why do mbunas shiver?

[plow]

They do a shake/shiver thing, pretty intensely for a few seconds and then move on..

whats all that about? surely they haven't just discovered Elvis?

[cocoa_pleco]

its shimmy disease

[Fishguy2727]

I usually see it in a couple makes showing off at each other or a male trying to impress a female.

[plow]

I usually see it in a couple makes showing off at each other or a male trying to impress a female.

it certainly looks like a showing off thing, my fish look very healthy, full of life, large appetites swimming around like normal sucking up loads of sand and chasing each other round..so find it hard to think its shimmy disease. Thats a big call without much info actually..

I thought they may have been doing it to mark territory or something.. they certainly dont look sick in anyway.

[Nautilus291]

If your fish are acting healthy then fishguy is probibly right. How big is this tank? Im just interested.

[sailor]

Sometimes they will do that shimmy and shake after a water change as well. It is part of the breeding display. Mine do this alot after a water chage.
My Chilumba zebras and lithobates are the biggers Elvis impersonaters in my 90 gal after a water change.

[plow]

Its a 55 gal nautilus, they've been there for only a week, im new to mbunas.

Ive done one 50% water change yestarday, water quality is really good and they seem pretty healthy to me. Im big on water changes and I changed out 100% the day before they were introduced and 50% the day I introduced them as I use a little ammonia day before to keep bacteria alive.. So its like they had a big water change when they were introduced. They seem very lively and seem to love their new home... so far anyway.

the Hound Dog wiggle Im gonna call it lol.

[Fishguy2727]

What are you feeding?
What is the pH?

[plow]

What are you feeding?
What is the pH?

I dont actually know the exact pH, but the tap water here is between 8 and 8.3. I know this cos part of my job is at the water works. Naturally occuring water comes in at 7:6 and we add NaOH to lift it to 8.3 so the cast iron pipes dont corrode too much. Acidic water is bad for steel water mains... it means water leaks and expensive repairs/investment in infrastructure.

my API pH tester only gos up to 7.6, and its off that scale, i haven't bothered getting a high pH test kit yet.. maybe I should.

I am feeding them granu green by Sera, vegetable diet for East african Cichlids is says on the packet. contains easy to digest wheat germ with spirulina algae Min crude protein 38.3%

I feed them also cichlid sticks about once every 4 days.

I cant find NLS here, and haven't found anyone who will ship it here either.. amazon US sells NLS but wont ship to sweden.

[Fishguy2727]

Sounds good. Keep searching for NLS, maybe check out the forum on their website to see how to get it. It will definitely be worth it. You can check out the pics of my fish in my PhotoBucket page in my signature.

Sounds like your pH should be perfect for them.

[plow]

thanks fish guy..

I now invite you to do post number 3000 right here..

you only need to say hello! :11:

[Fishguy2727]

Okay, sounds good to me.

[RainMan]

Mine do this too... I call it the scuba-scuba dance (I have no idea why I call it that - LOL). Anyway, my girlfriend thinks its funny.

It's a normal part of courtship and playful showing off... basically, their trying to get attention.

Shimmy disease, from what i've heard and seen at pet stores, is continuous until they are treated or probably die?. You'll defnitely know it when they have this... The fish's body will wiggle (like convulsions) as they swim. Generally, they don't get too far swimming like this either.

Personally, i've never seen a cichlid with shimmy disease?

[Dixie]

My cichlids do it too. It is showing off and saying look at me. Mostly males do it to attract females or to tell other guys to back off but females do it occasionally too. The first time one of our daughters saw one doing it she thought the fish was having a seizure.