[Fish_Dude]

I've had some strange things happen in my 180 recently, all in the last two months.

Instance 1 : Red Empress 6" drops dead. He did have two spells of not eating over the past 6-8 months.. thought he just finally big it.

Instance 2 : Livinstoni started hanging in the corner, white haze all over his head.. it happend almost overnight.... removed him to 20g hostpital

Intance 3: My price Ruby Red peacock almost 6".. dropped dead. That morning he was find, swimming about, eating readily... no signs of disease at all.

Instance 4: My 8" splilonotus Mara Rocks just came down with the same thing the Livingstoni did.. about 6 weeks apart. The Livinstoni is 7".

I had suspected possible disease... also, I have to run an airstone in the tank to keep it properly oxyginated these days.. this doesn't seem right to me.

I've also suspected agression.. I have big preditors in the tank. I have a 9" venustus, a 8" bucco, a 7" champ... and a 6" Kwinge I also have a 7.5" Borleyi Kandango, a 7" P. Ornatus, a 7" Spilonotus Tanzania, and some peacocks... a Ngara, Sunrise, OB, Otter Point, Eureka and Tanz Jake.. the Tanz Jake is VERY mean, but tends to focus his attention on the Eureka.

I removed a 7" mylochromis because he was an obvious agressor.

I also have a 6" front, and believe it or not, several 2" Yellow Labs and a 2.5" calvus that are doing just fine...

If it was a disease, I would expect it more widespread... so.. who is my meanie.. wh's killing my fish?

As much as I LOVE The bucco, maybe I should sell him, or the venustus to save my other fish? The Bucco would fetch me a LOT of money.. he's full color with lots of egg spots already!

 

[Fish_Dude]

To add to my own topic.. if a 8" Mara Rocks was affected.. and the smallest fish to bit it was 5.5"... a 5.5, a 6", 7" and 8" fish.. shoot. it MUST be the Bucco or the Venustus!

I'll throw my money on the Bucco... why? Well, I've had the vusustus for a long time in this tank with zero issues. I added the Bucco in March.. he's since colored up nicely.

I'll also throw in overfeeding... and high nitrates as an option. Fish like this Mara Rocks tend to eat up a large amount of the food I drop in the tank... that's a Red EMpress trait as well.

So.. disease or agression?

 

[Fish_Dude]

And I'll comment again.. think about it... two fish that got the sudden white haze...

Livinstoni, a Nimbochromis, a fish with spots!

Mara Rocks, large Protomelas with a deep yellow 'blaze'.

Sounds like it might be the Venustus...

The Tanz Jake may be the Peacock preditor.

 

[cichlidaholic]

Do you really need us to respond? :lol:

Sounds like you're on a roll... :thumb:

The "white haze" you're describing on the two fish worries me. It sounds more like illness in those cases, but if there is alot of aggression in the tank, the illness may stem from that.

With those fish, it should be pretty easy to spend some observation time and figure out who the trouble maker is.

 

[Fish_Dude]

Thanks.. you may be right..

I suspect Chilodonella... they haven't flashed. The Livinstoni was added back to the big tank today and he's OK now. The Mara Rocks looks like a goner. Just two days ago I was closely watching and trying to get a good photo of him. He was fine. Today, he's not swimming right and has this 'haze' on the top of his body to include his eye. Chilodonella can lay dormant so I've treated the entire tank with salt and quick cure... which is basically what I did with the livingstoni(though he got clouted as well).

It may be an illness, and I need to stop it. I've got UV, which I've turned off for treatment, but I can't find any description that sounds anything like what these two have other than Chilodonella... the catch is, neither fish are breathing hard or flashing... just isolating themselves form the tank. The Mara Rocks really does appear that he may have taken a physical beating...

 

[noki]

You don't really have that many sudden "murders"... aggression isn't that surprising, you should be seeing it. These are all males I assume, so it is not males beating up females.

That sounds like ALOT of large fish in that tank. Seems overstocked with big fish, so health issues may be a problem.

 

[Fish_Dude]

Interesting, I'm not disagreeing with you, but most people tell me the tank is understocked.
It's not as "overstocked" as my 125, but the fish aren't as big in that tank either.

Tank is 72x18x25" Occupants.. from memory, and sized..

Venustus 8.5"
P. Spilonotus Mara Rocks 8.0" now deceased
P. Spilonotus Tanz 7"
D. Kwinge 6.0" (he doesn't seem too happy in this setup)
B. Rhoadesii 8"
Champ 6.5"
C. Borleyi 7.5"
P. "Tangerine Tiger" 7"
A. Jacobfrieberfi Tanz 5.5"
A Jacob "Eureka" "5.5" (selling this weekend)
A. OB Peacock 4.5"
A. Sunrise Peacock 4.5"
A. Stuartgranti Ngara 4.5"
T. Nigraventa 6.5"
C. Frontosa "Burundi" 5.5"
A. Jacobfriebergi Otter Point 4"
A. Lwanda 3.5"
A. Calvus 2.5"
3 x Yellow Labs 2.0-2.5"
6 x S. Petricola

that's 15 substantial fish as of this weekend in a 72x18 tank. The tank has been running for over a year, and has had twice as many fish in it, granted, not anothing over 6".. but between 4-6" at times.

And while the Bucco and Champ will get really BIG, it won't be for years..