Hi,

Help!
I have African cichlids from lake Malawi, I bought them @ adult size 5-6 in, I have tried feeding them pellets, lettuce, blood worms, flakes and they don't eat it, they have been here a week and the will pick at the food but spit it out and barely eat, I checked the PH level and it's fine, not sure what else i should do... any ideas??? dumb dumb

Hey Chococat,

Their bellies look a bit sunken.
Are you seeing any white stringy poop ???

I believe it is something more than being picky eaters. You should probably treat them. I would use Clout this late in the game. Just get some and follow the directions on the package.

You may also need to look at getting a background on the back of the tank.The fish may feel no security or have a "safe place".what kind of food are you feeding?You may need to speak with the previous owner to see what they were feeding.In a word of caution HBH has done a recall on all thier Cichlid attack pellets so if you are feeding them this STOP!There is a link in this area for you to read on about that.Treat with an aquaruim salt for now unless fish are dying.Get the temp up to around 80-82.Clout is very very hard on the fish and should be used as a last resort IMO.Do small water changes every day 10-15% .see how that works.If that doesnt help then treat with clout


Derek

I agree. Do a google search on 'bloat' or 'dropsy' because I think there is a good chance you might have it in your tank and if left untreated you could lose them all. As stated, look out for white stringy poop and in my opinion, any malawi not eating should be watched very carefully because they should be good eaters.
Also, it might just be me, but I think that auratus in the second pic looks a bit puffy. It might be just overweight, but it sure looks bloated up to me. If it is the same one as in the first pic, then I guess it's just a bad angle.

Just a couple of other questions. You have mentioned pH, but that is only one component of your water. Is the tank fully cycled? How long have you had it up and running, and are these the first fish you have had in there? If the tank isn't properly cycled, it may be a spike of ammonia or similar causing their behaviour, and that may end up killing your fish. Can you test for ammonia and nitrites also?

I would never feed my tropheus bloodworm or other high protein foods, because it is believed they may bring on a case of bloat. Tropheus are vegetarians, the same as a lot of malawi's.

If you want my opinion, don't chop and change. Stick to one type of food. I recommend New Life Spectrum cichlid formula, but other high quality flake foods may also do the job (eg OSI flake).

Good luck, hope that helps.
Shane

If they were eating flake before you got them, that might be your problem. Add a change in food to being in new surroundings and you can get some pretty stressed fish! Discontinue the bloodworms. Not a good idea for most of the fish I am seeing in your pics, and bloodworms are believed to cause bloat. If feeding a pellet to fish that have always eaten flake before, you need to gradually introduce the pellet food. Malawi cichlids may be hardy, but they have delicate intestinal systems, and we can make our biggest mistakes with food.

They are thin, but not to the point where I would suspect anything just yet. I think that underfeeding is better than overfeeding, so I don't want to cause you to panic over their physique just yet! Size wise, I think they are fine.

Did you get these fish from an LFS or individual? Were they all housed together?

Is this a new tank?

Was it cycled before adding the fish?

What are the readings for your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

I don't want to have you start treating the tank for bloat until we rule out all the other possible problem areas. If it's a newly set up tank, I would be especially hesitant about adding medication to the tank. Meds can be harsh, and really mess with the biological filtration on a new tank.

Any white stringy feces? Reclusiveness?

For now, until we get to the bottom of things, add epsom salt to the tank at 1 cup per 100G of water. This is a good preventative for bloat, and since you've been feeding blood worms, I think we should be preventative.

What size tank is this, by the way?

Alot of the questions I am asking are in an effort to pinpoint the stressors in the tank, and for no other reason. Sometimes we're just sitting on problems that can easily be fixed and don't even know it. Stress affects these fish in alot of different ways, so it's best to lay it all out on the table and try to figure out where we are!

Welcome to CH!

Kim

No problem, your not asking too many questions your trying to help... it's a55 Gallon and it's temporary until my 108Gallon is ready for fish... I bought the fish from a local pet store that is closing down... there is only 6 of them in the 55Gallon that is more than 1in of fish to every gallon... their fesses are green not white? so any ideas...? tank is not new it had Africans in it.... and has been running for a long time, the filter is ehime pro that does 100Gallon. dumb dumb

Okay, so the filter media is established and seeded! That's good.

I would try offering them a good quality flake, then weaning them to the pellets. If they still spit the flake, post back and we'll try to figure out what's going on. Odds are they just aren't used to getting pellet, if they just came from a LFS.

And, go ahead and add the epsom salt, just in case, and keep your eyes open for any signs of illness.

Kim

What's the tank temp at?

Oh and so you know for future purposes, the 1" of fish per gallon of tank water rule does not apply to Mbuna. With them the more territories the better and usually over stocking is great for controlling aggression.

Kim if I may suggest as well.....Try feeding fresh brine shrimp as well, they might take to that too. I would also add the epsom salt like Kim suggested.

Also what are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings?

Thank you so much for trying to help, I truely am thankful, my fish is truly thankful :lol:

temp is between 81-82, and my ammonia I'm not really sure about because my test kit ran out 2 weeks ago and i forgot to get a new kit, but I'm going tomorrow and buying a KH, nitrite, and ammonia test kits...

You've gotten lots of great advice already -- I'm just posting to say we're all hoping for the best for you and your new fish.

This is what Cichlid Haven is all about -- everyone pulls together to give good input to anyone who needs it.

The brine shrimp are a good idea, and if you don't have success with the flake, another thing to consider trying is a bit of finely minced garlic...

Garlic appeals to some finicky eaters, and it is also believed to boost the immune system, so if you can get them to eat it, you can't go wrong!

chococat, I'm not a fanatic about keeping up with water parameters. I don't really worry about mine, because I have double filtration on all my tanks, I don't overfeed, and Pete does weekly water changes without fail. If you do these things, the only time you really have to be concerned with those levels is with a new tank for adding fish, and when you have problems.

Stress can do strange things to fish, and sometimes it can be difficult to pinpoint the stressor. With new fish, it can simply be change, especially when you're dealing with adults.

Now the scary part is how stress can affect them...That's why we almost have to be mind readers and figure out the problem before it makes them ill!

Kim

Well 2 of them are now eating flakes but the others are eating here and there, my male auturs is loosing his color... I think they should be fine, THANKS TO ALL THE GREAT HELP I HAVE GOTTEN HERE i have a few things I wanna try that you guys suggested and hope for the best... I'll update you A.S.A.P, I'm going to go to the pet store and buy a few things.... worry wart!

Keep us updated! Good Job

Any updates Chococat? How's everyone doing?

Im interested to hear as well. Id also like to know what his nitrate levels are. Keep us updated