Tail fin nipped...

[Crippldogg]

I've got a runt (he hasn't grown in 3 months while the others are twice his size) african cichlid that has ticked one of the bigger ones off. Half of his tail fin has been nipped off. Will it grow back??

I'm getting rid of the bigger fish, he's been a big problem from the start and even more now that he is maturing. The local pet store is taking him for a trade in. It's a kenyi that was miss identified when it was younger.

 

[Menagerie]

The tail will grow back, but keep and eye on it.
What kind of cichilds do you have in the tank?

 

[Crippldogg]

I've got the following:

1 yellow lab
1 powder blue lab
1 rusty
1 runt melanochromis auratus
1 kenyi (was supposed to be a pseudo. saulosi)

 

[Menagerie]

Nice mix of Mbuna. They love rocks and caves. I can't remember if that's the okay auratus, or the nasty one.

 

[Crippldogg]

They were doing well together until the kenyi started to mature a little more. I think the auratus is the nasty one not sure though. He's the one with the tail nipped off and seems to be the calmest out of all of them.

As i said in the original post, i'm trading the kenyi for one or two other fish. Any suggestions on species that would go well in that community??

I was thinking of one or two from these:

metriaclina (formerly pseudotropheus) callaines (cobalt zebra)
pseudotropheus acei
pseudotropheus saulosi
pseudotropheus socolofi
cynotilapia afra (Cobue or Mbenji)

Thanks

 

[Menagerie]

Cichlids are fun and heart breaking to keep all at the same time. Right now our 80 gal is mostly filled with Pseudotropheus zebras and a few others P species. I tried two acei at different times and they didn't last We have a female socolofi and she is great! One thing my husband and I did not do a good job with was getting the male to female ratio in order. We cannot add more males or they are dead by morning--even after rearranging territories :x

IME, the auratus is a smaller fish with a nasty temper. Watch out for him!!

I love the look of the acei, socolofis and P daktari. The female socolofis daktari are beautifully colored (for a female fish ).

 

[QTOFFER]

Cichlids are fun and heart breaking to keep all at the same time.

Oh, so, so true! :?

One of my blue acaras (he's a runt too) was attacked by a firemouth twice his size. He lost his entire tail fin and got scraped up badly!

You have to be very watchful for bacterial infection (red streaking or fuzzy body fungus). At the first sign, be ready to move the fish into another tank and treat aggressively. Make sure you have a hospital tank and meds on hand.

I managed to save my acara's life with daily water changes and simultaneous treatment with MelaFix, PimaFix, and Kanacyn, and Jungle Fungus Clear. Poor little guy looked like a cottonball with eyes at one point - I couldn't see any of his fins through his fuzzy halo. He pulled through minus his entire tail fin, which is starting to grow back nicely.

 

[Crippldogg]

Well he didn't make it. He died friday while i was at work.

I traded in the kenyi and got a yellow tailed acei. The acei is very lively, colorful, and seems to fit well with the other 3 fish. Since I got rid of the kenyi the power blue lab has stepped up and became the tank king. Interesting to see who was going to step up.

Thanks for all the help and advice.

 

[Menagerie]

I'm sorry to hear that. One thing I should mention about cichid tanks that is a big killer even if nothing seems worng is STRESS. Lately in my tank, a nipped fin is nothing to get concerned about, but if a fish is constantly getting chased, even if the fins are okay, there is trouble. I lost a beautiful Venistus. One day the fins were nipped, not bad, the next day she was in the corner of the tank completely white and her fins were shredded. We pulled her out to treat her, but it was too late.