Fish Trouble!

[Brathe]

Hello, I have about 10 african ciclids in a 50gal tank, and I have a Melanochromis Auratus that
http://www.rkdzines.com/cichlidcellar/malawi/page19.jpg
has been very terretorial and all his yellow turned to a light gray color, and his black has faded, the black seems to be turning darker, but I am not certain. I put him in a netbox for breeding just to isolate him for a while since i added the new fish, the guy at the LFS told me to do that or he would kill the new fish, I just would like to know if his color is going to return or not.

Also all my fish seem to shake sometimes and sometimes they rub themselves on rocks, they had ick once before, but i cured them of that without any casulties,
also my Kalingo http://www.cichlid-forum.com/photogallery/images/Nim_livingstonii_01.jpg has some sort of rainbow tint to him at a certain angle at times, and sometimes his color seem to get almost cloudy

If anyone has any advice on what could be wrong, please let me know I am clearly open for suggestions.
I hope to post pictures soon if anyone is interested in checking the tank out.

If anyone can help me out that would be great, thanks in advance!

 

[fishfreek]

Thats alot of cichlids in a 55.

Have you tested for ammonia and nitrite? Whats your PH level?

 

[Brathe]

No I have not tested the water, my friend is going to come over and test my water.

The guy at my LFS said that the more i put in the better because it diffuses the rage that they have
everyone gets an equal beating this way.

I dont know what to do about my Melanochromis Auratus tho.

 

[Brathe]

I just tested my PH level is about 8.0
The Nitrate came in at 0.3mg/l
and the Ammonia came in at 0 - 0.23

My water is fine, and it is a 50gal tank not a 55gal.

Also for some reason my water has a strange fishy smell to it, stronger than the usuall smell that it has, I think that it could be the food that I am feeding them because it smells also in the bag, could be when i put it in the water it make it stronger.

I really am not sure, i just want my fish to be able to function correctly in their ecosystem.

 

[Chrismac]

Controled crowding is a good idea, but what are you using for filteration? how much filteration?

Also all my fish seem to shake sometimes and sometimes they rub themselves on rocks, they had ick once before, but i cured them of that without any casulties,
also my Kalingo has some sort of rainbow tint to him at a certain angle at times, and sometimes his color seem to get almost cloudy

As for the shake that what the male does during mating to fertilize the eggs before the female picks them up and holds them in her mouth, they do rub against rocks they are rock dwellers and have scales that flake off, so thats pretty much like you sratching your arm. Could be serious if they are doing it constantly.
your water sounds all good.

Chris.

 

[Somethingfishy]

Hi Brathe,

I have the same Livingstoni as you and I have also noticed that they change colours. I have also noticed that at certain angles that they have hints of blue and yellow. My two, I thought I had a male and female, but I am beginning to wonder, any ways they also change to a pale colour. I thought it had something to do wth breeding, but I tend to think that it has more to do with showing the other who is the boss.

As for the fish attacking and stuff, have you tried to re-arrange the decorations. I had the same thing with some discus I bought and I re-arranged their home and they seem to be getting on a bit better in their new environment. The reason the 'older' one is fighting so much with any new ones being put in is because he is defending his territory. Move the decorations and you will see things improve.