Ok, I have had a Red Devil Cichlid for almost one full year now, At his first few months he was living fine in a 10 Gallon whisper filtered Aqaurium, But as he grew... I relized he was taking a sudden "L" Shape apperance, I knew it immediatly as gorwing disorder, So, When I moved to Kentuckey in August, I bought a new black oak cabinet/Stand, and a nice 40 Gallon aqauriam. Now, the L shape is gone, and hes straight and normal, he swims fast, hes fine now. The bottom is filled with Earth Colored Gravel, He has one large tree/stump type thing in the right of his tank, he hides behind it sometimes when he sleeps, but he is always jumping at the sides of the tank to meet me! He has a large swimming environment, and hes only got the one obstacle, which is the stump tree thing. Hes so mean, every other fish I have tried to put in, he either eats or tears apart. He even ate his sucker fish. So, Right now all hes got with him his one VERY large apple snail, He cleans the tank nicely, but he gets knocked around alot by Mr.Meanie. I currently feed him Tetra Cichlid, Cichlid Sticks. There big huge sticks loaded with vitamins and stuff, I usually break them in half however, this makes them bite sized, But, Recently, hes been breaking them in half himself quiet easily. Right now he looks to be in good health, his tank is kind of scuzy, theres stuff floating around when he swims really fast he knocks it up, But he doesnt seem to be bothered by the nasty tank, like many Cichilds are, They poison themselves. Right now hes got one Penguin 350 filter, with two large wheels that each spill out water, and a large filter head that sucks up water nicely, I dont turn on his overhead lighting, Because I heard it grows Algae...? Should I buy a LIFEGLO fish light? Does that supply them with vitamin through the light? Also... I have filter trouble currently. Only one wheel is spinning, and barly, his tank is barly getting filtered, because his filter is soooooo gummed up. Anyone know any good ways to clean a filter? Thanks, So long.
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Hi Druid-man,
Your problem is your filter. It just isn't large enough for your tank and fish. The wheels on penquins have a way of stopping since the water flowing under them is all that is turning them. The Emperor line also by Marineland is much better and would solve your problem. Check on line fish supply places for good prices (That Fishy Place; Big Als; Drs. Foster and Smith).
Cleaning should be weekly siphoning. Buy a big size gravel vacuum or just a long piece of soft plastic 5/8" clear tubing. Then siphon away. Stir up the gravel and then suck out all the junk. I would change 50% of the water weekly.
Dry food is good but messy with big cichlids as they are messy eaters. If you could feed live earthworms things would be cleaner. Bugs are good too. With dry food try to get food that is a bit smaller than he can take so he will swallow it all and not spit out bits and pieces. Freeze Dried Krill is good too. Tetra Cichlid Food has alot of color added to it which can turn the water brownish red over time without regular water changes. This is its one drawback. You might also check out Omega One pellet foods or Hikari Cichlids Pellets. A site called <brineshrimpdirect.com> has some good foods too and if you look at links on cichlid sites you will find alot of food company choices.
Hope this helps. Devils are cool but mean and do best living alone. Wait until he or she is 9 inches with a big hump on the head (male). The light will help keep the color bright. There is also a line of foods called VibraGlow or something like that which are good color foods. The krill are excellent for keeping the red color too.
Bobby
Your problem is your filter. It just isn't large enough for your tank and fish. The wheels on penquins have a way of stopping since the water flowing under them is all that is turning them. The Emperor line also by Marineland is much better and would solve your problem. Check on line fish supply places for good prices (That Fishy Place; Big Als; Drs. Foster and Smith).
Cleaning should be weekly siphoning. Buy a big size gravel vacuum or just a long piece of soft plastic 5/8" clear tubing. Then siphon away. Stir up the gravel and then suck out all the junk. I would change 50% of the water weekly.
