African Cichlid starting to twitch!!! Why is this happening?

Question

I have 10 cichlids in a tank and do weekly 25% water changes, dechlorinizing the water and adding salt accordingly. I recently noticed that two of my fish have begun to twitch uncontrollably sometimes, are very lethargic in movement, seem to be gasping for air and are eating quite less. Any idea what could be causing this? My other 8 fish are large and healthy. I recently added 2 Chinese Algae eaters.... things seem to have started then...any advice would be appreciated.

I forgot to mention that I had driftwood in there that was "tinting" my water a coffee colour. I simply removed that, did a water change and all the fish are totally back to normal.

Answer 1

As well as mating behavior, twitching is often a sign of a vitamin deficiency. Seeing as how you're also noticing lethargy and loss of appetite with your little guys, I'd imagine that this could be the problem. If you're not feeding a food meant for your kind of cichlid, consider getting some. Also, make sure you keep their diet somewhat varied, and feed frozen foods from time to time.

It is possible that your new Chinese algae eaters could have introduced disease into your tank, especially if bought from an irreputable store. For the future, consider investing in a ten-gallon tank/filter/heater/aerator setup for use as a quarantine tank, and put all new arrivals in there for at least two weeks to make sure they aren't sick. You can also use the quarantine tank in a situation like this, where you should ideally take separate the sick fish from the healthy ones.

If these fish continue to show signs of sickness, or the other fish start to show the same symptoms, consider adding aquarium salt. Take notice to see if your fish have any growths, discolorations, or lesions. If this continues, join the boards at Flippers and Fins, where everyone is extremely knowledgable. There is even an honest-to-goodness doctor on board to help with fishy issues.

Good luck, and I hope your fish are ok!

EDIT: So when you noticed the driftwood was tinting the water, did you test your pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels? After thinking about this for a couple of days, the gasping and lethargy are commonly symptoms of high ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels.

Also, do you have an air stone in the tank to add extra aeration? I never did ask how big the tank is, but depending on how big it is, you may simply not have enough oxygenation for the number of fish in the tank.

Answer 2

African Cichlid

Answer 3

Well done on the 25% water change a good thing to do..when you are changing the water you should make sure that the new water being added is more or less the same temperature as the water in the tank.Cause putting in colder water can give the fish the shimmies.

Just to be safe it would be a good idea to quarantine any fish that becomes ill for two to three weeks just in case they have something contagious.

Answer 4

"Twitching" or 'seizure'-like shaking (like a rattlesnake's tail) is a typical visual display common in many african cichlids (they usually do this in the immediate vicinity of another african cichlid).

Basically it's serves two purposes: attract females and threaten competitors or rivals. They usually extend their fins and their colors become more vibrant. (it's usually the males that do this).

Perfectly normal behavior for these particular fish. They start to perform this shaking as they approach maturity.

If they're twitching without any fish near them then it may be something else.

Answer 5

First, you should quarantine all new fish. The twitching, is the rapid movement from side to side, is also witnessed when sexual maturity is reached. The males sometimes do this "courtship" behavior even when a female is not present in the tank.

Answer 6

Check your nitrate and amonia and nitrite levels....