Hello,
I got a (presumably male) cichlid about a week and a half ago. My water parameters show 0 ammonia, 7.6 PH, and a reading of 5 ppm or less of nitrate. Now, this guy is only about two inches long, and right now he is alone in a ten gallon grow out tank. Last week, I tried pairing him up with a female from the same tank he'd come from, but they gave each other hell so I gave her back to the store. About four days later (yesterday), I noticed my convict seems to be stripe-less most of the time, and hearing this is a result of stress, I kinda freaked out. I changed 30% of the water, added some salt to the tank, and he seemed to perk up a bit. He only colors up when I come up to the glass, and then it fades again. I feed him blood worms and flake food so far, is there anything else I should give him that may be better for him? I went to go see what he was doing and offered him some food a little while ago, and I don't know if he'd been resting or if he was still full from earlier or what, but he kinda picked at it before he finally ate it. Also, for the first time today I saw him flash on the gravel - could this be parasites? I'm relatively new to fishkeeping, so I don't know what to do right now, but he is one of my favorite fish and I want to make sure I don't somehow end up killing him! As a last note, the tank is cycled. Ideas? Comments? SUGGESTIONS??? >=o
I got a (presumably male) cichlid about a week and a half ago. My water parameters show 0 ammonia, 7.6 PH, and a reading of 5 ppm or less of nitrate. Now, this guy is only about two inches long, and right now he is alone in a ten gallon grow out tank. Last week, I tried pairing him up with a female from the same tank he'd come from, but they gave each other hell so I gave her back to the store. About four days later (yesterday), I noticed my convict seems to be stripe-less most of the time, and hearing this is a result of stress, I kinda freaked out. I changed 30% of the water, added some salt to the tank, and he seemed to perk up a bit. He only colors up when I come up to the glass, and then it fades again. I feed him blood worms and flake food so far, is there anything else I should give him that may be better for him? I went to go see what he was doing and offered him some food a little while ago, and I don't know if he'd been resting or if he was still full from earlier or what, but he kinda picked at it before he finally ate it. Also, for the first time today I saw him flash on the gravel - could this be parasites? I'm relatively new to fishkeeping, so I don't know what to do right now, but he is one of my favorite fish and I want to make sure I don't somehow end up killing him! As a last note, the tank is cycled. Ideas? Comments? SUGGESTIONS??? >=o
