african cichlid

Question
UM..Hi.I'm Alia and I have 4 really cute little fish..They are all the same kind and..um...They are kind of like a light blue..Really pretty and I have a ten gallon tank for them...they are pretty small.The truth is I don't know what kind they are.This morning when I went to feed them, three of them were kind of...strange. They were swimming really close to the top and they never did that before and they were more dark blue with some red.The other one is normal, and I separated her from the others into a goldfish bowl with a little bubble filter, I think it is stressing her a lot though.What do I do?
Thanks

Answer
Alia,    If you have african cichlids they are beautiful. They are also only caught in brakish water. Though they can live in fresh water it is not going to do them justice and will cut their lifespans because they are not getting the electrolytes they need. You need to get a specific gravity meter. It measures your salinity.Go and get some Instant Ocean (sea salt) it is 1/2 cup to gallon to make up and add abit at a time until you get it up to 1.005 to 1.010. You can also bring your temperature down to about 74 to 76. This tank you have as they grow will need to grow with then till at least 29 with no more. Now if later you have the room or can get them into a 55 gallon tank they will get very large. Theses tanks will need undergravel filter for your bacterial filtration and a good canister filter for your mechanical filtration.I would imagine you have a decent back filter or something on your tank. They need the agitation on the surface of the water to keep the oxygen in the water recycling. Sometime they act like that when there is not enough oxygen. You didn't mention how long your tank has been up. Separating this type of fish into a bowl with bubbler not a good idea. What I would do is reintroduce him to the tank and go get melafix. This is an all natural antibiotic made from tea trees and medicate the tank. Don't forget to remove the carbon from your filter so medication stays in and do not turn it off. Follow the directions. That way on case it did add an infection everything is covered. Don't forget when you are done medicating do at least a 40% water change using a syphon and bucket. Never shake the rocks and drain you are kicking up your bacteria layer which can harm your fish. , Good Luck,Tina