Labidochromis Caeruleus depression

[deli_conker]

I have a Labidochromis Caeruleus that is having some issues. I'm not sure if he's sick or not, just noticing some strange behavior.

He's been hanging out by the return hoses on my tank. I have a big plastic plant that I use to kind of hide them (the hoses). I'm not sure if that's where he's made his "claim" on territory, or if there's something else wrong with him.

I wouldn't quite say that he is lethargic, but he's not nearly as active as all the others in the tank. He is eating, but sometimes he is late for dinner. His coloration looks ok. He is usually found up in his little hiding place. It's almost like he's depressed or something. Does Prozac make flake food?

The two Psuedotropheus Socolofi in the tank are trying to take over the right half of my tank chasing everybody out of it (except at feeding time when everybody is too busy to notice) in the process. Could it be that he's acting that way because of a territory issue?

I bought some extra terrain for the tank to increase the amount of hiding places and will be adding it soon in the hopes that it helps to de-stress everybody therein.

Water parameters...
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <10

Anybody have any other insights on what could be happening?

 

[shawmutt]

I don't want to doom your fish, but mine acted the same way before they died (I lost two of six mbuna). They kinda rested on the rock for a bit, ate but not as energetically as the rest, and keeled over. If you have a QT tank I would recommend you put the fish in there for a few days and monitor his behavior. If not, just keep an eye on him and make sure he eats. Good Luck!

 

[deli_conker]

A little update...

I did some rearranging to my tank. The full story is posted here...
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=14561

Afterwards I watched all my fish for about an hour or so. I fed them during this time. All of them ate pretty well. The yellow lab in question ate, but not like the others. I know something is wrong with him because he will let food go right by him. None of the others will. The place I saw him eating the most was at the filter intake hoses. He was eating the green gunk that collects there.

I don't know if this is abnormal for his species or not, but his underbelly is white. It's been like that since I got him and he seemed fine when I got him.

I also noticed that he had a long, very thin and white piece of crap hanging from him.

The last symptom I saw was him scratching himself. I only saw him do this once, and it was against a hose. Not a rock or substrate.

I must say though, that after the removal of two problem fish, he was doing a lot better and being more active than he was before.

After I get rid of the socolofi, I may go ahead and put him into it just to be on the safe side. Any ideas as to what may be wrong with him???

 

[deli_conker]

Another update for any who might be following this thread or for those who may one day have a simular situation...

It's been 2 days since the socolofi's have left and the yellow lab is full of life.
He's eating like a pig and claiming his own territory as well.

I haven't had the time to sit around and see what his poop looks like, but I bet it was white earlier because he wasn't eating as well as he should have.

I haven't seen him do any scratching either.

I am going to keep an eye on the whole tank as a whole to be certain, but for now, all is well...

 

[shawmutt]

awesome! glad to hear!

 

[Lilly]

Hi : )
It's possible that it's lonely and needs a mate. You can have up to 13 fish in your 55 gal. tank. Try identifying if it's a male or female and get it a friend. These fish (Mbuna) love being in groups of 2 or more (1 male/2 females) So try to keep pairs of 1 speices at all times.
Best of luck : )