African Cichlid With Disease? Ich?

[fishlover500]

Last night I noticed a few of my african cichlids were trying to rub against the lava rock and the sand.
What could this be? I looked to see if they had what looked like salt on them. No salty look.

 

[ReMz]

Can you see anything on the ends or middle of the fins? this is usually the best place to see Ich

 

[dthoffsett]

Flicking can be a sign of several things, bad water conditions, disease, or (as most often the case with mbuna) common aggression/breeding behavior.

To rule out water/disease, check your water conditions, and observe closely for signs of disease. Red gills, visible parasites, visible signs of ich, constant rather than occasional flicking, etc.

However, if you rule out the above, and your fish are only occasionally flicking (they usually do it in groups or in front of another fish), it's likely normal breeding/aggressive behavior. It makes diagnosing ich on mbuna a little harder, but part of the fun of keeping them.

 

[fishlover500]

I haven't seen any of the above, but for the last few days I have also noticed they just all seem to sit in one spot and do nothing. Why wouldn't they be swimming around like normal? I did a 25% water change yesterday and added water conditioner. No help.

 

[WILDER]

You need to answer some of the above questions as like a member has said bad water quality can make fish rub.
How many gallons is the tank.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
Any excess mucas on the fish.

 

[fishlover500]

Okay,

65 gallon mbuna tank
3 yellow labs
2 pseudo acei
1 kenyi
1 electric blue maingano
2 pseudo aurora
1 cherry red zebra

Don't believe there is excess mucas on fish.
I don't know the water stats because I don't have a test kit due to very high prices.
As I said above, I did a 25% water change yesterday and I have siphoned out the sand within a week and a half ago.
I thought it might have been an aggression thing so I rearranged the rocks when I did the water change, no luck.

 

[dthoffsett]

Since you don't have a test kit, how did you cycle the tank? How long has the tank been set up? Most LFS will test a water sample for free if you tank it in, be sure to have them write down the actualy stats rather than just good/bad.

 

[WILDER]

I agree take a sample of your water to the lfs and tell them to write the readings down for you.
Until we know water stats we are guessing, its the first thing to rule out is water quality.

 

[fishlover500]

I did a cycle w/fish. I did take a water sample in after it had cycled for 3.5-4 weeks they said it was good.
The tank has been running (including the cycle) for about 2.5-3 months.

Just figured out this mornin that the tank is at 84-85 degrees! Maybe this is the problem, and we all have to admit we have are stupid moments. I will crank up the heater for a while and see if this solves the problem. And I have taken in water samples of all my tanks quite a few times to be tested at lfs

 

[dthoffsett]

I did a cycle w/fish. I did take a water sample in after it had cycled for 3.5-4 weeks they said it was good.
The tank has been running (including the cycle) for about 2.5-3 months.

Just figured out this mornin that the tank is at 84-85 degrees! Maybe this is the problem, and we all have to admit we have are stupid moments. I will crank up the heater for a while and see if this solves the problem. And I have taken in water samples of all my tanks quite a few times to be tested at lfs

Do you mean turn down the heater, mbuna prefer 78-80 degrees. Though, I still think you should take a water sample to your LFS and get them to write down the actual readings. We've had quite a few people on here whose LFS have told them their water levels are "good" when in fact they have ammonia or nitrite present. I'm not saying your LFS is bad, it's just always a good idea to have the actual levels.