Posted this a week or so ago in one of my other threads.
“So, I thought I had been maintaining the 115g in a successful manner. Regular water changes and filter cleaning and a continuous water drip. With the removal of the plants I had started siphoning the sand too. When I lost 2 of the Tropheus I thought it was due to aggression so I moved them to the 90g and the shellies, calvus, regani and s. multipunctatus to the 115g. Life got busy so I wasn't spending as much time in the fish room. I noticed some heavy breathing a week ago so I did a large water change and removed 75% of the sand. The next few days I removed the bodies of the gold calvus, the adult female regani and a couple shellies. A few days later I had to euthanize my adult male regani as he was no longer able to swim correctly or maintain position against the current in the tank. I also removed the rest of the sand and added 20lbs of aragonite. I'm down to a dozen adult multies now and a few juveniles. There is one 2in juvenile regani left.
I think there was more waste mixed into the sand than I realized and that the water quality crashed. I tested water quality 2-3 days ago and last night and nitrates are <20ppm and Ph ~8.2. I will retest this evening for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
With the population density being so low now I moved a pair of Sumbu dwarves from the 55g to see how the extra space in the 55g would effect the pecking order. The colony is now 3 males and 2 females in the 55g.”
Update: The male Sumbu while initially the recipient of aggression by the multis is now showing to be the more aggressive. He goes where ever he wants and is intent on catching one juvenile multi in the middle of the tank. His colors are definitely better seen in the new tank.
All adults. I think 2 females and 4-5 males based on size and color
