Need help with my African Yellow Cichlid

**leann32** · 10-10-2012, 12:37 AM

Hoping someone can help me-please? Ok- I have a 110 gallon tank, 2 aqueon quiteflow 55/75 filters, heater, submersible UV sterilization light/pump and plenty of aeration. In my tank I have 2 blood parrots, 2 jeweled cichlids and 1 african yellow cichlid. I had 2 african yellows but about a month and a half ago tank ended up getting ick and the one died, despite treatment- everyone else did fine- tank has been fine since. So my problem is- I noticed my african yellow swimming erratically this afternoon, darting, swimming vertical, then this evening it did a death roll and then went into a little cave and was lying on it's side (I thought it was dead for sure then- but when I went to scoop him- though I'm not sure if male or female- he took off swimming and now is hanging out at the top of the tank underneath the filter and by the heater- and twicthing constantly- almost seizure like. There are no white spots, no velvet, nothing- just the erratic behavior. I just did a water change last week- my water parameters are normal and stable- pH 8.2 no ammonia, no nitrites or nitrates, temp 80-82 degrees. I put in the cichlid trace elements once a week, the lights are on a timer and they eat 2 times a day at the same time every day (autofeeder) so there has been NO drastic changes to the tank. The only thing I have done differently is added algaefix to treat a little bit of algae in the tank, but I followed the directions and the bottle said safe for plants and fish. All the fish entered the tank at the same time this past July, they all get along well. I really don't know what is wrong and I was planning on getting a new yellow next week to give him (or her) a buddy back- but now I'm not sure- and the reason I've waited in getting another one is because I wanted to make sure everything stayed stable with the tank. So- hoping someone can help me!! Thank you!!
Leann

**leann32** · 10-10-2012, 12:58 AM

oh- and one more thing he came down from the top of the tank rolled a few times while in a vertical position, went belly up, leveled himself then sank to the bottom of the tank where he/she was lying on it's side for a couple of minutes then started swimming around again...I'm baffled...I'm thinking I'll be waking up to a dead fish in the morning :(

**madagascariensis** · 10-10-2012, 10:34 PM

maybe he's particularly sensitive to the algaefix, since you say you didn't do anything else recently I can't really think of anything else. I really don't know african cichlids, but 82 degrees is quite high for most tropical fish. most tropical fish like it in between 73 and 79 degrees. If the poor fish still is alive I would change a lot of water to remove any chemicals in the water that might be causing it.
sorry for not having a better answer...

**Northerly** · 10-11-2012, 02:15 AM

I'd say 82 degrees is the high end of acceptable temps for malawi. I am not sure what is wrong with your fish, but i do have some advice for you. The stock you listed is a mixture of Central/South American and african cichlids. While the jewels and african might be compatible temperamentally, they are from different habitats(they require different water parameters). The blood parrots are also much more mellow than either fish. I would suggest either going a central/south American route or an african cichlid route. While the fish may be ok in the tank, it's really not ideal.

An example of South American in a larger tank:

Typical South American community.

An example of African in a larger tank:

The african tank I linked is an all male peacock(aulonacara, stuartgaranti, and jacobfreibergi) and hap(Haplochromis) tank.