New tank - problem with Red Zebras

April12

April12

AC Members
Oct 10, 2008
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Hello,

I have my first african cichlid tank. 55 gallons. It has been set up for about a month. I stole a bunch of filter material from my other tank, so I didn't see much of a cycle. I had .25 nitrite a week ago, but none since a water change.

I have stocked it with 12 various juvenile mbuna, including 3 red zebras. All of the fish are 1-1.5" long. 2 of the red zebras were about an inch, and the third is the largest fish in the tank at about 1.5". The red zebras have been in there for about 3 weeks and all seemed healthy until a few days ago. One of the smaller ones started looking sullen and hiding in the corner. The next day it stopped eating and the day after that it died. Today the other small red zebra is hiding and not eating. All other fish in the tank are active and eating well.

I can't get a photo because it's hidden behind a rock. Is it likely that these fish came in with some kind of infection, or is it more likely that they are being picked on by the largest red zebra, which appears to be male? I have seen some very short chases, but nothing that worried me.

Here are my water parameters:
ammonia - 0
nitrite - 0
nitrate - 0
pH 8.2
kh - 13
gh - 4
temp - 79

I'm feeding them Omega One Super Veggie flakes twice a day, as much as they can eat in 20-30 seconds.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks for the help.
 
you can probably feed a little more - twice a day for a minute.

Parameters look good - presumably tested with a liquid drop kit, not the strips ?

what are the other inhabitants, and their genders & sizes ? the zebra may be stressed.

Any physical symptoms on it ?

Occasionally a fish just doesn't thrive in a given set-up and literally wastes away. Could you take him out, put in a quarantine tank and see if you can feed him up a bit, then reintroduce ? QT would be a good idea in any event til you see what's what.
 
I'm with Coler on this one.

If he does improve in the QT tank, and is reintroduced, and continues to be stressed, it very well could be because of aggression problems. Red Zebra's are pretty nasty fish, I had one kill off an Auratus colony once...hard core.

IME, if a red zebra is the largest, most dominant fish in the tank, it will certainly commence to tormenting every single other tankmate. I always make sure ot have something much larger or meaner than my largest red zebra, and I havent had any problems since.
 
I moved the smaller red zebra to a QT tank this evening. It looks like it's perking up a bit already.

So if I decide it was due to the aggression of the larger red zebra what should I do? Should I return just that one to the LFS and get a few more small ones so that there will be a group? Or should I return both and try some yellow labs or something?

Current occupants in addition to the red zebras:
5 Red Top Kimpuma - at least one male, the rest who knows
4 Ps. elongatus Chewere - one or maybe two males, two females
1 red tail shark
 
it sounds like you may have a aggressive situation in this tank if the red zebras were small and they were hanging in the corners more than likely it was getting punked i would assume it would have been the red tops doing the punking chewere are cool and i have a breeding pair in a tank to themselves, if it was getting beat on and when and if you try to reintroduce it or them you will more than likely witness the same problem i would take the red zebras back and obtain a little bigger on the zebras to handle the aggression more, take care my friend..
 
He died overnight. :thumbsdown:

I think I will take the large red zebra back and try something else. I was watching last night and he does appear to be the bully in the tank.
 
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