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| FAQs on African Cichlid Diseases 7
Related Articles: African Cichlids,
Malawian Cichlids:
The Mbuna and their Allies
By Neale Monks,
The Blue Followers:
the Placidochromis of Lake Malawi by Daniella Rizzo,
Cichlid Fishes,
Related FAQs: African
Cichlid Disease 1,
African Cichlid Disease 2,
African Cichlid Disease 3,
African Cichlid Disease 4,
African Cichlid Disease 5,
African Cichlid Disease 6,
African Cichlid Disease 8, &
Cichlid Disease,
Cichlid Disease 2,
Cichlid Disease 3,
African Cichlids in General,
African Cichlid Identification,
African Cichlid Selection,
African Cichlid Behavior,
African Cichlid Compatibility, African
Cichlid Systems, African Cichlid Feeding,
African Cichlid Reproduction, Cichlids of
the World, Cichlid Systems,
Cichlid Identification,
Cichlid Behavior,
Cichlid Compatibility, Cichlid Selection,
Cichlid Feeding,
Cichlid Disease, Cichlid
Reproduction,
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Questions re cichlid pop eye and tank KH level
Red Empress With
Pop Eye 2/11/09
Dear Bob,
< You have Chuck here this time.>
I
have read your cichlid disease FAQs through Google search and found they are
very informative. But I could not find the answer for mine so I am thinking
giving it a try by emailing you. Thank you very much in advance. I am a new
cichlid lover. I have a red empress (female, 5'') whose right eye appears cloudy
and protruding gradually for about one week now, and a red patch on the lower
gill (same side). I checked on the internet and saw pop eyes' picture, looked
very alike. Now I have put the fish in a 5 gal hospital tank. My questions are:
1) is the tank too small for her?
< I usually recommend at least a 10 gallon
hospital tank. Most medications have dosages in 10 gallon increments.>
2) I
have bought antibacterial (API Melafix) and I also have amoxicillin (for human)
at home. I was wondering which one I should use? I heard antibiotics works
better, if so, what dosage should I use?
< Melafix can be used as a tonic
and has been found to be useful in some infections in wild Anabantoids. I would
recommend getting some Metronidazole and Nitrofuranace. The metronidazole is
effective against Protozoans while the Nitrofuranace is effective against
bacterial infections as well as an antifungal treatment.>
I tested my tank
water (120gal), CH=180, KH=80, pH=7.0, Nitrite=0.2, nitrate=40, ammonia = 0. (My
tap water has similar CH, KH and PH.) I have read from some websites that
African cichlid need Alkaline water such as KH over 200, pH over 8.0. I was
wondering if it is necessary to increase KH level artificially, if so, what
product would your recommend? Can I use baking soda? Thank you very much
Jessica
< The nitrates should be under 20 ppm. This may be part of the
problem. Do a 50% water change and treat as recommended. Your red empress is
from Lake Malawi and the pH and hardness requirements are not as demanding as
the Lake Tanganyikan cichlids. I would recommend a Lake Malawi buffer to
slightly increase the pH and hardness. Make sure that you mix the buffer outside
the tank and check it before placing it in the tank. I usually recommend adding
the newly buffered water when doing small water changes.-Chuck>
Haplochromis Help
Victorian
Haplochromis With Problems 2/7/09
Hi, Just wondering if you might
know what is wrong with our Thick Skin ( Red Tail). His eyes are milky and
puffed up and one of them has a white spot on the film of his eye. Regular water
changes are being done and the pH levels are about 8.2.
His tank mates
include 5 females and 1 male & 3 female Lombardoi. Both males are same size and
we have yet to witness them being aggressive in anyway, but I don't want to rule
it out if there is a possibility that one doesn't like the other. Any ideas as
to what we can do to fix the red tails eyes? He is the only one with this
condition. Thank you in advance! Matthew & Angela
< Your Haplochromis
red-tail is from Lake Victoria. The Ps. lombardoi are from Lake Malawi. The Ps.
are usually bigger faster, have thicker scales and more teeth that the
Victorians. If there was any serious fighting then the Victorians would surely
come out on the short end of the stick. Victorian cichlids do not like elevated
water temps. Anything over 80 F and they start to get sick. It sounds like you
male has come down with a bacterial infection. I would recommend isolating him
in a hospital tank and treating him with either Nitrofuranace or Erythromycin.
