African Cichilids with tatered left and right fins

Hero

I have 2 cichlids in the same tank together, both are babies. 1 is an African Electric Yellow and I believe the other one is an African Dogtooth. They have been house together for about 4-5 days now. This morning when i woke up I found that the African Dogtooth has tatered fins on the left and right side of him. I'm not sure which fish did it. But the figure 8 puffer I have in there bothers no one! He gets bullied by the electric yellow. What can/should I do?

Hero

Will someone PLEASE HELP? Now my figure 8 puffer is missing his right side fin entirely and so in the electric yellow! Are all my fish going to die?

scottysgirl

It would help for us to know your tank specs--size/how long has it been set up/water params/other tank mates (I assume it is just the three). In observing the fish's behavior what do you see? You have three aggressive fish housed together, especially if in tight quarters with little plant cover this could be a problem. Reply with tank specs and we will be better able to help.

Hero

Ok sorry.

10 gal auq. with a 10gl whisper power filter on it.

Currently houseing 1 rope fish, 2 African cichlids and the figure 8 puffer.

The set up has been going for 5 days now. I have had the water tested every other day. The ph is being kept at 7.5.

I just noticed that my figure 8 has no fin problems what so ever and niether does the Electric Yellow cichlid. Both both of them stopped using there right fins for about an hour for some odd reason. Niether have any sign of nipped fins or wounds. So as of right now I have 1 african cichlid (the dogtooth) with tattered left and rin fins. I think it was because lack of food in the environment. I had both guppies (15 of them) and about 5 ghost shrimp in the tank. Nothing was being eaten. Today I removed the shrimp and the guppies and dropped a frozen blood worms block in there. The figure 8 puffer and the Electric Yellow filled there bellies. There is not a lot of activity from the dogtooth at all now. Every now and then he just kind of sits on the bottom.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: Oh yea forgot! The auq. has many plants and hiding spots. as of the day before the tattered fins which was this morning.

Thanks,

MegK

that tank is WAY to small, and the fish u have in there will attack other fish. no surprise, and ur tank is new and might not b cycled properly.

be prepared for the wave of people that will repeat that and expand.

Lupin

The only explanation is one of your cichlids had a conflict with it.
Kyle, what food are you using? What made you reach to this statement? If it were lack of food, your fish would have suffered from malnutrition and deformed fins. It is your puffer who is responsible for the tattered fins for the following reasons stated below.
1. Overcrowded conditions taking note that the rope fish needs a bigger tank growing at a max length of 2 feet and more, puffer being brackish water and growing too large for a ten gallons and two cichlids requiring a 25 gallons minimum alone. Your cichlids are classified as territorial and violent conflicts are quite prominent in very crowded conditions. Consider the adult size before buying a fish. Unless you upgrade on short notice, please return them to your lfs and stick with smaller species. Research before you buy.

2. Puffers are notorious fin nippers. It is not surprising at all. It is part of their reputation and nature regardless of how much you can claim you never saw them bully each other or the case of puffer not bullying as you claim you have observed.
It will be a good idea to thaw them first before you drop them straight away. Fish will not tolerate the sudden change in temperature which can severely damage their body organs.
I would recommend getting a 5 gallons tank as a temporary hospital tank run by a sponge filter and a heater along with a pot for hiding place and practically no substrate until it recovers. Provide plenty of foods (do not stick to only one) and feed it twice a day with one day fasting per week. Stick with vegetable matter and stop feeding your cichlids meaty foods such as bloodworms. My guess is both are mbunas which are prone to bloat/dropsy due to excessive proteins which is quite high in bloodworms especially frozen ones.

Get Melafix and treat the injured fish with it. Do plenty of water changes as well by doing 20% on daily basis and get API liquid test kit to monitor your ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH. Please keep us updated with the progress by posting the actual results. Your tank has not completely cycled yet. You want zero ammonia and nitrites if you want to successfully keep all fish alive. Both ammonia and nitrites are quite toxic to fish and these can severely damage them resulting in shorter life span.

What is your filtration? Stick with filter floss and sponge as the only filter media for your filter.
What plants do you have? Your cichlids will eventually uproot and destroy them. We would like photos if at all possible as some plants are not truly aquatic and will rot in your tank.