I woke up this morning and one of my cichlids was dead..........

[WeRQ4U]

I have 12 or 13 african mbuna cichlids in a holey-rock and slate filled 50g aquarium. When I woke up today I realized that they had turned on one of my Purple Zebras and killed the poor little guy. He was one of the first ones that I ever bought. He's always been a little undersized, but he seemed to do OK fending for himself. I guess the constant struggle finally caught up with him. I had to flush him this morning. I felt really bad about it. Shoot.

I'll have to go to the AQ store and find a new one for the tank.

[ps1074]

1. sorry for your little friend

:hug:

[Deja Q]

2. Yipes! My condolances for you and your loss.

:hug:

African Cichlids are notorious for being uber-aggressively territorial, as much as the males are colorful.

Be careful with acclimating the new fish. You might want to rearrange the tank's contents, which in turn will force the other fish to reacclimate themselves instead of turning the new pet into applesauce too. (the trick doesn't always work, but it is the most recommended.)

[WeRQ4U]

4. Yeah, I'll probably have to do that.

I bought 3 yellow labidichromii AFTER I had grown up all the other ones. I had to take everything out, mess with them a bit, and THEN add the other 3. They did just fine. In fact, for a while there, they were having fry. I think my nitrates got too high for a while though and they quit having them.

I think a tank reconstruction is in order, it's been a while.

[redqueen]

3. Oooh I used to hate that.

Cichlids are so aggressive. So pretty, but so aggressive. I used to get so sad when one of my favorites was offed by the others.

If I ever start another tank, I doubt I'll get them again.

[WeRQ4U]

5. Yeah, they've lived so well for so long though...

I thought they were over it. But I guess they just decided that the tank was too tight. I might reduce the temp a bit, change the water, and separate the nasty ones to a different tank. I have a couple red zebras (that are orange??) that think they own the place.

[redqueen]

8. Yeah, we had some too.

I think their color varies based on diet & temp/water condition. Ours were mostly reddish. :)

Good luck!

[Deja Q]

10. The Kenyi are by far the most vicious... but my cobault blues are tame...

Tame for african cichlids, mind you...




(mine is prettier :D )

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. I've been tempted to get a 50 gallon so I can have some cichlids...

Beautiful fish. Nasty, but beautiful.

Sorry about your loss - I'm always sad and pissed when a fish dies, esp. when it's because the other ones killed it.

The worst so far was losing my $18 patriot crab - not only beautiful, but because he cost me $18!

[WeRQ4U]

7. I college, my buddy put a 25 dollar Arawana in the tank with cichilds

He was fine until the lights went out, but in the morning there was just a skull left. He was PISSED. I told him not to.

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. That would really suck!

I'm not familiar with the Arawana.

And it is precisely that fear of dying/being eaten that makes me hesitant to spend more than a few dollars for any fish. So I have all cheap ones (under $5, mostly under $2.50), except my two tourquoise gouramis that cost me $8 each.