Keep the water at around 75 F. Follow the directions on the package.-Chuck>
All my cichlids are dying
Cichlid Tank With Big Die Off 8/10/08
I am so very sorry if this question has already been answered. I did
go over them and while there was some that where close I'm not sure
if it was actually covered - so here is my problem. I had an African
cichlid in a 20 gal tank for like 2 yrs and then my husband bought
me a 55 gal. tank and I moved my cichlid in there after the tank was
set up for 2 days (sorry I didn't know about cycling at the time).
He and a black fin catfish was in there for about a week and then I
added 5 more African cichlids, all doing fine. About a week later I
added 4 more African cichlids and then a few days later one of them
got sick and died, then another and then another and so on. I
checked my water and it was fine so I went to the LFS and they
recommended cycle and PimaFix and aquarium salt. I added the salt
and the cycle and then started the PimaFix as directed, removed the
charcoal filter and dose 5 ml to every 10 gal for 7 days then do a
25% water change). Tonight
is the last dose of PimaFix and then I change water tomorrow, but my
fish are not getting better and more have died. I went from 10
cichlids to 6 but 3 of those 6 are sick. One of them is about to die
and another one looks bad but not as bad. Tonight I noticed that my
2 yr old is starting signs. Here is the water levels - pH 7.8, water
is soft, nitrites 0, nitrates lower than 10, ammonia below .5. Here
are the symptoms -, 1st it starts with a little spot somewhere on
the body (the 1st 4 started on their body before the tail fin) that
looks like the skin is rotting and it has a like a moss or cotton
look around it. Then it starts to attack the fins and they do not
eat during this. I have noticed some scratching on the rocks and
erratic swimming like darting here and there real fast. I have three
fish that have no signs and would love if they would survive and I
would love to be able to save my 2 yr old. I don't have an idea what
to do and I don't think that the LFS has a clue. If you could tell
me what to do. If the worst happens and all of them die what should
I do to my tank before trying it again - here are some pics of 2
that are sick now - thanks in advance
http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n93/little_angel81881/?action=view¤t=100_0878.jpg
http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n93/little_angel81881/?action=view¤t=100_0887.jpg
http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n93/little_angel81881/?action=view¤t=100_0872.jpg
http://s110.photobucket.com/albums/n93/little_angel81881/?action=view¤t=100_0868.jpg
<After reviewing your photos it appears that you have cichlids from
Lake Malawi. Lake Malawi is a rift lake where the water is very hard
and alkaline. Your pH is OK but you may need to get the hardness up.
Many manufacturers sell rift lake salts to increase the hardness of
your water and help buffer the pH. If you are using a water softener
for your house then don't use the same water for this fish tank. Get
the water from a hose bib before it goes into the water softener.
Adjust the water in a container first and then add this water to
your aquarium when making water changes. Never add the chemicals
directly into your aquarium. I would recommend a 50% water change,
vacuum the gravel and clean the filters. The holes in the flesh of
the fish appear to be bacterial infections. The fuzzy stuff is a
secondary fungal infection that is feeding off the dead flesh that
the bacteria are killing off. Now that the tank is clean I would
recommend treating with Nitrofurazone as per the directions on the
package. It is a serious antibiotic with antifungal properties. I
would also add a cup of regular rock salt per 20 gallons of water.
This increases the fish's protective slime. After treatment the
antibiotics will have probably affected the biological filtration.
Add carbon to remove any excess medication and do a 50% water
change. feed the fish once a day with a food that is high in algae.
