Nervous Malawi

[9811shaun]

Hi all, hope some body can help, the last couple of weeks my fish have been acting very strangely. they seem very nervous a lot of the time, when i go into the room sometimes they cower away at the back and sometimes they are ok and excitedly await feeding. Water has been tested and is ok, i have tried lowering the temps. Any ideas,
thanks in advance, Shaun {england}

 

[Colin_T]

Fish become nervous for several reasons. The most common being poor water quality, followed by heavy metals or chemicals in the water. And if a predator is present.
Try doing a 50% water change each day for a week and see if it helps settle them down. Clean the substrate and filter (if the filter hasn't been done in the last month).
Try having a fan running in front of the tank and tie some bits of paper/ ribbon to the fan case so they flap about when the fan is on. The movement from the ribbon/ paper will help to desensitise the fish and help reduce their panicky behaviour.

 

[9811shaun]

Fish become nervous for several reasons. The most common being poor water quality, followed by heavy metals or chemicals in the water. And if a predator is present.
Try doing a 50% water change each day for a week and see if it helps settle them down. Clean the substrate and filter (if the filter hasn't been done in the last month).
Try having a fan running in front of the tank and tie some bits of paper/ ribbon to the fan case so they flap about when the fan is on. The movement from the ribbon/ paper will help to desensitise the fish and help reduce their panicky behaviour.

thanks for the reply Colin, will try the water changes for a while to see how it goes. I have another tank with just a breeding pair of convicts and im sure they are a bit nervous as well, strange.

 

[ElectricY]

What kind of cichlids do you have? My Malawi did not start associating with me until a month after I purchased them.

 

[9811shaun]

The tank has been up and running for 8 months, they have been fine upto 2 weeks ago, yellow labs, pseudotrpheus,red empress, and bumble bees

 

[9811shaun]

Also just noticed one of the fish rubbing himself against the rocks???

 

[Colin_T]

keep an eye on the fish and see if they have any white dots on the fins or body. If they do then treat them for whitespot. If they develop a cream, white or grey sheen, then they could have another type of skin parasite like costia. This can be treated with the same stuff as you use on whitespot.

 

[Mystil]

Also just so you know....all of my malawi rub against rocks.

I have been told it could be a change in the water that causes it or also white spot. I worried about mine when they first started but they have never shown signs of white spot in about 7 months.

Also how many of each malawi species do you have in the tank and how big is the tank? When I first started getting my malawi tank set up I found that my small numbers were the problem and were making them all nervous. They were not happy to be in a small group and felt more safe if in a larger group.

I put amazon sword plants at the end that I walked by everyday to try to break up my outline and now they are still skittish but not as much.

 

[9811shaun]

No signs of whitespot yet or anything else, just read up on it and glancing against gravel/rocks is a definite sympton. Would it pay to start whitespot treatment before the possible outbreak begins?
Mystil, i was also told to overstock with malawi, i have about 25 fish between 2-3" in a 55 gallon, im sure there is some medical problem though as they have been fine up until 2 weeks ago.

thanks for all your help, Shaun

 

[liamt2k6]

well i had the same problem with my aulonaocara firefish, it kept rubbing up against rocks and gravel,

i got in touch with the local breeder and he told me to treat it, just to be on the safe side,

then it stopped rubbin up against stuff so am happy

 

[ElectricY]

I think your PH should be off. Try checking if the PH is correct and also add some Aquari-Sol.

 

[dthoffsett]

If they are only occasionally flashing against the rocks or substrate, your PH/ammonia/nitrite/nitrate are in acceptable levels, and there are no visible signs of illness; then what you are observing is common behavior among african cichlids, males will often flick/flash as a sign of aggression or willingness to breed.

While overstocking is necessary for africans, there's a fine line between proper overstocking and fish just crammed in everywere , you may want to thin out your extra males, and aim for a total of 15-18 adults. Bumblebees (pseudotropheus crabro) should really be kept in at least 125 gallons when in groups as they reach around 7-8" and the males can get very aggressive. They do however, work well when keeping a single specimen in an african community, several on here have done so successfully (myself included).

As for the nervousness, as others pointed out, it could be a sign of water problems, or also changes in or immediate to their environment. I found mine freaked out when I rearranged my living room near the tank, and they hid for a few weeks. Also, a very aggressive male or several males fighting for dominance can make the rest of the fish very nervous and prone to hiding. Close observation can rule that out. Another cause can be not enough territories or hiding places. Behavior can change when the fish start reaching sexual maturity, a need for territories and establishing an adult pecking order can make everyone a little jumpy.

I'd suggest testing your water to ensure correct parameters, then spend a bit of time oberserving the tanks interactions for more signs of disease, or aggression problems.