Possible Major African Problem

[davidtcb1]

I've lost a blue cobalt zebra, johanni and OB Peacock in the last 24 hours. Now have one Frontosa acting spastic then hiding and a couple other Mbunas showing different than normal behavior.

Did a water change last night after finding the Peacock, and another one tonight after finding the other two. Tests show ph at 7.5, Nitrite at a little below 0.3 and Ammonia at 0.

I fed them a piece of lettuce a few days ago...this is the only different thing I can think of. Lastly, there were long strands of excrement in the tank today when I got home instead of the normal size.

What's happening? It's a 125 gallon with two XP3s one it...one of which I just cleaned since it had been a while.

Oh, and I added a dose of quick cure a few minutes ago after the water change too.

Thanks!

 

[Zagz]

How long was the lettuce in the tank for? Did any of the fish have any physical signs other than behaviour? You nitrites should be 0ppm, what is your nitrates? Has your ph been steady? What are the other inhabitants of the tank? I don't recommend any type of meds until you know what you need to treat for. Do you add dechlorinator during water changes?

 

[DeFeKt]

Sounds like it's "re-cycling" after you cleaned your filter.
What are your nitrates?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

In addition to the above questions, have you added any new fish lately? How did you clean the lettuce before adding it to the tank?

 

[davidtcb1]

Am out of nitrate test supplies right now, will have to get that tomorrow. pH and other readings are always steady in all three of my tanks. The nitrites are really somewhere between 0 and 0.3. My kit just shows color results (yellow and orange) and it was just a little above yellow (0) but not fully orange (0.3) so I'm not too worried about that.

Washed the lettuce in tap water like I've done several times before with no problem. It was in the tank for probably two hours before they nibbled it all away.

Most recent fish was added on Jan. 11.

No other physical signs other than the string-like poo.

I do add dechlor after water changes.

I took the readings before I cleaned the tank, so I don't think it's re-cycling.

Thanks all for your help.

 

[Zagz]

White stringy poo can indiciate internal parasites. I would try feeding some antibacterial food and see if that helps. Jungle makes an antibacterial food that I have had success with.

 

[davidtcb1]

Thanks Zagz....I will try it out.

It's not white, but still stringy.

david

 

[travis simonson]

Did the dead fish exhibit any strange physical symptoms? (i.e. bloating, pop-eye, weird swimming behavior, etc.)

 

[davidtcb1]

The Peacock was somewhat bloated in the abdomen region, the other two looked normal physically.

 

[travis simonson]

Is it possible that they had too much protein-rich food? Live foods (blood worms, other fish, Cheetos, etc.). I've lost fish to Malawi bloat because they ate other fish. Mbuna cannot digest too much protein. Just a guess man.