Remove any uneaten food within five minutes. You tank needs to
develop the bacteria back in the system to convert ammonia and
nitrites to nitrates. I use to recommend Bio-Spira from Marineland,
but they discontinued the product and the stuff on the shelves is
old and probably doesn't work any more. Other products that say they
are adding the needed bacteria haven't lived up to my expectations.
I would watch the ammonia levels and watch for spikes until the
system got back on track. New fish should be quarantined before
being added to the main tank to prevent further problems.-Chuck>
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Cichlid, pop-eye please assist 8/1/08
Hello, I have read through many of your postings but really feel I need
guidance concerning my yellow cichlid.
<Fire away!>
I set up a freshwater 55gallon tank on July 4, 2008. I am new to
cichlids, but I have been spending hours researching online about them.
(And finding that I have done SO many things wrong, but 5 out of 6
cichlids are now currently very happy.) I have mbuna cichlids. I realize
I have done so much to my cichlids, but please help guide me to what I
should do for my little yellow one.
<Ah, the cichlids we call Mbuna run the range from relatively easy to
keep, tolerant fish (such as Yellow Labs, Labidochromis caeruleus)
through to extremely aggressive, potentially tankmate-killing monsters
like Blue Zebras (Pseudotropheus zebra/Maylandia zebra). Contrary to
what you might imagine because of their similar water chemistry
requirements, you can't throw them all into the one tank and hope
they'll get along. They won't. The aggressive, potentially hyperdominant
(read: nasty) fish will systematically bully and potentially kill
anything it doesn't like.>
At first, I bought four 1" to 1 1/2" cichlids, but one wasn't eating or
swimming and died within 72 hours. I took that cichlid back to the
store, replaced it, and bought 4 more (for a total of 8.) I noticed my
tank was starting to smell, so I did a 10 gallon water change which
sadly killed 4. I bought 3 more and an algae eater (for a total of 7--I
should have just left my tank alone and let it cycle.)
<The algae-eating fish is redundant in the Mbuna tank. Mbuna eat algae,
and without it won't do all that well. Mbuna are also super-sensitive to
poor water quality. While not *quite* as sensitive as, say, marine fish,
they aren't far off. You need nitrate levels 20 mg/l or less, and zero
ammonia and nitrite. All this recommends against keeping anything as
messy (and big) as Plec.>
All of the fish were happy for a good week and a half. Then I noticed my
little blue one had a white patch on his side, was not eating, and was
isolating himself. I thought maybe his fin was torn off, but the next
day I noticed it had gotten worse. I did not have a spare tank at that
time and was worried that my other fish might have the same infection,
so...
<The white patch was very likely Finrot or Fungus, and this would be
caused by either poor water quality and/or physical damage. Let's recap:
clean water has no smell, or if it does, the water should smell sweet
thanks to all the plant life. If the tank smells offensive in any way,
that's a very bad thing. It usually means there's decay in the tank,
e.g., from uneaten food. Mbuna absolutely must not be overfed, and their
diet should be biased towards green foods rather than anything high
protein. Feed sparingly, from a mixed menu, and not just pellets/flakes.
I'd recommend greens (tinned peas, cooked spinach, Sushi Nori) along
with whole (i.e., low protein, high fibre) invertebrates like bloodworms
and brine shrimp. Now, you also have to have lots of filtration and
generous water changes or the water conditions will be poor. I'd
recommend a filter offering not less than 6 times the volume of the tank
in turnover per hour. So if you have a 55 gallon system (the minimum for
Mbuna in all honesty) you'd get a filter with something over 330 gallons
per hour turnover. External canister filters work great for this, but
you can also use a undergravel with powerheads at each end of the tank.
Read any book on Rift Valley cichlids for more on this topic. Water
changes should be 25-50% per week. The more the better. Obviously the
fish need hard, alkaline water, so understand water chemistry and manage
this aspect accordingly. Again, a book on Malawi cichlids will help.>
I treated the whole tank. With Melafix (which seemed to do no good, as I
have seen you do not recommend it either) and Pimafix.
