When you see other freshwater and sea fish scouring rocks, wood, plants, ground cover or other hard objects, you can assume that these fish are most likely to have parasites.
- The fish will scrub and try to remove the source of the irritation.
- When African cichlids scour themselves, it has a different cause.
Various sizes of Cichlids African scour themselves, even young brood that have only been released by the mother for a few hours can scour.
The Main Cause
The cause of the sanding is most likely due to the change of the water, or due to incorrect water conditions, African cichlids require very hard water, a high KH is desirable with this type.
By filtering over certain filter substrate you keep the water at the correct KH value, once the filter substrate is saturated it will no longer suffice to handle the correct water values, and the water will become softer.
- This can be a cause of chafing in African cichlids.
- The most common is a drastic water change, a change in temperature, PH or hardness.
- Usually this happens when changing the water, and the sanding of the fish will increase in the first hour.
- This is because they have to get used to a new osmolarity (number of molecules per liter).
- Their skin will become more irritated and the chafing is an attempt to reduce that discomfort.
- If the water is not brought to the ideal values, the sanding will increase and the fish will damage their mucous membranes and scales to cause wounds.
- These wounds can lead to infections or worse, death of the fish.
Before you start worrying about your fish, it doesn’t hurt at all if African cichlids scour every once in a while, but it can hurt if they do this regularly or very often.
It is therefore advisable to check your water values for heavily damaged fish or when you observe regular to many abrasive fish.
Cichlids come in many shapes and sizes
Almost all of them display brood care; this is wonderful to view in your own aquarium. Some cichlids set high requirements for the aquarium water, others can become very large or difficult with others fish are kept. If you want to take the effort and time to delve into this fishing, there is sure to find a species that suits you and that you can enjoy for year stop have. Choose the right animal for your situation: read before buying whether cichlids are the fish you are looking for.
The cichlids (Cichlid) are a fish family that falls on the order of the perch. They are also called variegated bass. Cichlids are mainly found in Central and South America and in Africa, some species are found in Asia and Madagascar. It is a very large family new species are still being discovered. It is believed that there is at least more than a thousand species of cichlids. These species are very different in shape, size and behavior.
Conclusion
The shape of the body can be elongated or disc-shaped. Almost all types have a laterally flattened body. Most cichlids remain quite small, but there are also species that can reach almost a meter in length. What the cichlids have in common is that they have one nostril on either side of the head, while most fish have two. This family contains many popular aquarium species, such as the sunfish and discus fish. In aquariums Cichlids live on average ten years, but some species can live up to eighteen years captivity. Different types of the species of the cichlid family are in practice often divided into groups, by hand from where they naturally occur. This is how the classification is created: South American species. This includes the discus fish and angel fish.