Red devil Fish HELP!!!

[andwz]

A friend of mine gave me 15 huge red devils other name midas cichlid average size is abt 15cm. Well i got them the other day and they all seem to be all lying flat down on the bottom of the tank, its been lik this for 3 days and i dunno if its sick or because of the environment, they like lay on top of each other flat. Can anyone giv me suggestions or reasons y they r doin this?? much appreciated

[genitor]

what size tank are they in? Was the tank cycled, and what's your water parameters?
Maybe they are stressed from the move and the new environment. I've seen oscars do the same thing for a couple days after being moved from a pond to a tank.

[andwz]

the tanks size is abt 140cm long and the water is cycled the fish r still actin very weirdy, lying on top of each other lik their going to die

[Fishguy2727]

What are all the dimensions or the volume and what exactly are all the parameters? Was the tank cycled? Was it cycled for that bioload? What are you going to do with them all?

[andwz]

the tank is abt 140cm and its not a new tank, i have a flower horn and a oscar in there as well, their is air bubble thing.
the 2 picture links

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[cocoa_pleco]

They look squished like sardines. whats the volume of the tank?

[Lady Hobbs]

How often do you normally do water changes? You have way too many fish in that tank and possibly if you could get these guys to recover from all this stress you could sell some.

I would test your water immediately and make sure it's clear of ammonia and nitrites. But remember, you have added a LOT of fish at once so if your ammonia level is OK right now, it may not be in 12 hours. You will have to do water changes a lot, I think, with that may fish in this tank.

If the water appears to be fine, turn your lights off and leave them alone. They will do better for now with no lights.

[DemonShark]

My Oscar does that! He lies on his side looking at me saying hes going to die. Don't worry(although you really need a bigggg tank) they are just playing dead due to the environment change. Give them lots of places to hide and feed them delicious fish food like shrimp pellets and tropical fish blend that just melts in the mouth...(not that I ever tried the fish food...) and they should be fine!

[*Sarah*]

Aww, poor little souls. I hope you get things all figured out.

[Fishguy2727]

We need all three dimensions and most likely the tank was not cycled for that bioload, which may only be one of the issues contributing to their current state.