Cichlid Problem

just got a 5 bar cichlid a few days ago i put him in a small 20 gallon tank so he can grow big enough to hang with the bigger guys in the 75 gallon, hes only about 1 in. very good looking fish to i might add..But he dosent move much just sits by the heater or in the top corners of the tank, its 79 degrees just tested the water PH is slightly low but nothing dangerous, rest of the water parameters are fine ammonia nitrate and nitrite are 0ppm my other fish did fine in this tank for years is he just stressed? hes in the tank by himself, dosent want to eat either....whats wrong with the little guy dont wanna loose him.. My main concern is that he wont eat...

B20luda said:

just got him a few days ago i put him in a small 20 gallon tank so he can grow big enough to hang with the bigger guys in the 75 gallon, hes only about 1 in. very good looking fish to i might add..But he dosent move much just sits by the heater the tank is 79 degrees just tested the water PH is slightly low but nothing dangerous, rest of the water parameters are fine ammonia nitrate and nitrite are 0ppm is he just stressed? hes in the tank by himself, dosent want to eat either....what wrong with the little guy dont wanna loose him he was kinda spendy too...

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wow know one can help me?

Raise the temp a bit to 80-82 F, did you check the PH before you put him in or after? How did you raise it? Is the tank cycled??? The temp is a bit low (not much) but could cause him to be less active. If your PH was different (as little as .2 matters) than the tank he came from and you just put him in he may be in shock. And if you then raised the PH quickly you may have made things worse. Did you use the filter or water from your old tank to start the new tank or is everything new? If the tank is not cycled and ph levels are not steady he will only get worse.

i have since increased the temp to 80 degrees, the PH is around 7.5 tank has been setup for about 3 years and has housed 2 africans for that amount of time, so i dont think anything is really wrong with the water parameters, he has now since moved from the heater and hes been hiding in a cave, i think he just may have gotton shocked or something as the PH is a bit low its always been low and i always get told that it will harm my fish but i have NEVER had a death in 3 years with my previous fish i still have them as well there just in a bigger tank now. i think hes just scared from gettin transported or something the Pet store i got them from JUST received them that day too so it was a long day for the little guy. LMK if you have any other comments, i would like to hear, think i should raise the temp more?

Yeah 7.5 is okay my tanks are at 7.8, I think he just is in shock. No your temp is fine (I keep mine a little higher then others, but yours is well within the guidlines) A steady PH is more important then anything, and like you said it sounds like he had long day and possibly 3 different ph levels. I whould watch him, don't over feed (or leave uneaten food in the tank), and he should be more active in a few days. It is a good sign that he moved into the rocks he must be feeling better If you want you could post a pic (in the Cichlid section) and see if we can id him.

Nevernormalalwayscrazy said:

Yeah 7.5 is okay my tanks are at 7.8, I think he just is in shock. No your temp is fine (I keep mine a little higher then others, but yours is well within the guidlines) A steady PH is more important then anything, and like you said it sounds like he had long day and possibly 3 different ph levels. I whould watch him, don't over feed (or leave uneaten food in the tank), and he should be more active in a few days. It is a good sign that he moved into the rocks he must be feeling better If you want you could post a pic (in the Cichlid section) and see if we can id him.

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it would be hard to catch a picture of him hes pretty small and hides very well in the cave hes in, plus i have been leaving the lights off and dont go in the room the tank is in just to let him get used to his surroundings and what not with out me trying to ck him out, heres a picture of what he looks like just a lot smaller...

Bump.....more info in first post...please help if ya can

If he's hiding, & still not eating after 5 days, it may be intestinal protizoans. This is what I do for angels, you may want to look into the maximum temp your fish can handle. Metro was originally designed for humans, the closer you can get the tank to 98.6F the better. I treated a 1" oscar with a lower temp, around 85F, he's a 7" happy fish now.

Put the angel in a quar tank, I usually use a 10 gallon. Increase the temp over a day or so to 90-94F. Treat daily with 40 mg/gallon metronidazole, with 50% water changes daily. If the fish isn't eating, don't feed for the first 3 days. After 3 days, get some frozen brine shrimp. Take a portion about the size of a few match heads, and sprinkle on some metro. You have to eyeball this one, make the shrimp look kind of like a tiny powdered donut. Once it thaws, mix it in & feed. Sometimes they still don't eat for a few days, but once they start to mouth the food & spit it out, the meds seem to get in their system real good. Continue medicating the water & food for 7-10 days.

Metronidazole is sold as flagyl, het-a-mit, and a few other names I can't recall offhand, used to treat hexamita & hole in the head. They usually suggest 20mg/gallon, this often isn't enough. Metro deteriorates in 8 hours, so you could do twice daily water changes. I've done this on the weekends when I have time.

I've also added epsom salt while using metro, this helps with any constipation issues, cleans out the digestive tract. I start with 1 teaspoon per 10 gallons of water, increasing by 1 teaspoon daily for 2 more days to bring it up to 3 teaspoons per 10 gallon. You will have to adjust how much you use when doing water changes. You may want to give this a try.

Just looking thru my old posts... noticed all my newb questions. LOL, the fish described in this thread is still doing great! getting old too, and is actually the biggest out of the 4 others that i have.