Newly Bought (10) Selection African Cichlids - One Appears 'not Normal'

Hi - I'm brian - and 'new member'.. looks like a super site to broaden my (limited) knowledge - So, just setting up a large tank with mainly Malawi Peacock cichlids taking advantage of their fantastic range of colors. Two of the 10 I put in the tank today were 'strawberry peacock' and quite a good orange to red color in the shop.. they were all individually bagged.. and only 10 minute ride to get home.. but on settling in the water (20 minutes ) then un-bagging - this one has 'lost' most of the strawberry color..most of body is very pale, and the fish appears to be 'panting' - like taking a breath ( opening mouth every second or less ).. there was some water in the polystyrene box when I un-boxed them, but not sure if 'she' lost water from her bag..lights off now for the night and fingers crossed 'she' survive.. still swimming - slowly.. any comments pls - anything I can do to help..? The other 9 fish appear 'near normal'.. some lost a little color, but all feeding well.. thks

T/U :Littlefish for your helpful comments - quick update - the fish survived the night, but little change in appearance, colour or action - still 'panting'.. others quite lively and feeding well. So, other parameters - the tank: I will admit, I was in a hurry to get it up and running, but with some justification - here goes - we already had a 90L tank currently housing a common plec, and two 'gifted' fish.. one a Tanganyika 'Frontosa', the other a South America 'Red Parrot'.. and not knowing anything about these species we were unaware that they were incompatible. However, they were 'housed' for about the last 3 years and grown from 6cm to about 14cm - ( so the Frontosa now about 1/2 full adult size). My recent 'research' revealed that we should separate these two fish, and not house the red parrot with any planned Malawi cichlids.  I found a tremendous 'deal' on gumtree - a 450L tank with stand, with ( very expensive ) Fluval FX6 filter, heater, gavel, test kits - the lot - and some 30+ tropicals of many species 'passive' community fish.. ( my estimate well over £1,000 for less than 1/3 that price ).. it was reasonably 'local' too and seller delivered it to me last week - I had it filled, de-chlorinated with 'Tetrasafe', and filter up and running within 8 hours - the sellers' fish were transferred to my 90L tank, while my two large cichlids were in a bowl.. a quick ph and ammonia test indicated the new tank was OK and had no choice but to transfer the two cichlids.. they survived the weekend, with parrot chasing as usual, so on Monday I delivered the parrot to my local aqua shop, and chose the 10 malawis as mentioned - kept the Frontosa who appears 'much happier' not having to hide all the time.. I'm sure 'other bio' parameters are good in the new tank, as it was a working set-up with fish only hours before I took delivery.. there ya go..

thks agin Littlefish - and especially for not hammering me fer the 'too speedy' tank set-up.. yes, I knew the filter wud be good.. and I did the 'de-chlorinate' bit - very carefully.. even then a risk putting the two large cichlids in, but felt worth the risk, as temperature in their bowl was dropping too quickly - had to keep adding 1/2 cups of warm water to keep it in range - even so, 8 hours was much longer than planned - Murphys' Law - had no choice..doh.. So, earlier today, my dear wifie Lorri not too happy with 13 fish in the tank.. so wanted at least one more! My thoughts, if we get one, then 'lose' strawberry', then we back to 13 - so better get two - so got another strawberry and another 'Livingstones' - they both appear settled in right away with not much loss of colour.. in fact colour is starting to return wi' 'sicky strawberry'.. fingers crossed.. I've got pics, but waiting on my son to set up how to transfer them to the 'puter..

 :)So - more than 30 hours now, and 'Strawberry' still struggling - I just added two limestones to improve my hardness, and decided to add more multi-colored pebbles which I cleaned yesterday.. which just about completes the decoration part - stirred things up a little but filter will clear it quickly.. so, was very close to 'sicky' 'cos last coupla hours 'she' swimming right up to the surface - quite a colour improvement now from eyes to mebbe 1/3 body length, but also 'hint of colour' starting to appear on all fins and tail .. 'she' sorta orange colour rather than 'strawberry' but on the right track - defo swimming better.. time to try some food..
   k..45 minutes later.. tried a l'il flake food.. others ate but not 'sicky'.. now tried some cichlid pellets - same again.. it's like sicky is completely unaware of what is around - 'she' swims through a field of flakes, or a few pellets with no attempt to grab.. coupla times bang into the top of the heater - as if 'she' don't know it's there - so, wondering - could 'she' be blind? Still 'panting' - well, same as yes'day - hope 'she' survive 'til morning.. doh.. thks again ppl for your interest, gonna keep watchin' a while wi' my 'Fosters' - update tomorra Donna..nn

Sorry to hear this...    never nice to hear, even worse to see a fish go through this.

I would strongly recommended treatment in this instance as white spot is most likely now a ticking time bomb so to speak in your aquarium.  Once the parasite goes through its lifecycle in your substrate it will likely lead to an outbreak in the tank in the not too distant future. Especially if you have concerns about the newly added fish too (even if not currently showing symptoms).

Fortunately though the homework is done for you when you join this site!

Check your diagnosis of white spot here: http://www.tetra-fish.com/learning-center/troubleshooting/fish-illnesses-how-to-spot-them.aspx paying particular attention to gill flukes which could be another one to consider from your description.

Then for the appropriate medicines go here: https://forums.thinkfish.co.uk/fish-medicines/medicines-for-treating-different-conditions/msg35552/#msg35552

A chat with your supplier is sensible to understand if he has already used any treatments and their effectiveness.

