[livifivil]

I have just started my 75 gallon tank. Here is what i have in it so far:

1 Pleco
3 Bala Sharks
2 Iridecent Sharks
12 Lake Malawi Cichlids (4 electric Yellow, 4 pale blue, 4 blue and black horizontal stripes)

I have rock caves.
I keep the temp between 77 and 80 at all times.
I use API stress coat water conditioner for the tap.

Recently I purchased the 12 Lake Mawali Cichlids and I have already lost two and I am pretty sure that another one will be dead by tomorrow. I lost one of the blue ones and one of the blue and black ones and tonight I came home and another blue and black one is not moving too much. I can't understand it because I am attending to the tank everyday. I feed the fish twice a day using frozen brine shrimp and blood worms, Omega One pellets and an algae supplement for the pleco. All the other fish are doing fine. There was even one of teh blue Malawi's that had a white fungus on his eye and I added some copper and now he is fine. All of the Cichlids are about an inch long as opposed to the other fish which are all about 2 inches. They seem to get along just fine and I cannot understand what happened to the two that died. All the other fish seem to do fine but I will probably have lost 3 out of the 12 Malawi's by tomorrow and I have only had them for two weeks. Any help would be greatly appriciated. Thanks in advance!!!!

 

[livifivil]

Also I forgot to mention that I am using a wet dry filter made out of a 30 gallon tank.

 

[sweetsummerrose]

Hello, most african cichlids are herbivores or omnivores, not many carnivores, so my guess, you might need to add more spirulina or vegetable matter to their diet. Somebody else might be able to help you more; sorry about your fish

 

[livifivil]

That seems odd because, although they do eat the pellets, that are the veg supplement, they much prefer to eat the blood worms. That is by far their favorite.

 

[Dave]

Hello, most african cichlids are herbivores or omnivores, not many carnivores, so my guess, you might need to add more spirulina or vegetable matter to their diet. Somebody else might be able to help you more; sorry about your fish

This is not accurate. There are lots of fish that eat very little herbivorous matter. Even the fish that are herbivores get a lot of non-plant material in their diet when they graze on the aglal mats. Peacock, Nimbochromis, Sciaenochromis, Placidochromis just to name a few haps.

I have just started my 75 gallon tank.

How long has this tank been up and running?

 

[livifivil]

I have had it up and running for about 2 months. I bought it from a guy that was a freshwater aquarium freak. This was his smallest tank and he kept very good care of it because he used to have an Arawana in it.

 

[FishandFire]

The tank was probably fine with the small bio load that you had prior to adding the cichlids. When you added 12 cichlids at once you may have increased the load to quickly. If that is the case, you are probably going through another cycle. Have you tested the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates?

 

[livifivil]

Yes, I bought a master test kit when I first bought the tank and everything looks normal.

 

[khaki]

livifivil

I feed the fish twice a day using frozen brine shrimp and blood worms, Omega One pellets and an algae supplement for the pleco.

this might shock you a little....lake malawi cichlid, mbuna mostly, are herbivores(eat plants and vegetable only and prefer a lil protein). haps are a different story. your problem is the bloodworms and brineshrimp...that has too many protien for the mbunas handle. If you feed them too much animal protein (e.g., worms, shrimp, feeder fish), it will only be a matter of time before they develop an intestinal blockage and will die of a disease called "BLOAT." the best food or brand of food i see people been feeding their african cichlid is called "New LIfe Spectrum"

the other reason might be your ph and water hardness level. african cichlids prefer hard water and high ph water.

also maybe one of the fish you bought has an external, internal, or a worm on it? and it is slowly spreading to the others? you can do research about these parasites on the net.

maybe you shouldnt try mixing your fish? like keeping lake malawi fish with only lake malawi fish? example: keeping south american fish with only south american fish?

but in my opinion i think it is what your feeding them.

 

[khaki]

if you have anymore questions just ask the cichlid forum.

 

[livifivil]

Thanks. Maybe I will try to switch their diet around. They really love the bloodworms which is why I stuck with that. Let's see how they like it, thanks again.

 

[Dave]

Yes, I bought a master test kit when I first bought the tank and everything looks normal.

What is normal? It would be best if you posted the actual test results. Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, GH, and KH. I think this is more likely new tank syndrome, but we need the data to make that determination.

Even with mbuna, saying mostly herbivores is an over exaggeration. Cynotilapia feed on plankton, Labidochromis caeruleus is omnivorous, there are several mbuna that eat scales/flesh from living fish, and many of the fish that eat algae really comb or rake it. This feeding habit gives them much more than plant matter, which means they are not true herbivores either.

That being said, frozen foods are often problematic for African cichlids. A good well rounded pellet will do you much better. Dianichi and NLS are two good brands.

 

[livifivil]

My PH was low but I added PHup and it went from 7.6 back to 7.8. The Amonia, Nitrate and Nitrite are all at 0. I use Omega One small pellets for cichlids and I also add a cube of frozen bloodworms and frozen brine shrimp. The only other food that would be added is the algae supplement for the pleco. Again this is twice a day.

 

[Dave]

You only need to feed the fish once a day, and only what they will eat in a minute, maybe two tops. Stop feeding the frozen foods, these are not good for the long term health of your fish.

If your tank is cycled, then you should have a nitrate reading. Either the test kit is bad, or your tank is not cycled. When did you test?

Stop adding the Ph UP. If you need to buffer your water, then use a proper cichlid buffer.

 

[livifivil]

I tested last night and it still came up as 0. Over the last two months since I had the tank I have been testing once a week and it has always come up as 0. I thought that I had a good cycle going, it never occured to me that the kit may be bad. I was told by someone that Brine Shrimp and Bloodworms were good. The only thing that my local pet store has available is frozen. I can stop with those and stick with the pellets though and we'll see how that goes. As far as the cichlid buffrer, can you explain that futher because I am not exactly sure what that is, thanks.

 

[khaki]

7.6 is not a good ph for africans...7.8 is okay for africans. my ph is 8.2 right out of the tap so i am lucky . i think you should stop feeding your fish frozen food and get some new life spectrum (nls). someone who told you that brineshrimp and bloodworms are good for african is nonsense. bloodworms and brineshrimp are good for south or central american cichlids. Discus fish enjoy bloodworms and need high protein.