Weird Fish behavior

[Gir]

Ok my fish suddenly have been acting really weird.
First off I have 5 goldhead compressiceps (2 m and 3 f) and then 3 electric yellows (2 m not sure about the 3rd).
They are super jumpy to every movement outside the tank. They used to be very comfy with me and swim up and greet me and such. Also lately Ive seen one of 2 of the compressiceps sort of sitting on a rock, and they will stop moving their fins for a second, but they usually only sit down for a few minutes. One of the male compressiceps (compared to the others) opens his mouth a lot more when he breaths, but hes done that since I got him, and has seemed healthy so far. but this particular male has been hiding a lot more lately.
I saw a little stringy poop on one of the yellows (dominant male) one time, so Im not sure if there is an infection cause I havent seen it happen again.
Any help would be awesome, thanks !!

My tank is a 75 gallon with an underground filter using 3 marineland 1140 powerheads (330 ghp) I also have a penguin 330 that I added about a month ago (so it should be cycled in now). Using lava rocks and about 2" of gravel.
Nitrite shows 0 (done with AP test)
Ammonia shows 0 (done with AP test)
ph I tested with a hagen kit and it read off the charts, but when my lfs tested it they came up with 8.4 through an Aquarium pharmasuticals test, so I dont know which is right.
Also a hagen test showed that I had 0 nitrates (not sure that I trust nitrates)

[SGypsyMermaid]

what is your water changing schedule?

[Gir]

my schedule is twice a month for about 25%-30% and gravel vacs each time.

oh and I just got an AP nitrate test and tested 20 ppm, so that should be fine.
I just dont know what else I can do
they are darting all over the tank when anything happens

[SGypsyMermaid]

have you rearranged the tank decor lately? i had some fish get really nervous and jumpy when i rearranged their tank and left too much open space--they relaxed as soon as i added more rock in the open spaces.

[Gir]

actually in this last water change we took out some rocks, maybe I will put more in let them feel more secure.

what should I do about the one female that always seems to be resting on a rock ?

I did a fastest (saltwater) ph test today and got 8.0 Im not sure if salt water tests will work for fresh. but shouldnt I put the ph up around 8.4 or so ?

[SGypsyMermaid]

it would be better for the tangs if the ph could be raised a bit(gradually), but how would you do it? what kind of substrate/rocks do you have in your tank? will you add crushed coral to the filter. i think that it is preferable to use a method which does not require you to add chemicals to the tank with every water change.(just my own preference) sorry...i don't know if saltwater tests are different from freshwater...why not assume that they are and get a freshwater test?

[Gir]

Just an update, I had my water pro. tested with an electric ph monitor and it was about 8.5 so I know Im good with that. And as far their eating habits go they all seem to eat well when they arent hiding and see that there is food out.

im worried that they will die if I dont do something

[Gir]

I havent seen one of the males eat in a day or 2, I dont know if hes too scared to come out, or if hes sick

I did a water change this weekend and added a lot more rocks (fo rmore security).

[SGypsyMermaid]

check out this thread: http://www.cichlidforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=80

i don't know what is wrong with your fish, but i would try adding aquarium salt--about a tblspn per five gallons. be sure to dissolve the salt in water before adding it to the tank. i would add it gradually over the course of about an hour.

[Gir]

actually I have salt in there already (same dosage) and I add some every water change
im wondering if they are starting to get bloat (from something)

[SGypsyMermaid]

what are you feeding them? your fish are equipped to handle large amounts of protein--they are not the ones that require a lot of veggies. and with your water changing schedule, your water quality should be excellent, so i really don't think that bloat is your problem. weren't your first group of compressiceps wild-caught? they could have brought a parasite with them. there are some non-medicinal anti parasite fish foods available--they might be worth a shot, at least for the fish that are eating.

[Gir]

First off thanks for all the replies :)
ITs nice having a second opinion when dealing with this

I took out the 2 males from the tank and now the rest of the fish are acting normal again.
I put the 2 males in my hospital tank and so far one is breathing really hard and still paranoid and getting beat up by the other one. The other one sits in a cave with his fins up all the time. Im wondering if I should get some kind of medication that treats a lot of things like clout, but Ive heard it can cause fish to be sterile.

[SGypsyMermaid]

First off thanks for all the replies :)
ITs nice having a second opinion when dealing with this

I took out the 2 males from the tank and now the rest of the fish are acting normal again.
I put the 2 males in my hospital tank and so far one is breathing really hard and still paranoid and getting beat up by the other one. The other one sits in a cave with his fins up all the time. Im wondering if I should get some kind of medication that treats a lot of things like clout, but Ive heard it can cause fish to be sterile.

are you sure that the problem is not aggression? can you separate those two?

[Gir]

thats a good possibility. the only way I could separate them is if I take the healthier looking one and put it back in the main tank.
neither of the males ate today (both in sick tank) so maybe I need to separate them.
I was wondering if I needed to medicate since one was breathing so heavily and they havent eaten yet.

I know I have an aggression problem with the electric yellows I have. one of the 2 males is super bright and one recently is super pale, so I think he needs to be taken out too

[Gir]

Ok, I took out the more dominant male and put him back in the main tank, keeping the beat up one in the sick tank. after about a half hour everyting was back to what I think is normal, they are still a little skiddish, but when it came feeding time they were all begging like they used to :)

Also the one in the sick tank actually ate, so hopefully I can nurse him back to health and find him a nice home.

Thanks for all the suggestions and Ill keep ya posted.

[SGypsyMermaid]

Ok, I took out the more dominant male and put him back in the main tank, keeping the beat up one in the sick tank. after about a half hour everyting was back to what I think is normal, they are still a little skiddish, but when it came feeding time they were all begging like they used to :)

Also the one in the sick tank actually ate, so hopefully I can nurse him back to health and find him a nice home.

Thanks for all the suggestions and Ill keep ya posted.

good news!! :lol:

[Gir]

so far so good
the smalles female goldhead (half the size of the other 2) is extremely shy and hides a lot but I think thats ok. she is still eating ok