[Big Fate]

Somethings defiantly wrong in my Lake Malawi tank and I need help to identify and fix the issue ASAP. My Mbuna's Flash more than usual and some do it excessively to where its obvious their scratching. I've notice a couple shake their head a little then kind of spaz out bouncing off the sand. A few of these fish I got from some members here on the site and they said they never acted that way before so its obviously not normal.


The first thing weird I noticed was little transparent worms in the tank. Not alot but enough to notice in a 150g. Not sure where they came from but they free float swim and my little guys will eat them. How the heck do you get worms in your tank? They say they come from un eaten food decay or a real dirty tank. Well I clean the tank once a week and vacuum the sand really well so not sure that's it.


Also a few times out the day all the fish get spooked when I first walk up to the tank.. they take off and hide then realize its me and come back out.

I've checked all my water parameters and everything's in check.. nothing out of the ordinary? Can someone help me sort this thing out? I'd hate to lose a big investment like this

Fish I keep are African Cichlids Lake Malawi Mbuna

 

[AndrewM21]

I would assume the worms mentioned are Planaria, which are harmless and come from uneaten food in the aquarium that eventually decays and builds up over time. My Mbuna do what you are describing occasionally, but very very infrequently. I have found this behavior to be more normal now than abnormal.

How frequently are your cichlids performing this type of behavior?

 

[fish monger]

Normally, that kind of behavior would tell me to be on the lookout for Ick. Has your tank experienced a sudden chill ? This will sometimes bring on Ick. Sounds like parameters and cleanliness are being handled.

 

[Big Fate]

Yea I think it's Planaria too only thing is these guys free float and swim vs sticking on the glass. I'm not over feeding so not sure if that's the issue.

My cichlids never use to do it but I'm noticing it several times a day now. They claim it's a territory thing and normal behavior but my gut tells me otherwise.

I've looked for ich but don't see any viable signs. Temp is pretty well balanced.
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[Big Fate]

I just got off the phone with a cichlid vet and want to get a second opinion from u guys here.He said I should be using aquarium salt at all times to help prevent parasites and ich in the first place.*Also he recommended I dose copper.* He recommended a brand called 'Cupramine'.* He said those two should solve my problem.What's ur take on this?
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[JDM]

Assuming that all you have in the tank are the cichlids, no snails or plants at least the salt and copper won't kill off anything else. As far as how effective or appropriate it will be, I'll leave others to comment as I would be purely speculating.

Jeff.

 

[fish monger]

In doing a little research, I couldn't find any mention of Mbunas requiring or benefiting from the addition of salt to their water. So that would make me a little nervous. As part of a cure for a limited time, it sounds reasonable. Beyond that, who am I to argue with a vet ? I did see that the dashing into the sand is normal for some Lake Malawi Cichlids; however, it is the sandy bottom species, not the Mbunas.

 

[thekoimaiden]

Not that I have any real expertise on cichlids, I just wanted to say that the salt he recommended is most likely NOT the typical salt used in fish tanks (which is actually just table salt). It's probably cichlid salts which are a combination of minerals used to make the water harder for these fish. I looked into this kind of thing when I was finding something to increase the GH of my tanks for my plants.

As for keeping aquarium salt (NaCl) in the tank at all times, there appears to be a pretty big split in the hobby about this. Just going to put that out there.

 

[AndrewM21]

I just got off the phone with a cichlid vet and want to get a second opinion from u guys here.He said I should be using aquarium salt at all times to help prevent parasites and ich in the first place.*Also he recommended I dose copper.* He recommended a brand called 'Cupramine'.* He said those two should solve my problem.What's ur take on this?
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I use Instant Ocean aquarium salt in all of my cichlid aquariums (I always keep it dosed in my cichlid tanks), you can grab a box for 10 Gallons and it will last you well over a year without issues, it'll cost roughly $7-8 if I recall correctly. Cichlids will tolerate almost any medication and I've only had a few outbreaks of ick several months ago and I bumped up the heat and used QuIck cure to handle it. Medications are not required to treat the ick, but cichlids will tolerate it if you choose to do so. They will tolerate upwards of 85-87 for a short period of time "comfortably", but I've only treated them at 84F for ick.

Good luck.

 

[MoneyMitch]

takes temps of 87 to kill ich, bumping the heat did nothing but speed up the lifecycle. coppersulfate is hard on fish, idc what kidn of fish you have and you have to be very carefull when dosing with it. as far as the flashing and shaking going on I noticve it ramp up and down in my tanks usually ill end up with a female or two holding a few days after all the flashing and shakeing. I wouldn't get too worried unless the fish start to appear stressed. no need to medicate if there isn't a problem or if their immune system can handle it alone.

 

[Tazman]

You can get Lake Malawi salts that are designed to buffer the water exactly like the real lake.

These also offer added protection although not a cure against scratching / ich as the water is more to their liking. Have you tested the water recently and if so, what are your parameters, ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate?

Dosing copper is a very specialized procedure and should not be attempt unless you have a good, reliable test kit, you can crash a tank and kill the inhabitants very easily.