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Posted by Gill Passman on May 12, 2005, 9:33 am
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> Gill Passman wrote:
> >
> >>Gill Passman wrote:
> >>
> >>>One of my Electric Blues has lost part of her tail. There is no sign of
> >>>infection but she is keeping pretty much hidden. She also had an
> >
> > assignation
> >
> >>>with one of the males in a cave this afternoon, quite fascinating to
> >
> > watch.
> >
> >>>Should I just leave her be and monitor her progress or should I be more
> >>>proactive and possibly move her although I'm not sure where to (my QT
> >
> > tank
> >
> >>>is currently housing a Betta).
> >>>
> >>>Water tests out at 0 ammonia and nitrites, around 10 nitrates and pH of
> >
> > 7.5
> >
> >>>Any thoughts would be appreciated?
> >>>
> >>>Thanks
> >>>Gill
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>Cichlids are sturdy, and usually heal well in good water like you
> >>describe. I used to dab cichlid injuries with mercurichrome to be sure
> >>they didn't get infected, *if* I could catch the fish without ripping
> >>the tank apart. You can supposedly also use Neosporin cream, although I
> >>haven't tried it. The ones that got badly beat up and needed treatment
> >>the most were usually pretty easy to catch since they'd be up at the top
> >>of the tank trying hard to look like an innocent bit of debris. ;-)
> >>
> >>If the tail loss was from suddenly severe aggression that is ongoing,
> >>you'll probably have to get her safe and away from the stress to heal.
> >>You can use breeding nets for small Africans, or for the betta. Then
> >>the problem becomes reintroducing her to the tank without her getting
> >>beat up again, so hopefully that's not an issue.
> >>
> >>--
> >>Elaine T __
> >>http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
> >>rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com
> >
> >
> > Thanks Elaine,
> > She seems to be keeping herself pretty well hidden - only coming out at
food
> > time - haven't noticed her actually eat though. The agressor is a male
> > Electric Blue - the same one who had the assignation with her in the
cave
> > yesterday - so I wonder if it has something to do with this. All of the
> > others seem to be leaving her alone.
> >
> > It's not going to be easy to catch her without dismantling the rock work
> > which would be a major operation so I guess I'll just leave her be
unless
> > the situation gets worse.
> >
> > Gill
> >
> >
> I wonder if she's refusing food and hiding because she's holding eggs.
> Cichlids.com also says the males are very aggressive during courtship so
> that could explain the tail damage. If she's holding eggs, her mouth
> and throat will look a bit enlarged.
> http://www.cichlids.com/wiki/index.php/Melanochromis_johannii
>
> Do you have only one female in the tank? I've not kept this particular
> fish but Cichlids.com and Mongabay say to keep several females for each
> male. The male's aggression gets spread out that way.
>
> --
> Elaine T __
> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
> rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com
I was wondering the same thing....however I'm now officially confused....
The three fish I have were sold to me as one male and two females. All of
them are blue. Only one has egg spots. The injured fish is a very much paler
blue. The other "female" has darkened over the last few weeks to much the
same colour as the male but without the egg spots and has a yellow stripe on
the dorsal fin. Just sanity checked myself on some photos taken around 6
weeks ago and the "females" were more of a powder blue....they also appear
to have fewer stripes... Now from just doing a quick bit of "googling" it
would appear that the females should be yellow, but I did see a couple of
times that they can also be blue but paler. All 3 of them are now almost 3
inches long - as I said I am now officially confused....
Gill
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> infection but she is keeping pretty much hidden. She also had an assignation
> with one of the males in a cave this afternoon, quite fascinating to watch.
>
> Should I just leave her be and monitor her progress or should I be more
> proactive and possibly move her although I'm not sure where to (my QT tank
> is currently housing a Betta).
>
> Water tests out at 0 ammonia and nitrites, around 10 nitrates and pH of 7.5
>
> Any thoughts would be appreciated?
>
> Thanks
> Gill
>
>
>
>