Dry food is good but messy with big cichlids as they are messy eaters. If you could feed live earthworms things would be cleaner. Bugs are good too. With dry food try to get food that is a bit smaller than he can take so he will swallow it all and not spit out bits and pieces. Freeze Dried Krill is good too. Tetra Cichlid Food has alot of color added to it which can turn the water brownish red over time without regular water changes. This is its one drawback. You might also check out Omega One pellet foods or Hikari Cichlids Pellets. A site called <brineshrimpdirect.com> has some good foods too and if you look at links on cichlid sites you will find alot of food company choices.
Hope this helps. Devils are cool but mean and do best living alone. Wait until he or she is 9 inches with a big hump on the head (male). The light will help keep the color bright. There is also a line of foods called VibraGlow or something like that which are good color foods. The krill are excellent for keeping the red color too.
Bobby
Yea, I know all that, Hes already got a huge hump on his head and hes pretty large, My only problem is recently the filter has been acting up. Hes lived this way for his whole life, pellet food, And the occasional cricket and mealworm (I have a bearded Dragon, Most of the times ive got plenty of crickets for him and "Bloodz" my fish) His tank hasnt been dirty until recently when the filter has been acting up. He has shown no sign of hurt from the lessening in clean water, but im worried, I dont want to let this go out of hand. About 25% of his water evaporates in a week, I just refill it with filtered tap water treated with all the fancy "Prime" and Decholrinator stuff. He doesnt spit out any of his pellet food, infact he likes it. Ill put maybe 10 long pieces in my palm, crush them up with my right hands knuckles, so that way theres about 20 smaller pieces, and he sucks in three or four at a time and eats them all, hungry for more. His water isnt really the problem, its just, since his filter has died out pretty much, Its left nasties floating around, like some huge algae flimsy pieces and some poop that turned into like mushy algae crap.
Anyways, he shows NO SIGNS of being ill at all, But I fear he will soon if I dont get a new filter installed or the one hes got now cleaned up!
Anyways, he shows NO SIGNS of being ill at all, But I fear he will soon if I dont get a new filter installed or the one hes got now cleaned up!
Hi Druid-Man,
Ok, one of your problems besides the filter is not truly changing water on the tank. You are replacing evaporated water which is not the same thing at all. When water evaporates only the pure H2O leaves -- all the minerals and waste stay in the old water. As you add more water and more evaporates your water gets harder and harder and your pH becomes more and more unstable. Your filter may have crapped out due to the "heavy" old water running through it. Fish love fresh water. So if 25% of the water evaporates, you need to siphon out an additional 25% and then replace that 50% every 1-2 weeks -- for a clean tank.
If you get a new filter think about an Emperor 400. It is like a heavy duty Penquin and will make your life much easier. Marineland makes both.
Devils are cool fish.
Bobby
Ok, one of your problems besides the filter is not truly changing water on the tank. You are replacing evaporated water which is not the same thing at all. When water evaporates only the pure H2O leaves -- all the minerals and waste stay in the old water. As you add more water and more evaporates your water gets harder and harder and your pH becomes more and more unstable. Your filter may have crapped out due to the "heavy" old water running through it. Fish love fresh water. So if 25% of the water evaporates, you need to siphon out an additional 25% and then replace that 50% every 1-2 weeks -- for a clean tank.
If you get a new filter think about an Emperor 400. It is like a heavy duty Penquin and will make your life much easier. Marineland makes both.
Devils are cool fish.
Bobby
superimposedhope
Somewhat Unstable
I prefer the AquaClear filters, those wheels are known for stopping.
The S. American cichlids are extremely hardy (Oscars, Dempsies, Convicts, 'Red Devil', etc...) They live through alot, I wouldn't worry about it too much except that you should try to get the filter back on its feet. I have had 2 Oscars and a 'Red Devil' for 8 yrs now and neve changed the water once. I just overfilter and thats all.
Joe
The S. American cichlids are extremely hardy (Oscars, Dempsies, Convicts, 'Red Devil', etc...) They live through alot, I wouldn't worry about it too much except that you should try to get the filter back on its feet. I have had 2 Oscars and a 'Red Devil' for 8 yrs now and neve changed the water once. I just overfilter and thats all.
Joe
