i'm concerned with one cichlid

[Johnnyti]

I have three tanks (10,26,46) since JAN.1 and in the 46 : 1 pleco 8", 5 gold- 2"-3', 6 all yellow cichlids about 4". I adopted them along with 15 more goldfish and 4 black widow tetras. I keep the others in the other two tanks. Originally all the fish lived together in the 46 gal. tank.

I'm learning as I go on how to take care of them and airing on the side of caution so I do water changes often as the tanks cycle.

My concern is that one of the ciclids(not sure of type, they're all a solid yellow) has been acting strange (at least to me!) and hasn't eaten in close to a week. Also a couple days ago cleaned all the rocks from a cave in the tank. I don't know the diference in male or female but this fish is a little paler yellow than the others and has a slight bulge in the forehead. The rest of the fish seem fine, I am in a learning process.

I am testing the water regularly and amstill dealing with high ammonia. I probably need some advice with feeding. I feed twice a day, when I turn the lights on and before I turn them off.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Cut back your feedings to no more than once a day. I typically only feed about 5 to 6 times a week and only wha they will eat in about 30 seconds ot a minute. Cichlids will eat even after they are full so you have to limit their intake.

Can you post pictures of the Cichlids? We can try to ID them for you to ensure they are compatible with your other fish.

 

[Johnnyti]

I lost the fish last night.. I'm pretty sad.
I'll heed your advice and cut back their feeding, it has been a difficult part of the learning process. 1: the recomended amount seems small 2: i'm conscience of the smaller fish and try and make sure they get their share.
I'm concidering puttting the 20 goldfish in with the pleco on the 46 gal. The cicihlid in the 26 gal and the 4 tetra in the 10 gal.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

It may seem small, but consider the size of their stomachs. And the more that they eat, the higher the amounts of ammonia that will be produced.

20 goldfish is a LOT of fish. They have an extremely high bio load associated with them. What kind of gold fish are they?

 

[Johnnyti]

2 aren't but I'm trying to find out what they are. Actually I have 17 inwhich 4 are a solid color,11 are orange and white, 1 is white with an orange cap and 1 is all white.