<Both products may have value as preventatives, but aren't reliable as
cures once the infection has set in.>
I also treated the whole tank with Jungle Parasite Buddies because I saw
the blue one had long stringy thin feces. Now my tank is a wreck. The
other 6 were fine, but just stayed on one side of the tank. The blue
cichlid got worse by the day and after 3-4 days(?)the fungus/bacteria
(that I thought Pimafix would help) had eaten him.
<At the moment you're wasting your money. In fish healthcare, just as
with humans, you must identify the disease first, and then buy the
treatment. You're randomly adding stuff here, hoping something will
work. Slow down. It's better to work logically, step by step. So far all
these symptoms are fairly generic, and tend to imply a reaction to poor
water quality. Stringy faeces can be a symptom of poor diet, Hexamita,
and many other things. So let's slow down and try and get to the bottom
of things!>
That same day my little yellow one started isolating itself on the other
side of the tank where the blue one had been and would not eat.
<He's being bullied. He has no place in this system.>
Its mouth seemed to have white cottony fungus/bacteria on it.
<Quite possibly Finrot, Mouth Fungus (actually a bacteria), or plain
vanilla Fungus. All three follow on from physical damage. Think of them
as the "gangrene" of the fish world. Easy enough to treat using products
like Maracyn (in the US) or eSHa 2000 (in Europe). But treating them
won't stop them coming back, so if this fish is bullied -- as it is --
and getting damaged, you'll cure one round of infection only to have to
deal with again a few days or weeks later.>
I quickly bought a 2 gallon tank with a filter, put the yellow cichlid
into it, and treated the hospital tank with Jungle Buddy Fungus Clear
and aquarium salt, and kept the temperature stable at 80. The next day,
I noticed she was getting white cottony growth on her cheeks.
<Needs treatment as stated above. Also note that "aquarium salt" is
harmful to Mbuna, and known to cause something called Malawi Bloat.
Again, any book on Mbuna will explain this.>
By the 3rd day, the cottony growth on her cheeks was gone and her mouth
looked very good. She was still not eating, and on the 4th day
(yesterday) I noticed one of her eyes is bulging a bit (pop-eye, I
assume.) I read that it could be from unclean water, trauma, bacteria,
etc.
<Pop-eye tends to work two ways. If only one eye is bulging, then
physical trauma is the likely cause, with bacteria having set in
secondarily. If both eyes are bulging, the infection is more likely to
be systemic and caused by serious problems with water quality. Either
way, treatment with an antibiotic (such as Maracyn) can help, but
recovery is often very slow and depends on the fish otherwise being
maintained in ideal conditions.>
While all of this was going on with my yellow cichlid in her own tank, I
have done plenty of water changes to the main tank, and they are SO
happy. Nitrites and Nitrates are 0, ammonia is minimal, temperature
stays at a constant 80F, ph is staying constant at 7.5 and very slowly
raising to the appropriate ph level for cichlids thanks to Cichlid Salt
and crushed coral in my 2 filters, and my very soft tap water is now
hard and in cichlid range.
<Understand this, there is no "minimal ammonia". All ammonia, any
ammonia, is bad. Saying "minimal ammonia" is as meaningless as saying
someone is "almost pregnant". So, here's at least one fundamental
problem -- the ammonia. Mbuna have ZERO tolerance of ammonia, and long
term it WILL cause harm. If you have ammonia in the aquarium, then one
(or two, or three) of the following is true: [a] the tank is
overstocked; [b] the tank is under-filtered; and [c] the tank is
overfed. Pick and choose as seems appropriate, and act accordingly.>
The Jungle Buddies Fungus/Bacteria medicine said to not retreat until
after 4 days. Since it had been the 4th day, and I noticed the pop-eye
and all cottony growth gone, I did a very slow and gradual water change
in her tank (after checking the ph on both and they were almost
identical) using the main tank's water to fill her tank. She seemed fine
with the change and maybe a little happier too (aside from not eating
and the pop-eye and being weak) so I put her into a small breeder tank
inside the main tank while I rinsed her small tank with hot water, then
cool water, and used the main tank water to refill it.
