dead fish

[thanew]

ok.. so I'm not at home and another cichlid died... this time its a blue johanni.. still I have no idea what caused the death.. for the last two weeks or so it didn't really eat and stayed by the heater... I originally thought it was pregnant and carrying since it had a small lump under its mouth, but it since disappeared and it died

it looked really bad, the carcass that is.. I have no idea what really happened like I said, tank parameters are fine, 0 everything, temp is about 78, ph 7.9

nothing has fluctuated at all

lost,
thane

 

[TankGirl]

So sorry to hear about this trouble - the first thing I think of when I hear "not eating" is bloat. You may have told me before but what do you feed them?

 

[An t-iasg]

Thane, I'm so sorry I don't have cichlids so I can't really help. Parameters or fluctuations were the first things I thought of, and everything was ok there. Was this one being bullied by the others?

 

[thanew]

tankgirl - i feed them bio blend cichlid pellets, they eat the tropical flakes and once every week or so some brine shrimp..

it stayed away from the others an t-iasg, but I never saw it being bullied at all

 

[Menagerie]

You don't need to see the bullying. QT a fish that is sulking immediately and see if you can get it to eat, if the fish perks up in the absence of other fish, then you know the cause. The females that I have seen holding often hold down a territory and can be quite active. Add veggies to their diet, since these fish evolved as herbivores.

 

[TankGirl]

I agree with the veggies- and I would switch to a spirulina-based food rather than the cichlid pellets, which (I may be wrong) but are more for carnivorous cichlids. Bloat is a real concern.