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i came home and noticed one of my yellow labs dead. first death in the tank, been up for 2 years. a few days later i found one that was very dark, covered in black markings. i pulled him out and put in a qt tank. added salt and malachite green. he looks a little better now, but not much. less dark, but still is dark and just floats at the top of the water, sometimes vertically. is still eating but looks terrible. any suggestions


chris

I was always under the impression that if african cichlids start to turn black nitrAte is the cause and bringing the level down using water changes tends to help the fish immensely fairly quickly.
However with yellow labs if a male is stressed by another bigger male they turn black in the face which vanishes as soon as they are no longer stressed.IME

Gibson SG you know you want one!!

Krige is right. The dark is a sign of stress. Age can be another factor.

Chris... Check your water parameters. If this tank has been set up for 2+ years than it is a prime candidate for Old Tank Syndrome. Specifically check your nitrates and your pH.

With your Yellows, what is the ratio male to females? Also, can you tell the difference between a male and female? Have your Yellows ever spawned?

The behavior you are describing with the fish in quarantine isn't all that abnormal for many reasons. First, it is in unfamilar surroundings. Also, if it doesn't have anywhere to hide then it is somewhat common to float at the top of the tank in a corner or against the back wall. It needs caves to feel secure. If there were other Yellows present it could be a sign of subbmissivness as Kringe mentioned.

As long as the fish is eating that is a good sign and death is not imminent. What is the condition of the fishes fins?

Is there a specific reason that you medicated with the malachite green?

well, here is an update, two days after i removed the sick yellow i awoke to see the other 5 dead, too late to check for nitrates because i was running late for work and figured by the time i got home the nitrate would have gone up anyway. strange that the 3 synodontis catfish and the bushynose pleco are doing fine. do not know what happened as all the other fish looked well. the sick yellow is still alive and still looks bad. dard with clamped fins, slow movement and fins missing.

i treated with the malachite green because i figured some sort of parasite, mabey ich, and read that malachite green has many uses. tough luck for me, what a bad morning.

chris

Sorry to hear your bad news,and i must admit i don't fancy the chances of the other yellow lab surviving however miracles do happen, i had a clown loach that didnt eat for weeks got really thin and hung out all on his own (unusual when there were 7 buddies) but he recovered on his own and is mow bigger and fatter and starting to try to take over as number 2 in the pecking order against a clown 2-3 inches bigger than him.
So heres hoping.

Gibson SG you know you want one!!