<Cleaning the hospital tank is pointless if you're killing the filter
bacteria as well. Be sure you understand what's going on here: hot water
will kill filter bacteria, and the resulting ammonia crisis will
stress/sicken any fish put in here.>
I put the Jungle Buddies Fungus/Bacteria medicine back into the small
tank and put her back in it last night (it says it treats pop-eye as
well as fungus and bacteria.)
<Oh good.>
Her eye is still bulging. I do not see any cottony growth or
abnormalities on her anywhere aside from the eye, no appetite, and
weakness. (I can't tell if both eyes are bulging, but one is definitely
larger than the other and I can see the skin(?) covering over it.)
<This does happen with cichlids, and is usually a very good sign that
not all is well in their tank.>
I'm going to leave my main tank alone for good, but keep checking
ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph. My question (after my long novel) is
what should I do about my yellow cichlid? Should I leave her in the
hospital tank with the Fungus Clear (that says it treats pop-eye) for
the full 4 days?
<Isolate from other fish, yes. Not sure 2 gallons of water is safe, but
if that's all you have at the moment then so be it. Long term this fish
needs to be re-homed.>
Should I leave her in her own tank with just water from the main tank?
Should I add some Epsom salt to her tank to help the swelling?
<If you want.>
I think my main concern is that she has not been eating for at least 5
days and is weak.
<I'd be getting worried too. She won't eat if water quality is bad
though, so check you have zero ammonia/nitrite first before you even
think about offering food.>
I am glad that all of the cottony white is gone and her mouth and cheeks
look clear.
<Good.>
Thank you so much.
<Hope this helps, Neale.>
African Cichlids, hlth. and Betta
comp. - 7/2/08
Hey everyone! Hope your having a good day.
I actually have two questions about two separate cichlid tanks.
First, I have a ten gallon with a pair of Kribensis, two Cory cats,
two female guppies, and an Oto. I recently got a male Crowntail
Betta (I fell in love when he swam over to me as I was looking at
all the "dead" Betta in their little cups). Right now he is living
in a breeding net (about 6" by 4") hooked on the side of the ten
gallon. I was wondering if I could let him out with the cichlids,
guppies, and catfish?
<In a word, no. Fancy Bettas are not good community fish. They are
too slow because of their ridiculous fins, and so can't feed
properly. They can't swim away from nippy tankmates, and they can't
swim away from defensive cichlids. So they usually end up getting
battered and beaten. You could mix a Betta with Corydoras in their
own system, but that's about it. Do also bear in mind Otocinclus are
schooling fish that feed almost entirely on green algae and need
perfect water quality. So unless you're keeping a group of them in a
large tank with strong lighting (to encourage green algae) your
Otocinclus will very likely be dead soon. Something like 99% of the
Otocinclus sold to aquarists die quickly because they are NOT "mini
Plecs" despite what the shopkeepers might say. They are extremely
demanding fish, and worse, when they get hungry they parasitise
other fish by scraping the mucous from their bodies.>
I don't want to put him in an unheated, unfiltered bowl, but I worry
the net is still too small for him. He doesn't show any interest in
the Kribs when they swim by. Would they damage his fins?
<Yes.>
My second question is in regards to my large show tank. I keep
several adult Haplochromis, peacocks, and Labidochromis (yellow
morph) together and everyone gets along fine (all male, I don't want
any hybrids).
<Good stuff! Do bear in mind hybridisation doesn't occur between
(most) genera, so you could keep Labidochromis, Aulonocara, and
Haplochromis together with zero risk of hybrids.>
I just got an adult albino peacock that I'm going to add. My problem
is his eye. He was kept in bad water and one of his eyes stared to
rot out. It's doing much better, but is there anything I can do to
help it along?
<The eye will likely fall out if the damage is severe, but beyond
that clean water and (repeated) treatment for Finrot should help.>
I saw this fish originally for $60 in my local LFS, and couldn't
justify that much for a fish. Later that week, when I went back he
looked terrible and they had taken down his price tag.
