• We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

How do vieja die?

Well, as should have been expected in retrospect, our third Vieja melanura synspillum Chumlee has passed away suddenly after 1.5 years with us.

Based on what RD and Toiletcar tell me, it could be overfeeding, or too warm a water, or both.

If we ever get more of these cichlids, the overfeeding will be avoided at all costs. Three is enough.

13".


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I'd suggest you dedicate a tank especially for those if you ever get them in the future
 
Do you ever offer veggies to those tanks as a roughage? Or just NLS pellets ? My jaguar catfish is not the same league as yours but they love canned green beans as a treat. They even gobble up veggie sticks intended for the plecos i can imagine the cichlids liking veggie offerings or even random floater plants?
 
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NLS make a "green" pellet/wafer, that's main ingredient is algae: Chlorella Seaweed, Ulva Seaweed, Red Seaweed, Kelp, Spirulina, Wakame Seaweed, followed by Whole Antarctic Krill**, Giant Squid*, Whole Wheat Flour, Eucheuma cottonii Seaweed, Spinosum Seaweed, Chondrus crispus Seaweed, Whole Menhaden Fish*, Omega-3 Fish Oil*, Garlic, Ginger, Astaxanthin, Marigold, Capsanthin, Zeaxanthin, Bentonite Clay, Sea Salt .

I have been feeding it to all of my fish for years, more so to fish that lean more to the herbivorous side.
 
Thank you all. No, I have not offered any other pellets than the regular grade NLS. To feed a fish a particular diet, the fish must be able to get to the feed, so it needs to be separated or be housed with fish with similar dietary requirements, which has not been the case for our Viejas.

We can barely balance the housing of our residents by compatibility and lack of aggression. No such luxury yet to house based on diet freely, but it's probably doable in the future, as we are getting more tanks.
 
These are the cichlids that I suspect died from overfeeding in our hands. Age and size at death:

Vieja melanura synspillum 5 years old 13”
Vieja melanura synspillum 7 years old 13”
Vieja melanura synspillum 3 years old 13”
Carpintis cichlid 4.5 years old 11”
Cyanoguttatus / Texas 3 years old 11”
Jack Dempsey cichlid 7 years old 8”
Jaguar cichlid 4.5 years old 12”
Flowerhorn 10 years old 14”
 
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