Mbuna Flicking

[Imperata]

Hi all! I just started an mbuna tank about four months ago. Ok now with tank info. I have a standard us 55 gallon tank. I am running 2 aqua-tech 30-60's and a cascade 700 canister filter. tank ph is 8.5, ammonia is zero, nitrate is between 20 and 40. I feed tetramin in the morning and hikari cichlid staple mini pellets at night.
My stocking: One ice blue(the one who is flicking like crazy!) 1 electric yellow, one rusty, one kenyi, and 1 zebra.
There is only minimal aggression. The ice blue is constantly flicking. HE looks to be intact skin wise, just a small ruffled mark following the line of scales on one side. He seems kinda lethargic and only eats super tiny amounts. My lfs says he may be damaging himself on my rocks. I have good ole red river sandstone in the tank. it helps keep my ph buffered up.
I am just wondering what in the world is the matter with him. He is the same even after a good tank clean and my weekly 60% water change. I do keep a little salt in the tank.
Oh and temp is 75 Fahrenheit and all 3 filters were cycled before addition to the tank.

He is my prize mbuna!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE HELP!!!!!

 

[PEneoark]

Please do not feed staple to your mbuna. You want food with 35% protien or less. Try the Hikari Excel. If they seem lethargic, they may have started the bloat

You can also feed them Omega One veggie flakes and New Life Spectrum Cichlid. Hilarious frozen spirulina brine shrimp is also a nice treat.

 

[PEneoark]

Oh yeah....Do not feed your Mubuna Tetramin either. That food is close to 50% protein.

 

[Imperata]

Okay, how about algae wafers? I live in the middle of nowhere and my lfs does not stock more exotic or specialized foods. Big blue is the only one flicking and acting lethargic. he is pooping normally. I could also buy java moss if they would eat it.

 

[PEneoark]

Well if he is pooping, he may be fine. Algae wafers are good for mbuna. If your LFS doesn't stock specialty food, you should order some online. You would be suprised how much spirilina food enhances color.

 

[elisew]

How often are you carrying out water changes?


I would echo the comment about the food that you`re feeding, none of it really holds what Malawi/mbuna need. Have a google for ZM systems, they`re a fish food supplier who sell Premium granular and spirulina flake. It may seem expensive initially but it actually works out pretty cheap for the length of time it lasts for. My Malawi. mbuna and haps go mad for it

 

[Imperata]

Ok do algae wafers are good. My lfs showed me a book on mbuna and it said not to feed strictly spirulina flakes as it does not contain all the good stuff they need. My lfs ordered some for me and recommends I feed spirulina 3 days of a week with the cichlid staple the other 2. And as I said, I do 60% once a week. I change my carbon once a month and seed with tetra safestart.
I have NEVER had any spikes in anything with this regimen. Blue is almost white and is hiding constantly and only halfheartedly chasing goldie off. Should I quarantine him? I will try to get some pics of his crumply scales.

 

[PEneoark]

Don't feed them Staple. That food is meant for SA's. Use Excel. Excel has spirulina in it. Also, do not add Safestart. It's marketed as bottle bacteria. If you cycled your tank properly, you should have no need for it. Sorry for all the criticism on your practices, but I want you to have a naturally balanced tank and want your fish to have the best diet.

 

[PEneoark]

Just remember, Malawis are herbivores. Almost all food meant for herbivores will be fine for your fish.

 

[elisew]

A small amount of spirulina flake once a day and a second feed of a food such as premium granular is adequate and ok for Mbuna. I personally think you should take the carbon out of your filter, carbon is only needed for removing meds etc from the tank water and serves no other benefit. Carbon is only active for a short time anyway and it can hold bad bacteria if it`s in the filter and not activated, bad bacteria will obviously cause the quality of your water to suffer and in turn the fish will then suffer. Clean dechlorinated watr is all that`s needed, no safestart. Use a dechlorinator such as seachem prime, it lasts for ages and is one of the best on the market.

If your ice blue has gone very pale then I would suggest you quarantine him in a tank that contains a small amount of the water from your tank but a majority amount of clean dechlorinated water with it, also some of the foam from your existing filetr to run another filter on the QT

I know we all want to think that the staff at lfs give god advice, please remember that their main objective is to get money from your pocket so I would strongly advise asking for advice on here and not taking what the lfs staff tell you with too much belief

Let us know how things go?

 

[PEneoark]

My malawi tank is overstocked, and if I run it without carbon, the water gets gross. I also put lots of extra carbon in my Emperor and Aquaclear filters. I also change it bi-weekly. Now if you only have a few fish, you probably don't need to run carbon.

 

[elisew]

My 380L has a mix of Malawi, mbuna and haps, the stocking isn`t heavy but the sump is enough of a filter for it

Carbon should only need to be used when removing meds. Fine foam or filter floss would remove any 'grottiness' from the water. If you use carbon when the 'activation' has been used it will just harbour bad bacteria which obviously is detrimental to your fish

 

[Imperata]

I appreciate all the help! I have been doing the same regimen filter wise on all my tanks forever. Before safestart, I used biospira. I have NEVER experienced a mini cycle or a spike in anything other than nitrate. I fishless cycle my filters with no boosters to get a good colony going. That being said, I have a LOT of health problems and sometimes am unable to do weekly maintenance. The safestart just keeps things even and stable even during adverse neglected periods when i am too ill to care for my beloved fish. Also, due to the water quality around here, IE huge chunks of gunk and basically liquid concrete water, If I don't run the carbon to pull some out my tank goes cloudy and the water damages the fish. I learned the hard way after some bloody gills and huge sores when I first started out. I have a special filter that I run on the water before it it ever hits the tank, which helps, but definitely have to have the carbon. My pre-filter has 12 pounds of activated carbon that gets changed every water change,. It is actually meant for me to filter my drinking water because I have almost dead kidneys and there is no way I can process this water on my own.

So on friday when my check comes thru, I will pick up some excel and algae wafers. Can I feed hair moss from my local lake if I freeze dry it first? They catfish farms do it to plump them up. If I am not mistaken they introduced it for harvesting.

Oh and what do ya'll think my maximum stocking number is? (oops I think I just gave away that I am a Texan!)

 

[PEneoark]

I cannot comment about the moss personally.

As far as numbers for your tank, I can at least tell you my stock.

Keep in mind, I have a 55 gallon Malawi mbuna tank, and I do two PWCs every week. My weekday one is 10 gallons, and my weekend change is 15 gallons. My stock is 20 fish, ranging from older juvenile to adults. I have many assorted pseudotropheus (zebras/reds, socolofi, tropheops, albino), yellow labs, petrotilapia nkhata, and metriaclima estherae.

All seem rather happy, and I even have one of my metriaclima holding eggs right now, and should be spitting soon

Hope this helps.

 

[Imperata]

I fed them some broccoli this morning and blue is starting to color up more. Is this safe?