Cichlid Strength

[Melody]

The other thing I marvel at with Cichlids is how tough they are. They have to be the easiest fish to keep ever. I found Zap this morning with no filter on and every snail in the tank at the waterline including MTS. Not only was there no filter on, but I had fed them cantalope the night before (which I'm going to stay away from now - fouls much too quickly). I did a huge waterchange about a week ago and I think I may have been too thorough, to complicate matters. Zap was gasping at the surface but kept falling down, losing her balance, etc. Her face was black. If that was a Livebearer she'd have been toast.

So I'm madly doing waterchanges, cranking the filter, removing snails & adding salt, added an airstone and left the hood off... and all the while debating if I should call Mr. Mykiss and try to pass a real Electric Yellow off as Zap if she didn't make it, so I didn't have to tell the kid. I was fully prepared to say "I'll give you a hundred bucks if you'll drop off your biggest female today":rolleyes: . Funeral arrangements made, in other words.

She's been perking up steadily ever since. No guarantees, but since she just knocked a snail off her cave I'd say she's pretty close to her old self. Her face is still a bit dusky and of course, the stress could cause a secondary infection, but it looks good.

Are they all this tough? Or is it just certain species?

Hope I didn't just jinx the ol' girl. :wideeyed:

[GaryofMontreal]

They are not all nearly this tough. Most rainforest species need immaculate care.

[Melody]

Maybe it's her mutthood - she's always been a dream. Never suffered during vacations, power outages, heater malfunctions, etc etc etc.

[CACAdmin]

Sure glad to hear she's recouperating.

[Melody]

She ate her fave Emerald Entre' dinner and looks much better. I guess I made a mess with those frantic waterchanges because she's rearranging the rocks in her cave again. :rolleyes:

[CACAdmin]

I don't know much about cichlids but I figure that's probably a good sign if she is perturbed by your choice of decor and she is redecorating.

[Melody]

I think if she'd been left for a few more hours she'd have been gone. Luckily it was the weekend and I was here to notice her. I think she's going to be ok by the looks of things, but there will be extra waterchanges for the next week just in case.

[James]

Glad she is fine Melody.

[hp10BII]

She's a rock. Good for her!

[Melody]

Her face is still a bit dusky so I've kept up the waterchanges. Her gills look fine. I hope there wasn't any permanent damage. She hasn't been hanging around the surface and is active so here's hoping. Thanks for your wishes, I'll pass them along to her! ::D:

[CACAdmin]

I think all creatures tend to be able to handle live's health hazards better if they are healthy to start with... so probably all good care and vitamin enriched food she gets on a regular basis gave her an edge in coping with the tank conditions.

Glad to hear she's a tough one!

[michaeljames]

cichlids are a huge family, and its true some come from areas of very delicate eco systems but overall, theres one very real reason why cichlids are one of the most abundant fish. many cichlids can live thru Alot of stressfull situations, muddy silt, larger predators, no food for weeks, high temperatures, cool temperatures, etc personally I have owned my buddy mickey blue eyes (Red devil ie 'amphilophus labiatum') for 6 years now, there was a time he went 2 weeks without filtration, he regularly goes from 3 days of no feeding up to 12 days at a time somtimes, today i moved him from one tank to another and when I put my dovii in mickeys old tank I realized the water had not been changed in 2 months. some would say this is cruel but six years is a long time, mickey and me have been thru alot and I seem to know him pretty well, I have seen him sick, I have seen him pretty close to the end and I know what keeps him strong as a cichlid gets. crickets, filter changes and lots of attention, anyways cichlids are as strong as a catfish when it comes to water quality and feeding. I have owned tons of other cichlids and the only worry with a cichlid is a bigger cichlid, just my 2 cents. keep them fed good food, not pellets. give them territory and a filter and they thrive. and yes they move territory. mickey can move a 50lb bag of gravel from one side of the tank to the other in under 3 hours lmao

[Melody]

:Welcome: That's quite a fish-keeping regime ya got there....lol....but yes, they do seem to be tough. Zap is back to her old self like nothing ever happened.

[michaeljames]

I sense sarcasm! lol yes my fish regime is pretty intense, tonight I cleaned the inside of the glass sides and the top glass where his 48" actinic/10k lights sit. I dont mean to say I dont take care of him, but I care for his water quality ie I change his filter media weekly to keep the water clear and he eats alot so I feed him say...12 crickets, and than he will refuse to eat for up to a week at a time, growing used to shrimp, scallops, fillet he refuses to eat pellets, than again have you ever read what is in pellets, kinda reminds me of sub par dog food, msg, brewers yeast and all this junk. mickey only eats the fresh stuff lol yes theyre very tough but they know what they like

[Melody]

Actually it probably suits the eating schedule. If he's not eating he's not producing the waste that a daily eater would. I don't change my big tanks every week either unless they're fully loaded. The filter can't do anything about ammonia build-up so keep an eye on that, but your bacteria has probably saved you there with the extremely light feeding. See? It wasn't sarcasm so much as an observation of the extreme :laugh: .

Definitly agree with you on the pellets - fortified powder and little else. Brewers yeast is a source of Vitamin B3 and a protein substitute, incidentally.

[CACAdmin]

Zap is back to her old self like nothing ever happened. Glad to hear it. :smile: