Young Cyp wasting away

[joe4cyp]

Every time I raise a batch of young Cyps, about half of them never make it to adulthood. The ones that make it to adulthood are healthy and always ready to eat. The ones that don't make it slowly waste away. They seems to be interested in food but are more timid when it comes to feeding time. Whatever they take into their mouths get spit out. I have searched on the web and read through several forums. Even though many others are experiencing the same wasting-away phenomenon, there does not seem to be consensus on the cause. Some speculated that it is caused by internal parasite. Some believed that Cyps require additional nutrition over and above what is available in flake food. BTW, I do feed frozen brine about 2-3 times a week to supplement flakes. I also do 40% water change once a week.

I suspect that the Cyp is a very nervous fish. In the wild, it is possible that Cyps of similar size stay together. In the aquarium, it is not possible for smaller Cyps to avoid the bigger Cyps. Therefore, the smaller ones get intimated and they go into stress. Once stressed, they cannot keep food in their bellies and start this wasting-away process. I don't have room for more tanks now but hope to add at least one more next summer to prove my hypothesis. But if you can shed some light on this problem, I will appreciate it very much.

[Pam Chin]

Hi Joe,

I would need to know more about your tank set up, what size it is etc. However with the few comments that you have provided I would say the following.... Food is a big issue especially with fry and juveniles, dry foods do not cut it, sure you will have some that survive, but without the proper diet you are going to have losses. 2nd... Frozen adult brine shrimp has no nutritional value, and I believe that you can have lots of issues feeding that Did you know that frozen brine is the dead stuff at the bottom of the barrel that they could not sell live. Compounded with the fact that you don't know how many times that it has been thawed out and refrozen. I think it is possibly the worst food you could feed your fish.

I think it best to research the fish you are working with and try to provide a diet that is close to what they would eat in the wild. Cyps are plankton feeders, freezed dried plankton or even mysis shrimp are going to be a much better alternative. For fry freshly hatched baby brine is the only way to go and I also feed it to the adults.

I'm not sure at what age you are adding the juveniles, but it can become an issue. Trying to add smaller fish with older fish doesn't always work out either. Cyps are very territorial, this territory is virtual, and older males can be very intimidating.

It only takes a few things to go south, wrong foods and tank mates are the usual suspects. Once a cyp is stressed or can't claim a territory then they go nuerotic on you, stress is the biggest cause of the bloat.

Cichlid Power!
Pam