What's killing my African Cichlids? Update on my Two Tanks

In this video I give an update on my Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyikan tanks. I also share with you what I believe is the cause for two of my lovely Lake Malawi cichlids passing away, and how I'm going to fix it!
Timestamps:
0:37 - Fluval FX6 competition
1:11 - What's killing my Lake Malawi cichlids?
2:24 - What a very sick aquarium fish looks like
3:16 - Different types of medication
4:06 - My fish that died - one of my favourites :(
6:06 - Tanganyikan tank update
6:58 - Breeding in the Tanganyikan tank
9:03 - Treating a tank with praziquantel
11:34 - Dosing and adding praziquantel into an aquarium
14:19 - The next day
15:49 - Upcoming merch!
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Happy fish keeping!! :D

[@brianp6180]

Love the lake tanganyka tank! Looking good. You got me wanting to start another tank!

[@kansasgilleo8963]

Cobgrats on 50k!!

[@nix_cosplay]

I think it's good to share when things go wrong and what to look for, even if it's sad. Less experienced people may not look at breathing pace and swollen gills.

[@Kaityscichlids]

100% agree!!

[@adamgeiger4990]

Hi Kaity, Beautiful tanks. Ive had africians all my life and Ive never seen such perfect lighting. What are they?

[@laurag1076]

Congratulations on 50k! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@TheOriginalBrian]

Hi Kaity. You might want to look into salt dips for flukes. I know we do fresh water dips for salt fish flukes. May be worth doing some research. If you can get them out of the tank may be a good idea to do to new fish you add to your tanks. Just a thought.

[@JonVlogs123]

Hello Kaity, great update, the tanks look amazing. 😎👍

[@bethanysummers3377]

I have just started a peacock only tank after my turtle recently died😢. I was doing Rainbowfish with him but the turtle decided they were good snacks so i gave them to my husband for his tank only a few weeks ago. Thought i would give Africans a go for something different! I hope the meds work for your fish. Merry Christmas 🎄🎁

[@pascoerusso8615]

Hi Kaity , congrats on reaching 50k mark .. I remember joining your Chanel when you had only 1k .... So sad that you lost those 2 beautiful african cichlids ... also great video as always Thanks beautiful 😊🤗

[@davidglass914]

Thank you for the contents. My cichlids had died a few months ago. Now I'm starting back up with cichlids again. I have a 60 gallons (227 liters) and I am doing peacocks. Don't know if I will put in mbuna as well. But, I thank you for helping me to know what type of food to buy for them. Thank you again and hope your fishes get well soon. By the way, I wish I could enter in n the giveaway but I live in the united states.

[@rodrigoss8061]

Praziquantel (Prazipro is the best I've ever used) is recommended for treating the entire tank, but it needs 2/3 treatments to reduce the number of parasites and keep the tank healthy. When a fish is heavily infested, whether with dactylogyrus or gyrodactylus, the parasites cause serious lesions on the fish's skin and gills, some bacteria take advantage and the lesion becomes infected. There are some ways to "clean" the fish of parasites and bacterial infection - formalin bath, potassium permanganate bath (pp bath) or treatment with seachem cupramine. These baths kill almost all parasites and allow the fish to begin regenerating, but cannot be done in the main aquarium. For heavily breathing and affected fish, a bath in formalin, pp, is very effective, the fish seems to come back to life immediately. Then return the fish to the tank and continue treating with praziquantel

[@alevnafiz1676]

Aquarium salts eases the pressure on the gills and allows the fish to breath easier.

[@stephenevans7884]

This is hella interesting

[@user-qp9jq5vt2r]

I hope it worked your tanks and fish are awesome! Good luck!

[@georgeskondras1513]

The preferred treatment for Flukes, by far, would be Hikari PraziPro.... If that's what it is.. it's also a excellent fish dewormer

[@mattphillips6714]

For the 3 months of extended high temps reduce your light brightness to a moderate warm glow rather that your normal spectrum, you may find this helps reduce any aggressive behaviour.. I currently have South American cichlids and my Severums go less dominant with the whole tank, it also helps my tank stay cooler but I have lids and you don’t.. hope this helps you, have a great Christmas with your family or whoever you spend it with..

