekly pwc and enjoy your fish. Your tank is GORGEOUS! Enjoy it.

Let the chewing commence.....lol
 
Lady_Alia said:
I'm gonna throw this out there, and I suspect I'll get my tooshie chewed but here it is anyway....

Sometimes....we have too much knowledge for our own good! What I mean by that is, even though my tank is FINALLY settled, it wasn't always. And it seemed like when I knew less it was fine and when I started learning how to keep them and I started messing with the water, fish fought, fish died, fish we very unhappy! Now days, I leave my fish alone and let them do their fishie thang. I've NEVER even tested my water parameters.

I think my advice to you would be to just let the tank be. Let the situation cool down. Sometimes fish die. It doesn't mean you've done anything wrong (I know it still sucks though). Do your weekly pwc and enjoy your fish. Your tank is GORGEOUS! Enjoy it.

Let the chewing commence.....lol
Click to expand...

I never test either but I make **** sure I do a weekly water change/gravel vac every week give or take a day.

Also I clean my filter every month. Same day and all.

With a consistent cleaning/feeding schedule you don't really need to test unless the tank is new.

Nowadays I can spot something wrong with my tank just by watching how my guys swim and eat.
 
Sharkbait54 said:
I never test either but I make **** sure I do a weekly water change/gravel vac every week give or take a day.

Also I clean my filter every month. Same day and all.

With a consistent cleaning/feeding schedule you don't really need to test unless the tank is new.

Nowadays I can spot something wrong with my tank just by watching how my guys swim and eat.
Click to expand...

I agree with everything you just said!!!

I do pwc every week. Vac my gravel AND sand every week. And clean the filters as needed.

I too watch my fish for signs of a problem. To me they are the best indicator. I'm pretty sure I spend more time watching my fish than I do watching tv lol.
 
Hi your fish look really good to me(y) i'm afraid i have know idea when it comes to African cichlids:oops: Curious though,do you feed only every other day? I feed every day,just change the amount to keep them on there fins so to speak. After all fish are feeding most of the time in the wild. Also another thing i learnt with territorial fish is to break up the line of sight if possible?
Good luck(y)
 
stingrays4 said:
Hi your fish look really good to me(y) i'm afraid i have know idea when it comes to African cichlids:oops: Curious though,do you feed only every other day? I feed every day,just change the amount to keep them on there fins so to speak. After all fish are feeding most of the time in the wild. Also another thing i learnt with territorial fish is to break up the line of sight if possible?
Good luck(y)
Click to expand...

Thanks I have rearranged the tank once already. I added another piece of DW and put 6 Anubias on it to break up half the tank more so to speak. So far it's been good in the tank. I'm hoping that and the addition of a few more Africans and dither fish (giant danios) will help. For now with the help of the members who have contributed to this thread I'm just gonna chill out and enjoy my tank/fish. Just lay back and watch as they all figure out who's the top dog.
 
Convict2161 said:
Thanks I have rearranged the tank once already. I added another piece of DW and put 6 Anubias on it to break up half the tank more so to speak. So far it's been good in the tank. I'm hoping that and the addition of a few more Africans and dither fish (giant danios) will help. For now with the help of the members who have contributed to this thread I'm just gonna chill out and enjoy my tank/fish. Just lay back and watch as they all figure out who's the top dog.
Click to expand...

I'm glad to hear that!
 
Convict2161 said:
Thanks I have rearranged the tank once already. I added another piece of DW and put 6 Anubias on it to break up half the tank more so to speak. So far it's been good in the tank. I'm hoping that and the addition of a few more Africans and dither fish (giant danios) will help. For now with the help of the members who have contributed to this thread I'm just gonna chill out and enjoy my tank/fish. Just lay back and watch as they all figure out who's the top dog.
Click to expand...

I wish AA had a 'like' button. :D
 
Hi sounds a good game plan(y) i think sometimes we mess too much with the aquariums and our fishes:nono: Sit back and enjoy and observe:cool: good luck with sorting it out though:)(y)
 
Hey Con, research the feeding every other day. I feed twice a day very small amounts. That and keeping the tank dark may lower stress. Since they arent hungry. Im not saying change. Maybe just look into it. I only fast them on wednesdays
 
Feeding every other day would work if you have algae for them to graze on. I bet you dont have that much. I dont either our tanks are about the same age....Just another thought on increasing the feeding schedule.
 
Doing research on it and going to increase feeding to once a day. Like you've said it seems that the increase in feeding will drop the aggression a little.
 
My fish seem to be most social/ tolerate each other best when they're eating- cause who wouldn't be happy?!

I feed 2-3 times a day, but in real small amounts; it forces them to all be near one another, plus, it teaches them that motion out side of the tank is good and that they shouldn't hide! Lol
 
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