55 gallon african cichlid tank

Hi,
my wife and I have a 55 gallon african Cichlid tank we have a total of 10
cichlids and we were wondering what would cause a fish to discolor our
labidochromis caerulues (electric yellow) is now a brown color and we are
not sure why, he doesnt looked stressed we have had our water check on a
regular basis to see if maybe it was a ammonia problem the water checked out
fine our PH lvls are good and we were just wondering what it could be, we
have 2 Pengiun 350's as our filters and a bunch of real rocks, any ideas
would be great as the only other people we have to ask is around here is the
local petsmart (not saying anything bad ) but they are not the best of
advise for cichlids we went ahead and put ammo lock in there just to be safe
than sorry and we did a 15-20% water change as well


Thanks
Jason

First, what you need to do is take all of the fish out,
then take all of the gravel out.

Clean the tank out and get rid of the fish and gravel.

Then set it up as a salt water reef aquarium.


If that is not an option for you then try posting your
question to a fresh water aquarium newsgroup.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Jason wrote on 5/29/2006 1:50 PM:
Hi,
my wife and I have a 55 gallon african Cichlid tank we have a total of 10
cichlids and we were wondering what would cause a fish to discolor our
labidochromis caerulues (electric yellow) is now a brown color and we are
not sure why, he doesnt looked stressed we have had our water check on a
regular basis to see if maybe it was a ammonia problem the water checked out
fine our PH lvls are good and we were just wondering what it could be, we
have 2 Pengiun 350's as our filters and a bunch of real rocks, any ideas
would be great as the only other people we have to ask is around here is the
local petsmart (not saying anything bad ) but they are not the best of
advise for cichlids we went ahead and put ammo lock in there just to be safe
than sorry and we did a 15-20% water change as well


Thanks
Jason

Smart ass!

"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
...
First, what you need to do is take all of the fish out, then take all of
the gravel out.

Clean the tank out and get rid of the fish and gravel.

Then set it up as a salt water reef aquarium.


If that is not an option for you then try posting your question to a fresh
water aquarium newsgroup.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Jason wrote on 5/29/2006 1:50 PM:
Hi,
my wife and I have a 55 gallon african Cichlid tank we have a total of 10
cichlids and we were wondering what would cause a fish to discolor our
labidochromis caerulues (electric yellow) is now a brown color and we are
not sure why, he doesnt looked stressed we have had our water check on a
regular basis to see if maybe it was a ammonia problem the water checked
out
fine our PH lvls are good and we were just wondering what it could be, we
have 2 Pengiun 350's as our filters and a bunch of real rocks, any ideas
would be great as the only other people we have to ask is around here is
the
local petsmart (not saying anything bad ) but they are not the best of
advise for cichlids we went ahead and put ammo lock in there just to be
safe
than sorry and we did a 15-20% water change as well


Thanks
Jason

Hey Jason;

I used to keep African cichlids. You can probably get better advice in one
of the rec.aquaria groups dedicated to african cichlids, but I thought I'd
throw this in:

Malawi and Tanganyika Cichlids have different salts/hardness needs. If you
got the other cichlids where you got the labidochromis, odds are they are
all Malawi Cichlids. I used Seachem Cichlid Salts and Seachem Cichlid Buffer
and followed the label to set the water for Malawi levels. In addition to
PH, I tested for General Hardness and Carbonate Hardness with an Aquarium
Pharmaceuticals Hardness test kit. I remember they liked the Ph around
8-8.2, but cannot remember the recommended levels of hardness. 11 degrees, I
think, but DO NOT take that as gospel.

They like more than just the high Ph, they like the mineral salts that occur
naturally in their native lake. One of the cichlid newsgroups can flesh this
info out some more. Don't trust the malt shop gang at Pet Smart. they mean
well, but almost always are quite inexperienced. They keep the cichlids in
the same pool of water as the angelfish. That says it all.....

Good luck...


"Jason" wrote in message
. ..
Hi,
my wife and I have a 55 gallon african Cichlid tank we have a total of 10
cichlids and we were wondering what would cause a fish to discolor our
labidochromis caerulues (electric yellow) is now a brown color and we are
not sure why, he doesnt looked stressed we have had our water check on a
regular basis to see if maybe it was a ammonia problem the water checked
out
fine our PH lvls are good and we were just wondering what it could be, we
have 2 Pengiun 350's as our filters and a bunch of real rocks, any ideas
would be great as the only other people we have to ask is around here is
the
local petsmart (not saying anything bad ) but they are not the best of
advise for cichlids we went ahead and put ammo lock in there just to be
safe
than sorry and we did a 15-20% water change as well


Thanks
Jason

"August West" wrote in
:

can flesh this info out some more. Don't trust the malt shop gang at
Pet Smart. they mean well, but almost always are quite inexperienced.
They keep the cichlids in the same pool of water as the angelfish.
That says it all.....

I've been to one that believed African cichlids were brackish fish. Ha!

Yes... they're all from the great ocean estuaries of Victoria, Malawi, and
Tanganyika were they swim amongst the gobies, scats, and puffers

Ok thanks alot for the info, I will check it out over on one of the
freshwater's

sorry for posting on reefs

Jason

"August West" wrote in message
...
Hey Jason;

I used to keep African cichlids. You can probably get better advice in one
of the rec.aquaria groups dedicated to african cichlids, but I thought I'd
throw this in:

Malawi and Tanganyika Cichlids have different salts/hardness needs. If you
got the other cichlids where you got the labidochromis, odds are they are
all Malawi Cichlids. I used Seachem Cichlid Salts and Seachem Cichlid
Buffer
and followed the label to set the water for Malawi levels. In addition to
PH, I tested for General Hardness and Carbonate Hardness with an Aquarium
Pharmaceuticals Hardness test kit. I remember they liked the Ph around
8-8.2, but cannot remember the recommended levels of hardness. 11 degrees,
I
think, but DO NOT take that as gospel.

They like more than just the high Ph, they like the mineral salts that
occur
naturally in their native lake. One of the cichlid newsgroups can flesh
this
info out some more. Don't trust the malt shop gang at Pet Smart. they mean
well, but almost always are quite inexperienced. They keep the cichlids in
the same pool of water as the angelfish. That says it all.....

Good luck...


"Jason" wrote in message
. ..
Hi,
my wife and I have a 55 gallon african Cichlid tank we have a total of
10
cichlids and we were wondering what would cause a fish to discolor our
labidochromis caerulues (electric yellow) is now a brown color and we
are
not sure why, he doesnt looked stressed we have had our water check on a
regular basis to see if maybe it was a ammonia problem the water checked
out
fine our PH lvls are good and we were just wondering what it could be,
we
have 2 Pengiun 350's as our filters and a bunch of real rocks, any ideas
would be great as the only other people we have to ask is around here is
the
local petsmart (not saying anything bad ) but they are not the best of
advise for cichlids we went ahead and put ammo lock in there just to be
safe
than sorry and we did a 15-20% water change as well


Thanks
Jason

Jason,

Some will change coloration as they mature or start to spawn. Others
will change color due to age - at some point they just seem to start to
turn muddy.

hth,

mark h