[@laurag1076]

Oh kaity, sorry to hear u are having g losses an issue, that sucks...can be such a guessing game and so disheartening... xx u are a good fish mum ❤😊

[@khoinguyen-yb3wr]

Hello Luv ur tanks Can you share what lights system that you’ve using? 🙏

[@Gary-yd4zm]

Beautiful tanks first of all... Absolutely amazing... What you should do is... Do about 50% water change and add aquarium salt and after a day do another 50% water change... And then add copper salts... But I would not feed them for about 3-5 days... They will be fine... I would also keep the light off because they seem more comfortable without light... I wouldn't put any medicine in there and trust me... Most of not all the aquarium disease can be combated by not feeding as much

[@MrEvilmitch]

Hmm im glad you made this video. I have a similar thing happening in my Mbuna tank . I put it down to aggression but now im thinking maybe i should investigate further 🤔 also congratulations on 50k subs 🎉

[@davidhart4789]

Congrats on the 50K subs. 🌹 I really enjoyed this as it was very interesting on how you were medicating the whole tank. Also you couldn’t have picked a better day for your drawing, December 22, is my 75th birthday. 🎂🎊

[@roohollahyeylaghiashrafi7095]

I'm so Happy for your fishes🎉❤

[@garageaquatics2023]

Well CONGRATULATIONS on the 50K mark Kaity! That's a huge milestone! Good luck with your fishies. It's always difficult losing our little fined friends. Hopefully that won't be the case here. I noticed at about 14:40 the pectoral fins on your Red Eureka (I think that's right) looked a bit tattered. Do you suppose that's due to the infection or is it getting beaten up by others because of a weakened condition? Looking forward to a positive outcome. Have a fantastic weekend! ~Ron

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much Ron 😁🎉🎉 I think that it's getting beaten up because it's unwell. I always find that happens, if one gets sick the others will start to go after it

[@gunnarjangs]

All the best for your fish and you!

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you!!

[@born2fightt]

At 5.13 u have bubble build up which could be from ammonia

[@katgoddard115]

Merch! ❤🎉

[@josepolanco1228]

Love your tank and content. Subscribed to you Channel

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much 🙏🏼❤️❤️

[@carlyh6913]

Dope video, good to see how everyone is doing

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you 😁🙌🏼

[@Wampity]

Simplest answer is always the answer in my experience. 1) What has changed in their diet / food of late? Alot of foods can have hormonal changes in Africans if there are changes in their protein type (Spirulina vs Crude Proteins) or amount of. Also of course fats, carbs and fibres and potential fillers on cheaper foods. Alot of brands will add hormones for colour (even if they claim not to it will usually be a derivative of a hormone or something that promotes an increase in hormone production directly or indirectly). 2) Any new fish added and if so, could they have brought parasites, bacterium or diseases?

[@imranduke1884]

Beautiful

[@bunnysparklzbunnytime5117]

I had an issue with camallanus worms. I have no clue how I got it after 3 years with nothing new going into the tank in that time. Their was no signs of those buggers in my fish. All of the babies started dying and then the adults started next. I ended up separating the last 20 of them into 4 ten gallon tanks. One day I was looking at them wondering why they where still looking horrible I saw one of those worms poking out of the worst fish. Ended up making some food with levamisol in it and dosed the tanks with it. Finally fixed the issue. Sad I ended up tearing the big tank down but I'm not messing with those again

[@jerrysfishroom3579]

I have struggled with my Tanganyika tank. Mainly the Tropheus. I had 8 Duboisi and down to one. I have treated with medicated flakes but no luck. I noticed they chased each other around. Have you had any issues with your Tropheus? Debating on trying again.

[@kangawallafox85]

Tropheus are best in a species only tank

[@izadajda5082]

Bardzo fajne akwarium 👍.

