Earth Eaters Part 2

[Occellatus]

Originally Posted by chilicrabz

Maybe we should QT fishes 1st before we put in main tank. Me juz lost some fishes too.....

Sad to hear that bro......QT is the way to go.......but then again, honestly speaking, i think about 90% of hobbyists dun follow that.....once acquire, just drop into main tank.....

Well, lesson learnt for me...no spare QT tank, dun buy fish.

[Freshman]

Originally Posted by Occellatus

This is getting sheety..........i really dun see any aggression.....no signs of pecking or group attacks..none at all......:

bro Occellatus.. aggression is always there 1.. 24 x 7. The small cichlids will be always be under threat.. physical n mentally..

(must stand at a far distance and observe for a few hrs.. cos everytime when u move near..they will ignore everything n swim to get food.)


you might want to

- add in some dither fishes to distract them/divert their attention away. (my previous cichlids comm have a platoon of tiger barbs swimming ard.hehe)

- feed more cos I believe a hungry fish is an angry fish. but more food = water quality will worsen so u have to do more WC..

- add in some powerhead/wave makers.. make it 'hard' for them to swim ard when their focus is on getting food is 'rough' water..they will have lesser time to fight..

- provide more hiding place/shelters so that small ones can hide from big ones. & everyone can take a rest from the 'rough' water. hehe

- reduce the number of cichlids in ur tank.. less cichlids in spacious tank so the chances of them meeting is reduced.. - less stress

Lastly..ADD in gravels.. so that those cichlids will feel more at home..less stress.. they will also spend time digging ard instead of finding other fishes to fight..

Just sharing my views.. anything u think is wrong or don't agree.. pls comment..thanks!

[Occellatus]

Bro Fresh.........i cant disagree more man.......all very true points.

I think this sentence is true.

(must stand at a far distance and observe for a few hrs.. cos everytime when u move near..they will ignore everything n swim to get food.)

The idea of dither fishes sound good...perhaps i will add in these...maybe about 10 pieces...cause 10 pieces for $2 ma.

And I think i will also add in gravel.....i believe my fishes are stressed...those that died especially..cause clamp fins and always in isolation....

[Freshman]

bro..
is ur tank big? e.g. 522? ...if yes u can consider silver dollars also..have seen some guys in angmoh forum using them as dither fish in their EE comm tank..
some use congo tetra & rainbowfish also
anyway, I guess any hardy fast swimming med size fish will do also..

Do also note that having those few dither fishes will also contribute greatly to bioload
Have to do WC more often & also measure the water parameters regularly.

Keeping cichlids community tank is never easy.. have to find a balance somewhere..

Originally Posted by Occellatus

And I think i will also add in gravel.....i believe my fishes are stressed...those that died especially..cause clamp fins and always in isolation....

ya..pls do..seriously I feel that keeping eartheater in tank w/o gravel is really very 悲哀

stress free environment is impossible but u can always help to keep it low..

[Occellatus]

Originally Posted by Freshman

Do also note that having those few dither fishes will also contribute greatly to bioload
Have to do WC more often & also measure the water parameters regularly.

Keeping cichlids community tank is never easy.. have to find a balance somewhere..



ya..pls do..seriously I feel that keeping eartheater in tank w/o gravel is really very 悲哀

stress free environment is impossible but u can always help to keep it low..

My tank is a 3x1.5x1.5 with all the EEs and bottom cats (cats in hiding at the bottom within the DW most of the time)

If its aggression, im not that worried...will be if its some diseases....cause it might risk infecting my other tanks as well....not too worried now...just have to think of ways to relieve their stress liao...ok bro...2 things i will do. First is to intro dither fishes...maybe tomorrow i go get some at SeaView....then I will intro gravel after my exams next wed liao...

Im thinking of a very very thin layer....should be lapis already cause if using C0 coral sand or fine sand, my cats will constantly 'blow' the sand away.

Anyone with lapis to spare?

Keeping cichlids community tank is never easy.. have to find a balance somewhere..

Cannot agree more..........

[Freshman]

3ft ah.. then I must say..it is really VERY crowded liao..(I all along thought urs is a 5ft tank..)
bottom cats are a huge contributor to bioload..plus have 20 over cichlids.. the bioload will be sky high.
Furthermore limited swimming space and territorial disputes are also stress contributors.

Originally Posted by Occellatus

If its aggression, im not that worried...

bro.. it is aggression that I'm very worried abt in cichlids comm tank becos my understanding is..

when a fish is being bullied, it will stressed up. And when a fish is stressed, its immune system drops. And when immune system drops/weaken, disease/parasite/virus (internal/external) will take over the body. Resulting in sick/dead fishes..

As we all know, disease/parasite/virus is constantly available in the water. However, a healthy fish's immune system is able to suppress them. Its body slime acts as a wall barrier blocking off any external threat. Harmful internal bacteria that came along from LFS/wild will also stay dormant or get heal if it is healthy.
That's why a proper healthy diet + ample swimming space + good quality water are essential to good health.

We can never give them enough swimming space or ultra perfect water quality, so the best we can do it a proper healthy diet & reduce stress.

3ft is definitely too small for so many fishes. So I guess dither fish is not the way to go.

For mysterious Earth eater deaths, one possibility is the water parameters. Especially in a situation whereby one after another ee dies and there do not seem to be any problem in the tank.

EEs like to sift the sand, so the tank must not have dead spaces for EEs to thrive. If once, in a while, one or two Ees die without reason, the likely cause is dead spaces. The remedy? Several, just take out the dead spaces.

If one after another EE dies (same species), then I think it is likely that they cannot tahan the ph and/or gh...

EEs do not all live in the same kind of ph and gh at all, there is a book on EEs for those keen to research, Thomas Weidner.

There is also the possibility of aggression. For this, you can actually see what is happening in your tank...take a few steps back. You will see who is walloping who...add in some pellets, the answer becomes very obvious.

[nicktc]

What's their diet?

Fishes do carries internal parasites and bacteria.
When stressed, they become easily susceptible to these.

Stress could be in the form of aggression, water parameter or poor diet.

[Occellatus]

Allrite bro fresh....i will analyse and see how i can best reduce the stress with respect to the tank's 'decor' and water quality

Bro Spakase, whats ur definition of dead spaces? As in the water is not moving at the 'spaces'? Ive done on a check on the pH and it reads between 6.5 to 7. No liquids to test gh though. So far 3 had died on 3 consequtive days. No deaths today. You described very well bro....

Bro Nick, Im giving them pellets. Mixture of Hikari Lionhead sinking pellets and tetrabits.

[Occellatus]

I think u guys have given very good advises and remedial tips.....its now up to me to process and see whats best to be done liao......thks man.