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One of my peacock cichlids is going to die.. it hasnt eaten in weeks and her stomach is sucked in.. her head also looks massive compared to the rest of her and it looked like there was something in its mouth but i couldnt tell what..

i tested the water last nite.
Ph : 7.5
Ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite (ok i get this one and nitrate mixed up!) one was 20ppm and the other was 0ppm
carbonate hardness was 40

is there anything else i can test for that might help?

any suggestions how to save her??

thanks!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

The nitrite in your tank is probably at zero, and nitrate at twenty. Nitrate is the pollutant which is less dangerous to fish.

From the looks of your test results, there isn't anything wrong with the typical water parameters. I don't think that anything else water quality-wise might be the problem, it is either the fish itself or a pathogen that is causing trouble. I have a couple of questions. How large of a tank is the fish in, and with what else? How long have you had the cichlid, and how large is it now? Lastly, what have you tried to feed it, and how and what did it eat before this problem? Hopefully we can find the solution to the problem in your answers.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Thanks for your reply Sirbooks!

The tank is 55G and has 4 peacock cichlids, 2 electric blues, 4 yellow cichlids and 4 whitish ones (i dont what breed the yellow and white ones are this guy decided it was a great idea to buy me fish for xmas without even asking...so annoyed!) but the cichlid was sick before these were added.

Im feeding them cichlid flakes at the moment.

The only ornaments in the tank are 2 bits of driftwood. I bought the tank second hand and 1 of the bits of drfitwood came with it... do you think that might be causing a problem? i dont know what the guy may have cleaned it with, if anything?

also i have alot of white stuff growing in the tank which people on this site have been saying is calcium.

Hope this helps!! Im trying everything!!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

If it is only one fish with the problem it is possibly not a tank/water problem. If all fish were sick certainly the tank/water.

The fish concerned sounds like it is wasting away. Can you take it to a good LFS they just might be able to help but I personally think you have left it too long.

Have a look in [link=My Profile]http://
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Keith

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Yeah, it sounds like the fish is just starving to death. It is usually too late to save them at this stage, but you can still try. Maybe offer some more popular foods, such as live brine shrimp or at least something frozen. Also, soaking food in a garlic extract makes it very enticing to fish- they love the smell. (Note: There is a product on the market called "Entice" by Seachem that is supposed to do the same thing) Hopefully something will get your fish eating again.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

i was looking at it last nite and its gills and that bit underneath is really swollen... is that from not eating?? i dont understand why it happened though when none of my other fish are sick??

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

I just found out tonite my cichlid wasnt sick at all!!! She just spat out fry!! She has taken them back in her mouth.. is this a good thing??? i have no experience with these fish in this area? Any tips would be most welcome!! /:'

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Heh, that was a simple solution...

Your cichlid is a mouthbrooder, a species that holds their fry in the mouth cavity (which is larger than that of other fish, by the way) instead of letting them roam free. The babies will go in and out of the parent's mouth until they're too big to fit and can fend for themselves. This provides added safety to the fry, but has the disadvantage of starving the parent. If you want to raise those babies, you'll need to feed them something and hopefully get some food to the parent fish as well. I think that finely crushed flake food might be small enough, or baby brine shrimp if you're willing to hatch them out.

Congrats on the fry.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

thanks! now i just have to work out how to get them out of her mouth and release her back in the tank!

and now it gets worse!! my other fish all have ich! how can i treat the other fish in the same tank as the babies?

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them