[@fatfishdesignzllc]

cool video, awesome tanganikya tank

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you 🙏🏼🙏🏼

[@BodgieFromStraya]

3:18 - malaSHITE green hahaha. Kaity, such profanity ill give my proper comment after I finish watching hehehe

[@cryptodownunder1806]

Good video to show the not so fun parts of owning a aquarium 🙌🏼the Cal's will breed in there also just slowwww growing 😊

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you!! Yes sooooo slow 🤣 Just need to wait a few years lol

[@JustAnotherAsianGuy2]

omg .... you really made over 50 k subscribers ..... nice ..... good job ..... i'm happy for you

[@juncuspatens]

Yay🎉new vids!

[@DANIIKANHIAS69]

Nice cichids

[@sammyringstrom1448]

Thanks for doing this videos bc i also want to get a bigger aquarium and get the cichlids🥰

[@pulsar150dtsi6]

Hi Mam , show your tank sump set up full and clear vedio..

[@z90012]

Hi what filters do you use on your tanks🤔

[@Kaityscichlids]

For the one with the black cabinet I have two Fluval FX6 filters, and the one with the white cabinet has a sump. I have a couple of videos on my channel about them if you check out the "My tank setup" playlist 😊

[@sirwilliam7988]

I had some really large Redfin Borleyi years ago that would have the same issue from time to time. They almost never survived once the other fish noticed it was weak. Never found out what caused this. On a brighter note. So glad to see the Tropheus doing well. Love the Black Calvus. Always wanted a pair myself. Maybe Santa has a 300 gal in your future to make a really nice Tang tank.

[@Kaityscichlids]

How interesting!! It used to always swim around with my Venustus, they seemed like best buddies. But once it got unwell the Venustus really went after her

[@paulmartin3946]

What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrates levels?

[@lylegc01]

Hope you get things cleared up OK, always sad to lose fish.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you so much 🙏🏼

[@cj.wijtmans]

hello kaity, i lost two gourami, i had no idea what is wrong with them, i tried anti fungul meds, anti fluke meds, anti worm meds, internal/external. I did not mix the meds and oxygenated well. They just end up passing anyway. Thank you for the video. The gourami were the same species, the other species of gourami were just fine! I also noticed some guppies doing the same scratching thing on the floor.

[@Kaityscichlids]

It's so tough sometimes you do everything and it's not enough 😔 I'm sorry for your loss ❤️

[@cj.wijtmans]

Well, i do (try to) not feel too bad about it. I hope you are doing well. Needless to say i will never buy from that store again. I also had the issue of the stores giving just incorrect information to convince you to buy (more).@@Kaityscichlids

[@AngusCaleb]

Also, be careful not to cross-contaminate the two tanks (you probably already know this). For example, don't use the same wet nets or syphon hoses for both tanks.

[@burrow2chase]

I’ve used the same syphon hose for all my 8 tanks. I guess it’s a good thing I’ve never had an issue! I definitely don’t want to have to have 8 different python hoses😂

[@peasandhapsforever110]

Great video, hey kaity the gel food you use can you tell me the ingredients. I have some friends who say it must have hormones in it to have the fish color up the way it shows. I say it does not have any in it

[@MakoyUnggoy]

I swear that Venustus of yours is bigger every time a new video is posted!...What are the darker Tropheus you have, they look like red rainbow or firecracker to me, I've got a single little firecracker rescue in with my 11 Acei and is doing well so far, I keep a close eye on them haha!

[@Kaityscichlids]

Yes it's seriously crazy how much it grows!! I don't realise until I look back at older footage. I can't think of their exact name right now, but they're some type of red Tropheus, they're not the rainbow ones. I would LOVE to get some rainbow ones though at some point if I can get my hands on them

[@th3wick3d3nd3]

I purchased 6 budgies earlier this year which are driving me crazy lol In early January two African Grey parrots will be arriving, I've almost finished the cage and super excited!

[@carlyh6913]

Hope ms. Red feels better ❤

[@Kaityscichlids]

Thank you 🙏🏼 I think she is doing better already! Fingers crossed she will make a recovery 🤞🏼

[@user-cy2pk3yq1r]

I like Kaity. Are you having a summer in Australia right now? I'm tired of cleaning the snow.:D A lot of snow!) Do you go on vacation to the beach in Australia?

