badly injured severum

Question
QUESTION: I have a 50 gallon cichlid aquarium. Two weeks ago, I added a
pair of Green Terror. They are not eating anything since then.
they seem to be too calm and shy for a green terror.they use
to remain together in one corner or other. They are not being
harassed by any one. I'm using Tetra Bit granule size feed.

ANSWER: Hi Sudhir,
 Give them time.  Cichlids often don't eat when moved to a new tank.  They can go many weeks on little to no food.  The key is to make sure that any uneaten food does not accumulate in the tank and foul the water.  Be sure that you are doing weekly partial water changes.  I recommend changing 25% of thw water once a week, EVERY week.

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanx for the valuable advice. I have another query though.
For past few days, my bala sharks' fins are not in good
shape. disintegrated and deteriorated for no apparent
reason. I've reached the conclusion that it is due to
excessive bio-waste and nitrates. I had 3-4 inch gravel. Now
I've removed more than half of it leaving 1-1.5 inch gravel.
I change 30% water weekly and replace it with water
processed with reverse osmoses. I try to vacuum the gravel
with syphon but it is way too inadequate. Any guidance from
you in this regard will be highly appreciated. Currently I'm
using one 1500 liter/hour submersible filter with on top
filter mat(3.5 feet in length) fitted in the aquarium cover,
one 2000 liter/hour submersible sponge filter and one 650
liter/hour submersible filter with sponge and  activated
carbon all running simultaneously in my 50 gallon tank. My
tank is overcrowded with fish to avoid aggression. all the
35 fish are 1"-3.5" in size. Any tips?

ANSWER: Hi Sudhir,
 When the gravel is too thick, it creates a real problem in the tank because food and waste gets down into the gravel, rots and forms gases which cannot escape.  You were correct to remove a bunch of the gravel. I am not clear why the gravel siphon doesn't work.  I use one all the time and it is your best tool for keeping the gravel bed healthy.  

 The key to using a gravel siphon is to start the siphon, stick the thick end in the gravel until gravel starts climbing to about half way up the tube. Then with the thumb on your other hand, plug the thin end of the siphon, where the water is going into the bucket, stopping the flow.  This will cause the gravel to fall back down in the main tube. Now move the tube over a little and repeat. You can effectively clean about half the gravel in a 50 gallon tank while extracting about 5 gallons of water.  

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hello!
    I did put a baby albino severum (2") in my 55 gallon cichlid tank yesterday. During night, my venus pair and jewel attacked it which I noticed in the morning. They chewed its fins and there are bites all over its body. I immediately separated it and put it in a separate tank with two baby german rams. It is badly injured but accepted food when offered after separation. please help me  

Answer
Hi Sudhir,
  You need to keep that severum separated for a while.  In many cases, if you catch it early enough, the wounds might appear nasty but are actually superficial and the fish will recover.   Fins grow back relatively easily and even scales grow back with time.  

-- Ron C.
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>