Of course keep us informed at every step as you have been doing and we will assist too 

T/U Matt and Littlefish for your concern and advice - sorry it took so long to get back to you - my 'cichlid-man' at the supplier is off work today, but his colleague assured me ( from my pics and our chat ) that 'sicky Strawberry' did not have 'whitespot' - her original tank was emptied for new stock received yesterday, and - yep - now several more strawberry peacocks all lookin' good.. I will go back to the shop Saturday to dbl check with 'cichlid Rob'.. his colleague said they would replace the fish, tho' I didn't insist.. back to my tank - the other fish all appear 'normal' today, little more boisterous while feeding, and none panting like sicky.. I didn' fancy the Tetra Lifeguard for treatment, mainly due to size of tank - would need 22 tabs each day - but bought alternative liquid treatment for whitespot and fungus - tho' Lifeguard appears to cover several other fish / tank ailments. I believe dosing the tank may also cause the fish a little stress - so as they've only been 'home' for 3 days, and nowhere near 100% sure it was whitespot, I'm going to hold off for now - more continuous obs.. not a problem - thks agin..

With any reading for ammonia and nitrite above zero, you need to do a water change.

I can't find the instructions for a Fluval FX6, though I can find the instructions for the FX5. That has 3 baskets, though I can't find out what's in the FX6. If it is similar:
They suggest prefilter, carbon or zeocarb in the top basket - I would use prefilter. Carbon is not needed full time and the zeolite in zeocarb will absorb ammonia so there is none to feed the bacteria.
They suggest the middle basket is for chemical filtration, but this is not necessary in a well maintained tank. i would use biomax in the middle basket.
They suggest biomax in the bottom basket, and I agree with this.They suggest a layer of filter floss on top of this basket to stop debris getting into the biomax - if you use biomax in the middle basket it is a good idea to use floss in there too.

Don't change any media yet, leave what came with the filter in there until you get on top of the ammonia and nitrite. Then you can give changing the media some thought.

In the mean time, I would very gently rinse the media in some old tank water. If there is a layer of filter floss (filter wool) you might think about changing just that.
The goo that builds up on the media is uneaten food, fish poo etc and will be broken down to ammonia then turned into nitrate. Some people call this goo a 'nitrate factory'



Can you test your tap water for nitrate please. That will tell us if your 40 ppm nitrate is in your tap water or being made by the filter. It is now known that nitrate above 20 ppm is not good for fish, though the damage it does is long term rather than short term like ammonia & nitrite.

On the subject of testing nitrate - are you shaking bottle #2 like it says, then the tube? This shaking is needed as one of the chemicals in nitrate #2 settles on the bottom of the bottle and it must be distributed through the liquid to get a true reading. In fact, shake the bottle for longer than the instructions say - though follow the instructions for the test tube.

Thks agin for your prompt advice.. my last night tests for Ammonia and Nitrite were defo not zero - but the 0.25 was a good match.. in view of just filling wi' treated tap water last Saturday, with only the two (large) cichlids 'til Monday - then last three days wi' red parrot gone and replaced wi' 10 'juvenile' cichlids, would it not be reasonable to expect a small 'spike' in ammonia and / nitrite .. after all, the sample is from the tank where perhaps most of the 'new arrivals' have had their first 'bowel movement' -(yes'day evening I spotted 2 cichlids and both plecs doing just that ), so no way that had had reached the filter. I note the Master Test Kit book states -  quote: 'if ammonia levels continue to test high ( 4 ppm ) perform a water change of 25% '.. so that's 16 times higher than my 'minimal' reading.. btw, I re-measured the tank, and it's not 450L as the seller quoted, but 360L.. very important info for 'dosage' tasks, etc.. but still a lot for a 25% water change.. if I gotta do this every day, then this 'ammonia prob gonna kill me before the fish, lol ..sorry, I know it ain't a joke..   nearly forgot, tap water Nitrate quite low near 5 ppm, and tank now 'under 40 ppm'

thks Donna - I appreciate that 'zero ammonia' ( and nitrite } is the ideal, but don' believe I'll panic at 0.25.. mebbe if I put a notice on the fish loo - to tell 'em not to all poo at once (?).. gonna chk agin tomorra, if no change or even increase then defo go with the partial change.. don' believe I mentioned - we also got Koi pond in the back garden - built it for Lorrie about 7 years back, ( about 4 tons volume wi' 20+ Koi ) and large filter in there needs a clean.. happy days,.. doh

K Donna - will do.. lol - in between posts I read a previous post ( sorry, forgot the name ) but fairly recent, where he was losing all fish - but noticed pertinent point to my own probs, that even while using 2 separate Master Kits, he never got 'zero' readings, but often (mostly) the next lowest at 0.25.. I've been following the instructions to the letter - except as Matt suggested - shakin' bottle 2 ( for the nitrate ) more than the 30 secs, and a good minute for the mix.. and the expiry date for the kit is 12/ 2021 - so shud be Ok..                   
  If you haven' chkd Cichlid sites yet - try 'Aquatics to your door' / Tropical/African cichlids - they have a good selection of pics / species covering all of mine except one, which I'm finding difficult to identify.. also chkd out 'KG (summat) site, based in Virginia, US.. got some very informative videos on Youtube, especially showin' a huge tank, with mostly Malawi 'peacock' cichlids - but sharing with 'Haps, and Mbunas, and a few Frontosa ( same as my 'stripey joe' - against all the so-called 'expert' recommendations.. and a few non-cichlid species, Clown loach for instance.. I will prolly go down that road later,  for the added colour.. sorry, my boy didn' turn up today so no  pics yet - haven' forgotten..