# Nasty shock!!!



## Wayney (22 Jun 2008)

Well this morning when i woke up to turn on the lights on in my main tank i was absolutely horrified to find my prize male Convict cichlid torn to ribbons * a big understatement* and crammed into the corner of the tank, obviously frightened and nervous  
He looks like a survivor of a slasher movie *no joke*. I'm really upset to say the least, He's the first fish i ever bought and I've grown him on from the size of a five pence piece. 
I've subsequently moved him from the main tank into my planted 27gal tank and dosed accordingly with salt and revitiliser tonic to give him a fighting chance of survival. I wish i could get some pics of him so you could see the massive damage but he is just way too spooked at the mo and is constantly hiding.
I've got no clue who could of done this, the only tank mates are yoyo loaches,featherfin syno,peppered corys,rainbowfish,female convict and a blue acara *probably the main suspect*. 

Sorry to bring you all down with my somber story but i honestly feel like giving up the hobby as a whole if i lose him  

P.s. Does anybody else get this attached to their fish :?:


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## LondonDragon (22 Jun 2008)

Sorry to hear that, hopefully it will survive, thats the problem with fish some of them just eat each other and I know too well how we can get attached to fish, I loved my crayfish too and when my tank burst was sorry to see it go back to the LFS!

Hope it can come through and survive the ordeal  good luck


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## Wayney (22 Jun 2008)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Sorry to hear that, hopefully it will survive, thats the problem with fish some of them just eat each other and I know too well how we can get attached to fish, I loved my crayfish too and when my tank burst was sorry to see it go back to the LFS!
> 
> Hope it can come through and survive the ordeal  good luck



Thanks LD , I've managed to tempt him with some bloodworm goodness but other than that he's just not interested. Hopefully He'll pick up tomorrow coz he normally loves his food


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## Themuleous (23 Jun 2008)

Oh crap, keep us posted on his progress.

Sam


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## Wayney (23 Jun 2008)

Well i was expecting the worst when i got up this morning due to his injuries, but was extremely chuffed to find him happily darting around the tank and munchin away at what used to be a beautiful background of Rotala green and Vallisneria caulescens  
And at this very moment he is joyfully destroying the spiky moss that Ed sent me   ... but the important thing is that he's on the up


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## LondonDragon (23 Jun 2008)

Great news  now show us some photos


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## Wayney (23 Jun 2008)

LondonDragon said:
			
		

> Great news  now show us some photos



I'll see if i can get some pics tomorrow, but i fear that by then there wont much of a tank left to photograph   
The phrase'' Bull in a china shop" springs to mind


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## Dan Crawford (24 Jun 2008)

Nice one mate, you obviously care a lot for your fish and thats great,i was the same with my discus. It's great to see he's getting better and i'm sure the scape is a worthy sacrifice.


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## Themuleous (24 Jun 2008)

Brill news


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## Wayney (28 Jun 2008)

Well..... my bad luck streak just keeps on rolling on from strength to strength. I was carrying out my weekly maintenence, water changed-no drama there, algae scraped - all good, treated water back in the tank - almost finished, and when it came to turning everything back on i noticed a remarkable difference in water flow from the filter. So i turned it off again and checked everything was as it should be - and it was. Tried it again and this time there was no flow at all and a very loud vibrating noise SOOOOOO.... turned it off AGAIN and removed the impellor and straight away i thought...Hmmmm thats strange the ceramic shaft is'nt supposed to come out that easy SOOOOOOO.... i had a quick peek inside to find that the bleeding thing had snapped clean in two leaving the impellor to spin erratically inside the housing. SOOOOO.....Long story short I've been forced into putting the convict back into the main tank too early and as a result he's getting beaten up all over again and i fear he wont last too much longer as he has'nt fully recovered from the last time yet, but there's nothing i can do, i dont have any spare filters and my other tanks are marine/reef tanks.

This hobby can be a cruel mistress sometimes


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## Ed Seeley (28 Jun 2008)

Can you put a divider in to keep them separate?  Any piece of plastic that's large enough will do or a piece of glass.  Plastic mesh can be used too.


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## Wayney (28 Jun 2008)

Ed Seeley said:
			
		

> Can you put a divider in to keep them separate?  Any piece of plastic that's large enough will do or a piece of glass.  Plastic mesh can be used too.



I suppose i could try it but i really dont want to have to split them up. It's weird, in the day when the lights are on they're all fine, the male and female are constantly exhibiting breeding behaviour i.e. digging pits, chasing other fish away etc... But as soon as the lights are off the female totally changes and constantly harasses him to the point where he has literally no energy left.


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## Ed Seeley (29 Jun 2008)

With a divider they will be able to see and sense each other.  Then, when things seem to have calmed down, you should have a good chance of reintroducing them.  If you don't split them in some way your male will almost certainly be killed by the sound of things and then they will be more permanently seperated


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## Matt Holbrook-Bull (29 Jun 2008)

cichlidsrgr8 said:
			
		

> But as soon as the lights are off the female totally changes and constantly harasses him to the point where he has literally no energy left.



hmmm... this brings back memories


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## Wayney (29 Jun 2008)

Ed Seeley said:
			
		

> With a divider they will be able to see and sense each other.  Then, when things seem to have calmed down, you should have a good chance of reintroducing them.  If you don't split them in some way your male will almost certainly be killed by the sound of things and then they will be more permanently seperated



Well this morning i set about making a divider out of a spare tank. After cutting the glass to size and polishing the edges i was ready and armed with the divider and nets to manouver the fish. But as my luck would have it i was already too late   The poor little fella must have took too much punishment than he could deal with. To say I'm gutted is the mother of all understatements, to be honest i feel like jacking the whole thing in, a bit drastic i know but the whole tank was built around those two fish really and it's just not the same without him in it.
It's hard enough to lose a small neon sized fish but a 5" convict is a real kick in the crotch   

R.I.P.  to the best fish a person could wish for


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## Superman (29 Jun 2008)

Sorry to hear that. 
Don't give in tho, keep going.


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