Electric yellow not doing too well

hi guys, I got a 5 inch E. yellow a couple of days ago from the fish shop. I
think it is a female. It is not in very good shape.

when it hovers still in the water it is not quite horizontal, it's head is
higher than its tail, on a ~ 25-30 degree angle. It also uses it's "cheek
fins" (the ones on the side of it's body) more than the other fish, so it
looks like it is struggling slightly to keep it's balance.

It's gut is quite concave and hollow looking, it has taken a little food,
but as it is only 2 days old in the tank, it hasn't started eating alot yet.
I am hoping once it has a gut full of food it's balance/bouyancy problem
might go away??

it also has quite a pale face, almost white, and it's body is paler than the
other big yellow I have in with it.

other than this it seems ok, it swims around and stuff.. when I first put it
in the other yellow, that I know to be a male, immediately went for it, and
he chased "her" around in a circle at a hundred miles an hour. (looked like
a dog trying to catch it's tail). he then chased her around for a while, but
now he tends to just get in her way as she is swimming past and showing
himself off to her. so he seems to think she is a female at least!!

Perhaps you have an fish carrying spawn...

Timmer...


"Paul" wrote in message
...
hi guys, I got a 5 inch E. yellow a couple of days ago from the fish shop.
I
think it is a female. It is not in very good shape.

when it hovers still in the water it is not quite horizontal, it's head is
higher than its tail, on a ~ 25-30 degree angle. It also uses it's "cheek
fins" (the ones on the side of it's body) more than the other fish, so
it
looks like it is struggling slightly to keep it's balance.

It's gut is quite concave and hollow looking, it has taken a little food,
but as it is only 2 days old in the tank, it hasn't started eating alot
yet.
I am hoping once it has a gut full of food it's balance/bouyancy problem
might go away??

it also has quite a pale face, almost white, and it's body is paler than
the
other big yellow I have in with it.

other than this it seems ok, it swims around and stuff.. when I first put
it
in the other yellow, that I know to be a male, immediately went for it,
and
he chased "her" around in a circle at a hundred miles an hour. (looked
like
a dog trying to catch it's tail). he then chased her around for a while,
but
now he tends to just get in her way as she is swimming past and showing
himself off to her. so he seems to think she is a female at least!!

Ok, big guess here, but I'll try...

First, if you introduced THIS fish, second to the existing fish, then the
new fish has become the sub-dominant fish and is being pecked by the top
dog, the existing fish. This means, the cichlids are creating their pecking
order, whos in charge, whos not.... Secondly, you may have a male in the
tank, then you may have introduced a female, which becomes sub-dominant
almost immediately upon notification that the boss is in the tank....

Last but not least, it's only been 2 days, keep offering it food, feed
seperately so they don't compete for food, so one won't be a threat to the
other, and in a week or so, you should be turning the corner with
'her'it'whatever'.... good luck...


"Paul" wrote in message
...
hi guys, I got a 5 inch E. yellow a couple of days ago from the fish shop.
I
think it is a female. It is not in very good shape.

when it hovers still in the water it is not quite horizontal, it's head is
higher than its tail, on a ~ 25-30 degree angle. It also uses it's "cheek
fins" (the ones on the side of it's body) more than the other fish, so
it
looks like it is struggling slightly to keep it's balance.

It's gut is quite concave and hollow looking, it has taken a little food,
but as it is only 2 days old in the tank, it hasn't started eating alot
yet.
I am hoping once it has a gut full of food it's balance/bouyancy problem
might go away??

it also has quite a pale face, almost white, and it's body is paler than
the
other big yellow I have in with it.

other than this it seems ok, it swims around and stuff.. when I first put
it
in the other yellow, that I know to be a male, immediately went for it,
and
he chased "her" around in a circle at a hundred miles an hour. (looked
like
a dog trying to catch it's tail). he then chased her around for a while,
but
now he tends to just get in her way as she is swimming past and showing
himself off to her. so he seems to think she is a female at least!!

"Paul" wrote in message
...
hi guys, I got a 5 inch E. yellow a couple of days ago from the fish
shop. I
think it is a female. It is not in very good shape.

when it hovers still in the water it is not quite horizontal, it's head
is
higher than its tail, on a ~ 25-30 degree angle. It also uses it's
"cheek
fins" (the ones on the side of it's body) more than the other fish,
so it
looks like it is struggling slightly to keep it's balance.

It's gut is quite concave and hollow looking, it has taken a little
food,
but as it is only 2 days old in the tank, it hasn't started eating alot
yet.
I am hoping once it has a gut full of food it's balance/bouyancy
problem
might go away??

it also has quite a pale face, almost white, and it's body is paler
than the
other big yellow I have in with it.

other than this it seems ok, it swims around and stuff.. when I first
put it
in the other yellow, that I know to be a male, immediately went for it,
and
he chased "her" around in a circle at a hundred miles an hour. (looked
like
a dog trying to catch it's tail). he then chased her around for a
while, but
now he tends to just get in her way as she is swimming past and showing
himself off to her. so he seems to think she is a female at least!!

Is this a rescue operation? (full grown lab with a concave stomach which
can't orient itself horizontally). If it was horizontal in the pet shop,
and it's swimming at an angle now, it's a sign of submission. IMO, this
fish should be in _quarantine_. You need to i) ensure that it's healthy
(and not contagious), ii) ensure that it is eating, pooping and it's
stomach fills back in, and iii) condition her for introduction into an
established tank. IMHO, to introduce a mature sickly African cichlid
into an established cichlid tank is unwise and probably a death sentence.
Count the stresses. 1) acclimating to different water. 2) already
sickly with concave stomach. 3) introduced into a foreign environment
with a boss fish already established as alpha male. 4) same species as
single alpha male so she will be the centre of attention. Before I say
anything I'll regret, I'll just commend you for recognizing the potential
problem, and coming here for information and assistance. I suggest you
put in a tank divider so the female can be left alone for at least a
month. Feed her more frequently and with higher protein foods during
that time (ie: frozen foods like brine shrimp, blood worms etc). hth

NetMax

It would be best to at the very least partition the new fish off from
the existing fish in the tank. If possible, put the new fish in a small
tank of its own until it is stronger. At that point, rearrange the tank
decor and/or swap the dominant fish in the main tank out for the new
fish. Let the new fish get settled then introduce the old dominant fish
back into the main tank. Male labs will relentlessly pursue females to
the point of killing them indirectly.