Who Gives A Fish Forums

Hi All & Merry Christmas.

I've finally got my first fish in my tank, after a fishless cycle and plenty of research - 4 Yellow Labs and 4 Yellow Tail Acei from the LFS. Initially, they were all very active, swimming up and down in one corner continuously, but this has settled down a bit. At times, they seem relaxed, swimming around the tank between the rocks, and this morning while the lights were off, they were all resting. However, most of the time, the cichlids are either swimming up and down in the corners with their noses pressed against the glass, or side to side across the front, keeping tight against the glass. The Acei's seem to be doing this slightly less.

I've also just noticed one of them flashing twice in a row - is that the right term for when they bounce sideways off the sand/gravel? I caught it on video, which I've uploaded here: https/vid.me/5lN4, and you can see some of the other behaviour I mentioned between 8-12 seconds.

Does this sound normal for new fish in a tank with potentially different water properties, or is it a sign of an issue?

I'd also love to know if my Yellow Labs look healthy - 3 of them have some whitish patches on their scales, and one is much more discoloured than the others. I've uploaded some pics, but they don't really show the white discolouration of the palest one very well.

To give some background, my tank is a 55g, fishless cycled with ammonia. I did a 95% water change 2 days ago using tap water filtered through a Pozzani Nitrate Filter, and I used API Stress Coat+ to treat the water. My tank readings yesterday were:

PH 7.4
KH 160 ppm
GH 280 ppm
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Tank temp 26c

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to be as detailed as possible. Essentially, I've got two questions - is this behaviour normal, and do my Yellow Labs look healthy?

Thanks all for any help or insight you can offer. I might be worrying about nothing, but I want to be sure.

Cheers, Graham

I'd say the fish are probably just exploring their new surroundings, rather than there being an issue. The colours of the fish seem pretty standard for what you'd expect from a fish shop, but they still look alright to me. For future reference, I'd recommend using private breeders for your fish purchases, as you tend to get a better quality of fish that way.

Hi, thanks for your reply, I really appreciate your input. The behaviour of the fish has indeed improved significantly over the last day or so, they seem to be much more settled now. I'm glad to see them swimming around and exploring the tank, it's a big relief.

However, I'm still a bit concerned about those white patches or spots on the Yellow Labs. I was wondering if it's possible that this could be the start of ich, or do they look okay to you? I've been reading a lot about ich and I know it can be a common issue in new fish, but I'm not experienced enough to know for sure. Any thoughts on this would be great, thanks.

I think they're probably fine, just normal colour variation. Fish can flash on the sand, but it's true, it can also mean they're irritated by something.