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Hello Everyone- And Help Please
Hi, I was recommended to this site by a LFS employee. I'm in Corpus. I presently am being challenged by a 55 gallon with probably too many fish. I have:
8 Yellow Labs 3"-4.5"
3 Demasoni 1m 4" 2f 3"
2 Melanochromis Aratus 3.5" one appears to be morphing to male???
1 Pseudotropheus Crabro 4.5" appears male. Pretty much the boss of the tank.
1 Shovelnosed catfish 4"
1 Redfinned Shark- 5"
1 Synodontis eupterus 5"
1 Duboisi 1.5" (If it is still alive)
Sorry if I messed up some names, I'm still learning them. The labs were a gift that started me down the long and winding cichlid road, which I wanted to do for a while anyway.
The crowding is due to the advise of a LFS. It doesn't seem to help, since about 1/2 of the Labs stay pretty beat up and there have been a fair amount of deaths/disappearing fish. Hence the odd mix. Most are survivors of the original small groups I purchased. They were supposed to stay confused and not beat each other up, but i guess they are smarter than that.
My main issue now is constant small particles in the water. It is not cloudy. I'm using a Cascade 700. Foam on the bottom, then charcoal then floss on top. Not my brand choice, it came with the tank. Pool sand substrate, not an excessive amount. Been in the tank for years. I do 50-70% water changes about every 5 to 10 days. City water, but I do have filtered water available. I use the city water for the ph. I have a pretty good pile of rocks that have proven to be stable. Had some that were a bit too soft, but they are gone now. Also using some rose pots for more shelter, allthough the Labs seem to ignore them. I feed either Cichlid Attack or Aquadine.
So I guess my question is "Does it seem that I'm stressing the poor mediocre filter too much with that fish load?" As I said I removed a pretty good amount of rock both because I think it was disolving and also because it took up a lot of water volume. That helped, but the issue is still there.
I don't know whether to get rid of a few of the Labs or what. I'm beginning to feel that the intentional overload was very bad advice.
Mike
8 Yellow Labs 3"-4.5"
3 Demasoni 1m 4" 2f 3"
2 Melanochromis Aratus 3.5" one appears to be morphing to male???
1 Pseudotropheus Crabro 4.5" appears male. Pretty much the boss of the tank.
1 Shovelnosed catfish 4"
1 Redfinned Shark- 5"
1 Synodontis eupterus 5"
1 Duboisi 1.5" (If it is still alive)
Sorry if I messed up some names, I'm still learning them. The labs were a gift that started me down the long and winding cichlid road, which I wanted to do for a while anyway.
The crowding is due to the advise of a LFS. It doesn't seem to help, since about 1/2 of the Labs stay pretty beat up and there have been a fair amount of deaths/disappearing fish. Hence the odd mix. Most are survivors of the original small groups I purchased. They were supposed to stay confused and not beat each other up, but i guess they are smarter than that.
My main issue now is constant small particles in the water. It is not cloudy. I'm using a Cascade 700. Foam on the bottom, then charcoal then floss on top. Not my brand choice, it came with the tank. Pool sand substrate, not an excessive amount. Been in the tank for years. I do 50-70% water changes about every 5 to 10 days. City water, but I do have filtered water available. I use the city water for the ph. I have a pretty good pile of rocks that have proven to be stable. Had some that were a bit too soft, but they are gone now. Also using some rose pots for more shelter, allthough the Labs seem to ignore them. I feed either Cichlid Attack or Aquadine.
So I guess my question is "Does it seem that I'm stressing the poor mediocre filter too much with that fish load?" As I said I removed a pretty good amount of rock both because I think it was disolving and also because it took up a lot of water volume. That helped, but the issue is still there.
I don't know whether to get rid of a few of the Labs or what. I'm beginning to feel that the intentional overload was very bad advice.
Mike
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