Electric Yellow Death

[SH1LLDOG]

Hello Guys,

Firstly thank you for allowing me to join!

I just wanted to ask for some assistance as I am new to African Cichlids and any help will be very much appreciated. I have recently setup a 200L aquarium and have decided to keep African Cichlids. My tank is still cycling and I had 1 x small Electric Yellow and 1 x small Cobalt Blue in my tank. My yellow passed away this morning.. It seems as if the Cobalt blue has been attacking him as I noticed small red 'scabs' on his body last night and damage to his fin.. I have done plenty of research on the africans and I am aware keeping a small number of them can cause problems but as i am cycling I did not want to overstock immediately. I have plenty of texas holey in there for them to hide in and have been ensuring quality water is kept by daily API tests , water changes and have been adding 'Prime' / 'Stability' / API Stress Coat etc to give them the best chance during cycling. I guess my main question is should I try add around 4-5 small Africans during cycling to attempt to reduce the aggression of my blue or should I not have begun with the Africans during cycling in the first place?

Cheers,

[Link2Hell]

Hi and welcome to ACE

You need to wait for the tank to cycle before adding the fish

it's something that most go through so you are no alone

it may or may not be the the cobalt that is the cause of the death

red lesions and damaged fins can also be a sign of ammonia burn

water is your water testing out at ?

how long has the tank been cycling ?

[SH1LLDOG]

Hi and thank you

Yes I know but I thought I could manage the water with only the 2 fish in there..?

I think it may have been the cobalt as half his tail was missing when I found him today.

My water is testing around 0.25 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate and PH around 8

tank has been cycling for around 2 weeks.

[aymenz]

the water parameters seem fine, it is big possibility that hr cobalt is the cause of this death , you can try adding some bristlenise catfish as they are pretty tought fellas abd the cobalt will not be able to pick on them.

Welcome to the forums anyway.

Keep us updared with what is happening.

[SH1LLDOG]

Thanks for the reply mate.

Yeah I'm pretty sure it was the cobalt..as I am doing everything possible to keep the water quality high during the cycling.

I might try adding a couple of those just to keep the cycling coming along and once complete then add some more africans to keep the aggression down (maybe 4-5 more) and then keep adding a few more until stocked.

How long does it usually take to see some Nitrite readings? As I have only ever seen the slight ammonia readings so far?

Appreciate you guys helping me out

[Ducksta]

I have to disagree with Aymenz. While there are a bunch of different factors in determining what exactly is a lethal level of ammonia (pH, temperature, species...) your reading of 0.25 is definitely enough to burn/stress/kill juvenile fish. I'm not saying the cobalt hasn't had a bash as well - but I reckon ammonia is the main culprit.

Be very wary of continuing to stock your tank as ammonia is generally more toxic in alkaline (pH 7+) systems. And don't forget once the ammonia is eaten up by the bacteria, the next stage is nitrites, which are more toxic again than the ammonia.

[Josh]

Leave the cobalt by itself and wait for the tank to cycle. It will save you from more problem down the line. I wouldn't bother with water changes or adding all that other stuff, just be patient and it will happens.

[SH1LLDOG]

Thanks for all your input lads!

Really appreciate it. I think I might just leave the cobalt in there by himself until the cycling is completed. I was just trying to add the prime etc. to make it as least toxic in there for them as possible.

I will just monitor the water parameters and try to leave the tank as much as possible but if anything spikes I will have to do small water changes to help the cobalt through.. But I have noticed small water changes don't really do much to bring the ammonia down as it just stays constant at that 0.25 level for the moment.

Is it normal to not see any nitrites about 3 weeks in?

Cheers,.

[Josh]

Test your tap water and wee what readings you get from that.

[SH1LLDOG]

have tested my tap water when I first started my tank with no traces of ammonia..

[FullyYellow]

Do you have any friends that keep fish? I have never started from scratch because I've always had some established media at hand. The fastest way to get your bacteria going is to get some bacteria from an established tank.