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I just noticed that the parents of a new brood of fry seem to be fighting. The females eyes are both partially clouded/opaque and she has bite marks on both sides. All of which are fairly new in the last 24 hrs.

I also noticed that when I came home most of the fry were gone.

Do I need to separate them or will they "work things out?"

Please let me know, I'm a little worried for her.

Thanks,

Alec

If the female is getting that beat up I would take her out for a while so she can get up to health. The first brood almost always is lost, just give them another chance.

Thanks. Things seem to have mellowed out for now, but I will keep a close eye.

Alec

The loss of the fry may have caused the male to think the female ate them (this is common for cichlid parents) and hence the fighting. Now that there are none left, he should leave her alone.

So far all of the advice has been right on. There has been no more fighting since Saturday afternoon 1 1/2 days now.

Thanks again,

Alec

How are the female's eyes looking now? If they are clear, great! If not, I would do some extra water changes and perhaps consider adding Melafix and Pimafix to the tank. This will usually do the trick but if the eyes do not repond to clean water and the botanical meds, consider using a topically applied antibiotic. (I can advise how.)

Eyes are a common target for aggression as they are vulnerable to attack. A fish with one blind eye is at a disadvantage in a community tank so is best avoided.

I would also second the water changes. The water changes will help the wounds heal faster and will help her along in health. My con's fought one time and the female was hurt bad, then one day she struck back and now they have a new batch...oyy cichlids:%)

Sorry for the delay in responding. The female looks good. Her eyes actually started clearing up within a few hrs. The next day they looked normal. The marks on her scales are going away as well (getting smaller).

These Cic's are such cool fish. I just wish I could keep more of them in one tank. Any idea if German Ram's would fare well with the Angels? I'm not so concerned with getting any fry from either group, I just want to make sure no one gets hurt/killed in their interactions.

Thanks again for all of the info. FP and its members is an invaluable resource to us less experienced hobbiests.

Alec

Great to hear the eyes are looking fine!

I know some folks report sucess with German Blue Rams and angels, but most note that Bolivian Rams are a better choice as they tend to run a little larger and tolerate a wider range of water parameters (less delicate). I think you 29 gallon tank may be a triffle small to combine the species though, esp if they are spawning pairs, but I'm not sure. Have never tried the combo myself. I would think the rams would want some hiding spaces, maybe plants and a few coconut shells to hide out amongst and a flat rock or two to spawn on.

That is good news that the combo will work. On the tank front, I will be upgrading to a 70 tall. It is currently in my garage waiting to be set up. Unfortunately I have to wait until we finish replacing our floors as those big tanks are a little heavy after being set up.

I will keep this info for reference later.

Alec

Great upgrade! I think you could add a pair of rams no problem in the 70 but be sure to QT the new fish first in a smaller tank. I would do a minimum of 3 weeks --- thats three weeks of the fish looking perfectly healthy, if you have to treat for anything, hold back another three weeks after they look perfect. Medicating in a big tank is no fun. Big $$$, big headache.

When buying rams look carefully at their gill movement. If they are gilling hard, (fast, laboured, wider than usual gill covers) walk on by, as they probably have ammonia burnt gills from shipping. Rams, esp German blues are very sensitive to ammonia - bad candidates for any tank that not compeletely cycled.

A dealer who brings in a hybrid ram called the angel ram (short body fish) which reportedly acclimate well when they go to new homes told me the "secret" - when they are shipped, they are each individually bagged (like bettas) and no doubt food is withheld for a couple of days before shipping ----] nil ammonia produced (and if one or more perishes in transit, it does not pollute the whole lot) therefore much greater liklihood of "landing" healthy undamaged fish.