African behavior question

[rhino4ever]

I have 6 small assorted africans in a tank. They are gathering in an upper front corner and turning vertical and bunching up. They don't seem to be mating but what are they up to? It's like a game of "king of the corner" or something?

Any ideas?

[kewlkatdady]

if all of them are doing it... and when you say vertical you mean nose up...

they're just playing...


If its only one or two of them, they are hiding and getting beat up.


my first thought though is to make sure all the water parameters are ok...


My guess is they're just playing...if its all of them...

oh... is the a strong water current in this corner?

[bra8ndy8]

Did you just do a water change? make sure you added clorinator.
Do u have enough air?
I would also check the water parameters......it seems kinds "fishy" :)

[kSpieler]

Are they the only fish in the tank? Do you have a powerhead or outlet that could be pushing them there and wearing them out? Are they gasping at the surface or just "hanging out"?

[rhino4ever]

Well they were in one corner last night, now they're in a different one. Water conditions are great. I notice when they swim out of the corner and swim around there's a lot of body shaking. I figure this has to be some kind of display behavior. Most of them are doing it. Real tight body shakes like they're showing off. Is this a mating thing?

[bra8ndy8]

Yes that is the males shaking their "KIDS" in the water....lol but they usually do it on the gravel or a flat spot..

[deadman]

often times a real tight shaking as aposed to falshing breeding behaviour is related to poor water quality, i have seen that kind of behavior before and after the water quality improved so did they.

[kewlkatdady]

it could be a water quality issue...
when you tested the water...
did you test it for ammo, nitrAte and nitrIte...PLUS PH...

PH swings could be another issue...
do you have a camera? If so can you take a movie with it?

What kind of water test kit do you use?

[kSpieler]

Rhino, where in Plano are you? My camera (that I just got fixed! yaaaay) will do movies if yours doesn't.

Are they shakin' it when they are bunched in the corner? or just when they cross the tank?

[rhino4ever]

They shake a little in the corner but mainly outside the corner. They spread out today and were doing a lot of shaking all over the tank.

As I said water conditions are great. Tested with the Master Test Kit by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Nitrite - 0
Ammonia - .5 to 1.0
PH - 7.8

I don't have a camera and live just down the street from XTC but I currently have strep and am home sick so don't recommend coming by.

[kSpieler]

Ewwww...no strep for me, please! I am having enough fun with just allergies right now! I could always just drop the camera off for you to use - I have never used the "movie" featurs on it...so I wouldn't be able to help you use it anyhow!

Ok, did you get them all from the same place? Were they already in a tank together? They might just be trying to decide who's the coolest...?

If the water is good, are they eating well? Do they seem otherwise sickly?

[rhino4ever]

They came from two different Petco's during that sale a couple of weeks back. They all look better than when I bought them. Really bright colors. No spots, ich, any of that.

they are eating well enough. If i put flake in their they are all over that. I dropped a cube of tropical frozen in their that they didn't devour completely but they worked it over prettty good.

rhino4ever added 15 Minutes and 5 Seconds later...

Maybe you should bring by that camera. I just found the littlest one dead in the cave. I hadn't seen it out for a while. Inspecting it, it seems normal. I don't see any sign of disease. I double checked my water quality off of a test stick and it came back same as the test kit, great.

The only thing I can see different in the tank seems to be an algae bloom starting on the holey rock. Brown algae mixed with green.

The shaking seems to be centered around 1 fish who is now hanging soley in a cave in the underside of the holey rock. The other fish keep coming near that one and that's where the dancing is. So now, it seems more like courtship or somethin along those lines. These are my first cichlids, so I'm not familiar with them.

[kewlkatdady]

well it sounds like your tank is cycling...

you should never have any ammo at all... in a cycled tank.


they are just stressed a little...

you can leave the lights out if your worried.

what are your nitrAtes?


what size tank is this? I noticed you have 6 fish in there minus the 1 that died. Are you cycling the tank with these fish?

Are you buffering you PH up to 7.8? If so, STOP! Ammo is much more toxic at higher ph.

[kSpieler]

If 1 fish is causing all the shaking ... then it's probably a territorial and/or mating thang.

The littlest one coulda been stressed to death ... who knows what kinda grief they suffered at Petco. I don't think those little (<2") cichlids adjust well to being moved all over the place. The first cichlids I got were (probably, but never verified - the hub brought them home for me) the littlest sized ones at Petsmart. They did fine for about a week... then just started dying off one at a time. My tank was completely cycled, and all my parameters were near perfect, no signs of illness ... they just died. When I got my saulosi & afra babies from Khrister ... not a single fish has died since. Oh, and my new Ps.polits are holding!!! Yaaay!

I have a batch of saulosi fry growing out, you are welcome to some when they get bigger - if you want. I also have some adolescent Afras you are welcome to now.

[rhino4ever]

The answer has come. ICK!

Three of my fish have little white spots all over.

I was counseled to turn the temp up to 86 to throw off the bacterias cycle. I'm goint to do that and treat with API's Super Ick Cure.

Anyone have further advice?

[bra8ndy8]

Add salt! At least the mystery is solved! And it's a easy one to cure! I wouldn't add the Super Ick Cure....it's a waste of money.

[kewlkatdady]

i personally never use ich cure or any other medication to cure ich...

raise the temp. add salt and do a 50% water change every 3-5 days with gravel vac.

It'll be gone in a week.

From now on, leave the tank at 82-84. You'll never have another problem.

[kSpieler]

Rhino...how are your fish doin?

[Techcyn]

Mine love to play - they do all kinds of odd things. Enjoy them!

[watkins60]

Mine use to do that but then i figured out why. I took out my bubbler and they where all suffocating lol oooops.