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I probably have 13 or so in an "overstocked" 40gal African cichlid tank. One of my cichids, a peacock, has been hiding in a particular spot for a couple weeks, only comming out for food. I noticed that one of his eyes was cloudy and it got progressively worse, so I decided to put melafix in the tank. After almost a week and no results, I stopped use and cleaned out my eheim ecco canister filter and added coppersafe to the water. I also took this opportunity to do a water change and rearrange the rocks in the tank so that they could "redefine" their teritories. When I woke up this morning, I looked at my tank and saw my peacock come out from the rocks, he was chased by 2 cichlids and he was missing his eye! It was not the eye that was originally white, but his good one was missing, so I decided to flush him. Should I keep my cichlid tank or is it likely that they will do this will happen again. Strange thing is, I have smaller cichlids that are left alone. It has probably been 5 or 6 months before I've had something tragic happen to my cichlids, but I think I'd rather sell off my stock than keep them and have something like this happen again.
Any suggestions? Maybe I could go with a single breed in the tank, or tanganykans? I like cichlids but need something more tame.
Current Stock:
Electric Yellow
Electric Blue (Sciaenochromis ahli)
Blue Dolphin
Cobalt Blue
Blue Johanni
Strawberry Peacock
Rusty
Red Empress
Nimbochrombis Venustus
Sunshine Peacock
VC-10
2 unknown (both small - One looks like some kind of peacock - black with yellow tipped fins & the other one is oddly shaped *will post pic later for I.D.)
1 common pleco

As you are severly overstocked, then yes I would start selling them off to reputable fish keepers, and the first to go would be the pleco.

My only other comment is the way you disposed of your injured peacock. Flushing an injured or ill fish down the toilet is in no way a humane or proper way to dispose of any fish. If you are unable to properly treat the disease or injury and that death is probably inevitable then there are other ways much more humane to handle the situation. One way is to immerse the subject fish in clove oil.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

I agree, sell them off and start over.
Also, I too agree with Oldtimer. Flushing live fish is a horrible, cruel, painful way to go.
They are instantly dropped into a vat of ammonia in the thousands of ppm level. Death is slow and painful with burns and lesions.

Also, a fish with only 1 eye is quite capable of living like that. So are fish with no eyes.

Id say if you like any of your fish, keep the electric yellow and give it a group.
A species tank is Electric yellows would work well in a 40g tank.

I would also stop adding coppersafe to your water. Its horrible. Copper is lethal in large amounts, and harmful in trace amounts. It certainly shouldnt be used in a tank and I see no reason why you used it. Its for Ick and parasites, not cloudy eyes.
Cloudy eyes is likely an issue cause by either aggression and damage, or poor water conditions.


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Hi DarkCichlid

This link http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/quick_reference_list.php gives suggested stocking plans for various sized african cichlid tanks, inlcuding a 40g.

Like the others have mentioned, flushing is not a good way to help a sick fish on it's way to fishy heaven. Go to your chemist or health food store & get some clove oil, so you're ready for next time. Put the sick fish in a small container & add some of the oil, which will send your fish quickly & painlessly on his way. After I am pretty sure the fish has passed away, I then make doubly sure by putting it in the freezer, before final disposal.

Anyway, I am very sorry for your loss

Cheers
TW

After the big Plec, next on your rehousing list should be the Nimbochromis venustus. Reason? Adults can hit 12 inches - they're big, open water Haplochromine predators. In the wild, they regard some of your smaller Mbunas as lunch. MINIMUM tank size for venustus should be 75 gallons, and preferably a 90 or larger.

If by "Blue Dolphin" you mean Cyrtocara moorii, again, these are big and should be a priority rehouse.

I would also suggest that unless you have a LARGE aquarium, that you can divide into rocky and sandy zones, you avoid mixing Mbuna with Aulonocara Peaoocks and Utakas, because these fishes are [1] considerably less aggressive than the Mbuna (you've already found to your cost what can happen if they're forced to live alongside each other) and [2] have significantly different ecological requirements to the Mbuna (namely a large acreage of open sandy substrate that they can cruise over and hunt for food in, which in their case comprises a higher amount of animal protein in the form of worms and insect larvae than the diet of Mbuna). Many Cichlid keepers would advise against mixing Peacocks/Utakas and Mbuna full stop for this reason, though in a suitably large setup, it's possible - you have to spend a LOT of money on a VERY large aquarium to pull off this mixture successfully though. Likewise, mixing the big, predatory Haplochromines with the other Cichlids is a bad idea unless you perform the integration of species with GREAT care, because the big Haplochromines such as Nimbochromis venustus regard the smaller Cichlids as food in the wild, and will not hesitate to make an expensive lunch out of your smaller Mbunas and Utakas if they feel hungry enough.

Likewise, I would caution heavily against mixing Malawian species with Tanganyikans - not only do the two lakes have different water chemistries (just because they're both "hard and alkaline" doesn't mean they're the same by any stretch of the imagination) but the ecological niches that have arisen in those lakes are vastly different too. While there are Utaka/Peacock analogues in Lake Tanganyika, they have requirements that differ from the Malawi Peacocks, and there are genera in Lake Tanganyika such as Tropheus and Julidochromis that again have their own highly specialised requirements that make housing them with Malawian Cichlids an unwisse move. As for Frontosas, well anyone who is going to shell out the purchase cost of a group of Frontosas should also be prepared to shell out for a proper home for them, namely a BIG species aquarium of at least 150 gallons and preferably larger!

By the time you're looking at fishes such as Benthochromis tricoti, the shock to the wallet of buying just ONE fish should be sufficient to make anyone who does buy such a fish exercise a LOT of care about keeping it alive - for a group of six of those you're looking at taking out a mortgage to offset the cost over several years unless you happen to be seriously rich (put it this way, if you can afford to pop down to the LFS and buy six Benthochromis tricoti without worrying where your next bills are coming from, then chances are you have a Ferrari in the driveway). However, my view is that one should approach keeping ALL fishes with the same due care and attention - treat even a humble Zebra Danio with the same level of care and attention as a Benthochromis tricoti from the word go, and when you CAN afford the hideously expensive fishes, you'll be better placed to care for them.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002