[@Socialmediaisvile]

I just lost my fire mouth yesterday from rapid breathing and swollen gills , it was out of nowhere also , I’ll have to try that next time , I hate dosing the entire tank tho , good clip ..

[@Kaityscichlids]

I would especially hate having to dose it for ich because the malachite green would stain the texas holy rock soooo badly I think

[@alan61979]

Hopefully you don't lose anymore. You have some if the best Malawis I've ever seen.

[@zlamanit]

10:50 I couldn't believe that you just need 20ml, but I've checked it (twice) and that's what the label says. I'm using a different product which would need 150ml for the same volume. Have you dosed only for the added tap water or for the whole tank? I may try API because the brand I use was in my local store 20 years ago and it works so I never thought about changing it. Anyway, I don't know if you follow Cichlid Charmer, but he lost more than half his fish after he forgot to treat the tap water just one time. The fish looked really bad by the time he filled up the tank. I knew chlorine is bad for fish, but had no idea it could be this disastrous from just one water change.

[@Kaityscichlids]

I think I read about something similar to that!! It definitely can really do a number on them. I normally dose it for the whole tank just to be on the safe side because I usually change such a large volume of the water. Wow 150ml is HEAPS!

[@Lovablereece24]

Try using an airstone

[@roystevenson1297]

hi kaity how are you yah I do hope you get ur fish Healthy again soon I love ur tanks they look amazing 👍👍bcuz of you my fish is doing great ❤

[@canhobihanem2629]

Arkadaş çok güzel video olmuş eline koluna sağlık

[@jsaquaticX]

Love the bird 🐦..

[@Kaityscichlids]

Laila says thank you 😁🦜

[@jeromehorn7333]

When I had gill flukes I treated with aquarium salt. I started using aquarium salt with every water change after that and never had gill flukes issues again.

[@kiranr2174]

Aren't these cichlids fight's each other? How do you keep it up?

[@georgeskondras1513]

The higher the temperature, the more aggressive these guys tend to be.. personally I keep my tanks Around 24 find them to be less aggressive with the lower temperature

[@michaelmurray9232]

Artemis It's good and if you have flukes salt water dips. Specific gravity about .018 to .020. Needs to be done for a week 10 minutes first day and add 5 to 10 minutes until your at about 45 minutes. Once You Get to the 45 minute mark. Do that for a week everyday. And then every other day for another week so it takes about three weeks. You have pathogens in your tank and you will never be able to get rid of them. So When they get stressed their courtesy level increases, And it surpresses their immune system So then Whatever is in the system can then express itself Within a fish.

[@billmeyer4773]

Looking like you need a hospital tank for the sick ones. So you don't have to medication for all of them. ❤

[@bethanysummers3377]

Usually u need to treat the whole tank incase other fish have them too I would think? Not for every fish problem tho. We have a 3ft hospital tank in our garage just incase.

[@stevmstng5165]

Nice

[@manukmurthy5175]

❤

[@ironhorse4206]

I believe pathos is toxic if eaten

[@BadlydrawnBen]

Could be the pothos if the fish are grazing on the roots as they contain a toxin maybe try swapping the pothos for spider plants as they are non toxic. Pothos is fine with fish that dont graze on the roots

[@awilderireland]

I had (may still have) a similar issue. I tried every med under the sun. Well pretty much. For both internal and external parasites. I was sure it was flukes but treated for internal as well after two extended treatments for flukes. I tried to get some API General Cure from the states to add to their food. But Irish Customs nabbed it. 😂

[@th3wick3d3nd3]

You say we don't really have fish veterinarians but you literally are one after watching this video. Very informative. You rock!

[@AngusCaleb]

I think that one cure for parasites is to raise the tank temperature to 85 deg.+ for 5-7 days and the parasites will complete their life cycle. I am going by memory here back to my fishkeeping days (+40 years ago). So, please check this with your own research/sources.

