my south american cichlid

Question

male Cichlid   QUESTION: Hi there I really hope you can help. I have a female and a male S.A. Cichlid. I have been noticing over the past few weeks that my male isn't really eating. I had a male before that quit eating and I treated with antibiotics twice thinking it was dropsy (I lost 2 fish prior to him die from Dropsy)so I treated twice and lost the cichlid anyway. Well I have since replaced the male with a new male and he seems to be going through the same thing. The cichlids actually mated and I has 100s of eggs but they never hatched. I actually had to remove all the fish from the tank and change the layout of the rocks because the female waited for 2 weeks for her babies to hatch and she wasn't accepting the fact that they were not gonna. So that male was healthy enough for spawning and that was approx.4 weeks ago. He stays in a pretty remote location in the tank and only shows interest when his female comes around. I just noticed today that he is starting to get skinny. I have live plants(water bamboo and another large leaf plant all potted) I also have the female S.A. Cichlid as well as a pair of blue Gouramis, a pair of plecos and a pair of golden dojo loaches there is also a large Ram horn snail. My water tests okay (nitrate is 40 nitrite is 0 total hardness is 150 alkalinity is about 80 which is a little low and the P.H. is 7.0, no ammonia)The male cichlid is still pretty bright in color his fins are not clamped his darker markings seem more prominent which I guess could indicate stress but since the remodeling I did of the gravel/slate/ plants 4 weeks ago I cant think of anything that would be causing the stress. I moved him today to a 10 gallon tank with a single gourami in it and that water reads: nitrate 10 nitrite 0 total hardness 75 alkalinity is 40 (low) and the ph is 6.4 ( low as well). I am hoping that moving him to the 10 gallon will reduce his stress some being almost alone, as well as if there is something else going on in the 55 gallon tank removing him will hopefully fix the problem. I am going to add some PH up to try and regulate the alkalinity in both of the tanks. But I am very boggled by the fact that the first S.A. cichlid I had that was a male went through this exact same cycle and died from not eating and now this one is headed towards death it appears.What else can I do for him? I would also like to stress that all of my other fish are doing very well and aside from the dropsy outbreak I had in Oct/Nov there haven't been any other issues. My temp is set at 79* and I keep aquarium salt in all my tanks. Please help me save my fish or at least have some understanding of what his problem may be. I am uploading pix of him and of my female so you have an idea of the difference in their weight. I was also curious about intestinal worms if this were a possibility that he is infested then would I see indications in my other fish as well? Please help with any knowledge/advice you may have.. Thank you so much for your time..Hope to hear back from you soon. Thanks...Jaime

ANSWER: Hi Jaime,
 It's hard to say exactly what is going on here.  First, however, you should not be adding salt, nor should you be increasing the pH. They prefer no salt, and more acidic water.  But I doubt if either of those things would cause this problem.  

 Your gravel is an issue. The fish you have is one of the "eartheater" group (the genus Geophagus or Gymnogeophagus; Geo=earth, phagus=eater), meaning that they typically feed by taking mouthfuls of gravel and sifting through it. Your gravel is much too large and coarse for them to do that.

 The fact that the female laid eggs doesn't mean that the male participated; that is why they likely didn't hatch.  

 Dropsy is a name given for nonspecific symptoms. You see it everywhere but it doesn't actually mean anything.  

 Try getting some frozen bloodworms and see if he will eat that.
You might also try some sinking algae wafers.

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


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


female cichlid   QUESTION: Hey Ron the picture I sent you is out of my 10 gallon aquarium which is where I put him when I moved him from my 55 gallon I have golden Dojo loaches so I keep smooth small pebbles in the 55 which is where he was when this started. I give my loaches and plecos the algea wafers and usually feed 3 every few days broken in pieces because all my fish love to nibble on them especially my female cichlid but he showed no interest in anything and his behavior is identical to the last male I had. I was feeding him (back when he ate) Hikari dried bloodworms and he seemed to like them. I dunno what his deal is. I know that I have the wrong types of fish together but I was told at my local petstore by a 16 year old "aquatics specialist " that these fish would do great together  {{ a pair of Gouramis ~requiring salt~ S.A. Cichlids ~prefer no salt~ plecos who dislike salt and golden Dojo loaches that salt can burn and dont like a heated aquarium }} So I know now since I have done my own research that some of these fish can coexist well but overall I have a bad combo. My Plecos will be going into the pond when the weather breaks as well as the loaches. Do you know if they would survive outdoors all year long as my Koi are fine with 20-30 degree temps. I live on the coast of VA and winters are anything but mild. I would like to keep all of them out in the pond, find a home for my female cichlid. and keep the Gouramis in the 55 gallon. I also need to know what other fish get along with Gouramis and what cleaner/bottom feeder/algea eater fish will coexist with them as well. Oh yeah my S.A. cichlid male expired this evening :o(    Thanks so much for you input and feedback. I an sending you a pic of my 55gallon and the female cichlid so you can see the gravel I use and tell me if its okay.. Thanks again Jaime

Answer
Hi Jaime,
  I really don't think the plecostomus will survive a Virginia winter. It might make it through an unusually mild winter but a typical winter would do likely prove fatal.

  If I were going to keep gouramis, I would keep them with other southeast Asian fish like some of the barbs.  I would use chinese algae eaters as bottom feeders.

  The gravel in that picture looks fine.

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