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about a week ago i lost one of my socolofi. only noticable symptoms were lethargic, wasnt eating, and hideing. also had some small white patches along his side thta looked like lifted scales.no other fish seemed to be botherd or showed any symptoms so bets were on abuse from the others.
( 7 yellow labs, 1 sailfin pleco, 3 socolofi after 1 death )
now it seems something is bothers all the socolofi. i put 2 in the tank every 2 wks so acclimateing isnt the problem with a 2 week sepperation between each pair. dont believe its the chemistry ( 7.6 ph ) they have done fine for a month since 1st pair. they are breathing heavy and not very active but 2 are still eating. the yellow labs eat but have taken up hideing which is new. no heavy breathing. this all started after netting the dead socolofi. 1st day i figured they were worried about the net but its been 4 days now. still hideing and being illusive.
did a water change yesterday thinking maybe there was something in the water but i do a WC once a week. these are just juvies im half stocked and the fish are 1/3 theier final size. i space new fish by 2 wks to allow for for bacteria to catch up. this is a 75g tank with black moon sand and lots of clay pots. its been up and running since early march. fed with wardley cichlid premium floating pellets crushed,tetra cichlid mini granules. i feed the wardley mostly 2 times a day. i feed the granules every 3 days or so once a day.
got 4 small java fern plants and some malaysian trumpet snails also in the tank. no major changes to anything. filters running smooth and have been for a month. cleaned 2 pads of one filter ( i run 2 pengiun 330s ) yesterday but really wasnt dirty. there is a filmy surface to the water but its been there since i put the cichlids in, i believe its the food..
running out of info to provide if im missing anything feel free to ask. any help would be great.

Sin

bah ammonia spike out of no where for no reason ya gotta love fish tanks that like to keep ya on the toes. excuse the book above. lesson learned, test first wonder after.