[@JosephKarthic]

@Kaityscichlids remove the substrate completely, that's the only long term solution for sudden unexpected death.. Fish have new water every second in river, tanks are closed system with filter support, adding substrate make things worse, just try it once and you'll see the truth..

[@janghussain3438]

Please tell meat the name of the lamps are

[@Kaityscichlids]

They are Freshwater AI Primes 😊

[@26Tackle.reviews]

Orrr merch! i like a treatment called esha 2000! mix it with esha gdex for flatworms/flukes/tapeworms! totally safe to all fish/plants and your filters! never lost a fish when mixing 2000 and gdex! treated my asian arowana start of the year and bang on know!

[@sheikhshakib55]

Love from Bangladesh

[@dubaialabajwa786]

👍🏽👍🏽

[@max.0328]

Such a shame you've lost those fish after they have grown so big.it's one of the most frustrating things about the hobby,to have sick fish and loose them!🤬 I'm sure you Will be a pro in nursing them and cure them all.(you already did remind me of a nurse a bit ,every time you were wearing those white crocs 😄)

[@Kaityscichlids]

I know right 😭 That was one of the reasons I stopped keeping discus, because they would get sick so often. Always such a shame

[@pn7836]

They’re dying because of colour feeding. Need to also increase surface agitation to increase oxygen for the tank

[@malawicarsten]

Looking at Your fish I'm 99.999% sure you don't have gill flukes BUT bloat. Usually with Malawi's that is the biggest killer.

[@aronaeleven5574]

I would be so upset to lose any even after their cycle was due🐟🐠🐟🐡🐠🐟🦈

[@1967Stotty]

What a shame to lose such beautiful fish.

[@Kaityscichlids]

Yes such a shame 😔💔

[@brockcorbett780]

Hi Kaity

[@Kaityscichlids]

Hello!! 🤗

[@fishmunga1014]

At the very start it sounds like Laila has gone rogue. Lol.

[@Kaityscichlids]

😂😂😂

[@jaihunt6233]

My verdict is that you have a bully in the tank. In the first clip that you pointed out the sick fish you can see that there is another Aulonacara harassing it. The sick fish has torn dorsal and tail fins which is very typical signs that the fish is being chased and nipped. Further to this, when you pan out you can see the same blue fish be aggressive and chase others. Even at one point he had the whole end of the tank to himself. You can also see that a couple of your fuelleborni mbunas are showing signs of aggression. Also you mentioned that your kadango and mirrorball died. These are both very placid breeds of fish. Copadichromis naturally are a schooling fish and will not do well with pressure from mbuna. Mirrorballs are Placidochromis and as their name suggests are placid. You mentioned also that it was a female and had some sunken belly which to me suggests that she has been under some stress for a while. The Sciaenochromis is more than likely stressed from all the fighting happening in the tank. So my suggestion would be to either not mix the Mbuna and Haps together, or rescape so that the mbuna have a place to claim and the haps have some open water with 1 single tall piece of structure to break the line of sight if some fighting breaks out. Just my opinion. Happy Fish Keeping Legend 😁🐟

[@DetectiveLopez.]

Melashite green yeah 😂

[@jessenewman1610]

Just do a scrape test and check with a microscopic thats what everyone does with koi no need for guessing what kind of parasites you have

[@kmrem77]

Too bad the give away is only in Australia. You need to do something for US as you have subscribers here also to be fair love watching you!

[@Kaityscichlids]

I agree!!!

[@noaltravis2507]

she must be rich if she lives like that

[@nelsonmilian2578]

I’m not sure what I like to see more, your fish tanks or yourself!!!

[@bunnysparklzbunnytime5117]

I had an issue with camallanus worms. I have no clue how I got it after 3 years with nothing new going into the tank in that time. Their was no signs of those buggers in my fish. All of the babies started dying and then the adults started next. I ended up separating the last 20 of them into 4 ten gallon tanks. One day I was looking at them wondering why they where still looking horrible I saw one of those worms poking out of the worst fish. Ended up making some food with levamisol in it and dosed the tanks with it. Finally fixed the issue. Sad I ended up tearing the big tank down but I'm not messing with those again