<I bet.>
A while later, I went back and he looked a million times better and
they had him on sale for $15, so I gambled and took him home. All my
levels are at 0ppm, the temp is 78F, and I do 30% water changes once
a week. Would more frequent water changes help him? I've never
dealt with this problem with any of my fish.
<The more water changes the better, but realistically, treating for
Finrot with something like Maracyn (in the US) or eSHa 2000 (in
Europe) will be more important in the short term because you need to
reverse the bacterial infection before the fish can heal.>
Also, I've had him for two days, and he is not eating. It took me
six days to get one of my haps to eat when I first brought him home
and I lost sleep worrying about him. Is there anything I can do to
encourage the peacock to eat? I've tried flake, pellets, and
bloodworms but he doesn't respond to anything. He's not hiding, in
fact he's out in
front all the time, he just won't eat. I'm a college student, I
can't afford to lose sleep!
<Likely will take time to settle down. Live brine shrimp is often a
good "bribe" even though nutritionally it is worthless. In any case,
treat the eye infection first and don't worry about its appetite.
Once it is healthy and settled into the hierarchy in the tank, it
will feed.>
Thanks so much for your time.
Jessica
<Happy to help, Neale.> \Re:
African Cichlids and a Betta
Re: African Cichlids and a Betta
- 7/2/08
Thank you so much for a quick response.
<You're welcome.>
As far as the Betta goes, I will keep him in his breeding net for
now until I can think of a better solution.
<Very good.>
I had no idea about the little Otos. I've had my little guy for
several months now. Is there anything I can do to increase his
chances of survival? I offer him blanched veggies a couple times a
week and there is a lot of algae in my tank. Is there a reliable
algae eater for a ten gallon system?
<Best algae-eaters for small aquaria are shrimps (e.g., Cherry
Shrimps) and snails (specifically Nerites, which don't breed in
freshwater tanks). Together they do an outstanding job. I have a ~10
gallon planted tank with four Nerites and dozens of Cherry Shrimps
and the thing is spotless.>
Sadly, my albino peacock passed away last night. Thanks for all the
help in regards to him though. Now I know what to do if I ever
encounter this problem again.
<OK.>
One more quick question though. I keep an electric blue ahli cichlid
with the others and I've been told that if there are any female
peacocks present he will kill the males and hybridize with the
females. He is the main reason there are no females in my tank. Is
this true? (I don't have room for any girls, but I'd like to someday
down the road).
<At least some Mbuna will go for anything the same colour as males
of its species. Sciaenochromis ahli is well known for this. Even
putting aside the fact males are highly aggressive and territorial,
you have to keep them only with similarly tough fish that *aren't*
blue. Sciaenochromis ahli is best kept in a single-species set-up,
one male, multiple females. You'd get to watch their interesting
social behaviour as well as get lots of baby fish you can collect
and sell!>
Thanks again!
Jessica
<Cheers, Neale.>
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My Frontosa, HLLE tissue damage
- 7/1/08
Hi, I wrote you before about my Front, Georgie and his
hole-in-the-head problem, and that I treated him with Medizole and
Furnace, I then noticed it looked like fungus so I treated him again
with just the Furnace, It looked like it went away but his holes
didn't look any better, so I then treated him with some medication
called Hole-in-the-Head by JUNGLE, and he still looks like this, is
there any hope?
<To heal the wounds from the neuromast destruction? Mmm, yes... with
time, good nutrition, water quality...>
( I sent you a couple pics) I have had him for a long time( we think
he is around thirteen years) and he has always been healthy but know
I am at a loss, usually when I treat my fish I have good luck if I
catch it right away, I am sending you a few pics and see if you can
see what you think,
Thank you for your time,
John Cline
<Have seen worse cases remit. Do try feeding Spectrum pellets
exclusively, being religious re weekly water changes... Read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/hllefaqs3.htm
and the linked FAQs files in this series above. Bob Fenner>
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