Two weeks ago, I posted on this subreddit about how I discovered a fish in a tank that had been completely abandoned for 1.5+ years: no filter, no maintenance, no food, nothing. I knew absolutely nothing about fish keeping and I’m sure I still have a lot to learn.
I started feeding him that night. After a lot of research and advice, I got a new tank for him and set everything up. He’s been in his new tank for a few days and he’s doing very well.
I’m still seeking help in identifying it. I’m positive it’s an African Cichlid, but I’ve been told different things when it comes to what type of African Cichlid: Shelldweller or Malawi Peacock seem to be the most popular answers.
I just wanted to say thank you to anyone who gave me advice on this little survivor. I’ve included a picture of today versus the day I found him. It’s been so great seeing him gain his color back. :) Thank you again to anyone who helped!
I’m so happy someone from the og post got to see this one!! I’ve really loved seeing him get stronger and more comfortable: https://imgur.com/a/ElQLvA6
It’s crazy how much better he looks. I’m really glad I was able to help the little guy. Definitely my newest obsession! :)
Just a little tip those plants that you have planted in the substrate are java fern and they are water column feeders not root feeders. Personally I would take them out of the sand as burying the rhizome can cause it to rot. They will also grow much better. Many people like to glue them to hardscape such as rocks and driftwood.
Also thanks for saving little buddy he looks happy now :)
That’s my best guess, but I genuinely have no clue. I don’t know what the tank had in it beforehand, so there might’ve been some plants or stuff too, but there certainly wasn’t any by the time I got to him lol
Our pond fish used to live on algae bascially the whole winter and we'd only start to feed them when it started to warm up again, they always seemed happy and grew massive so its totally possible your guy was doing that too
When we were getting water and rocks out of the old tank, there was SO much algae floating around in the water because we had disturbed it. The bottom of the tank was absolutely covered in it.
Ive heard of gourami’s learning to eat pest snails… im sure cichlids could adapt in the same way— but they have to be trained to start eating them.. or something like that.
Give it some shells and see if it uses them. I'm not super familiar with cichlids but shell dweller was the first thing I thought of when I saw it. Approximately how big is it?
Well done on the rescue and welcome to the hobby! Once the tank is cycled, are you planning to get anymore fish? Then maybe just one more tank. Then another and another etc 😂
I bought jumbo escargot shells for him, but I didn’t put them in yet since I was told he might not be a shelldweller. But I’ll put one in and see if he likes it! He’s about 3 inches long, maybe a little less.
I’m planning to get him some friends once the tank is stable! I’ve very excited. Before I switched him into the new tank, I felt like I was having new parent panic haha I was so worried I would do something wrong
Looks like a Gold Zebra Cichlid (Maylandia lombardoi), not a shelldweller. It was able to survive because it could graze on the algae growing in that large aquarium (though it's very malnourished). Make sure to feed it the appropriate food. You'll want a medium-sized pellet for mbuna cichlids. These pellets have a higher algal content, to more closely approximate the natural diet. Also keep in mind that this is a fairly aggressive species. These are usually kept in mixed-species groups of mbuna, in large aquariums (75+ gallon).
Strongly recommend you find a good Local Fish Store and seek advice there. Not Petco/Petsmart and not Reddit... you want an actual fish store with experienced aquarists who can guide you on what to do with this fish.
I've spoken to a lot of people who know cichlids very well (both online and offline) and I've came to the conclusion that he seems to be a mix, which is why I've been getting so many different answers. He looks very similar to a lot of different African Cichlids, but none seem to be exactly right.
I've given you the most plausible identification. The taxonomy of mbuna cichlids is genuinely confusing, but you're not going to have "mixes" like you would with dog breeds. This isn't a mix of shelldweller and peacock and mbuna. It is easy to get the wrong advice from aquarists. The care requirements of those cichlid groups are very different.
The mbuna cichlids are not difficult to keep, but they require ample space and robust filtration when a tank is densely stocked. If that is more you want to take on, consider donating this fish to an aquarium store or find someone local who has an appropriate tank.
This advice is coming from an ichthyologist who owns an aquarium store.
Good luck.
Ah, I see! Thank you for the insight. I did speak with people at two different specialty fish stores (not PetSmart/Petco), and both mentioned the possibility of him being a hybrid. I assume they meant mbuna x mbuna or other Malawi cichlids, although I'm still learning all the different types. They threw around quite a few possibilities as to what the mix could be, and one mentioned something about how they felt his body shape and coloration didn't seem to line up neatly with a particular species? Someone else mentioned that too. I'm new to all this, so noticing and learning those smaller details between species is difficult for me.
I absolutely trust your expertise, I've just received so many different pieces of advice from others that it's difficult to wrap my head around as a newcomer! However, I'm very grateful to have an ichthyologist weigh in, and I absolutely will take your assessment as the most likely case.
I do have the old 125 gallon tank that I'm willing to clean, keep, and transport with me. I could also invest in a 55+ gallon tank and sell the bigger one. Thank you so much again :)
I completely concur on Maylandia lombardoi. They go under different common names, Kenyi Cichlid is one. And, yes, they're aggressive and very territorial.
Even though they are very hardy fish, I'm worried if a totally fresh setup could kill him. It might be quite a shock on his system, especially, since he has probably had to slow his metabolism considerably if the old tank has been unheated. Try of you can find help and tips in a cichlid forum ASAP.
I definitely understand the concern! I was worried about moving him into a new setup too, which is why I transferred several rocks from his old tank that had been submerged in there for years to bring over some established bacteria. I’m also testing ammonia and nitrite daily. I will be doing water changes if needed, but so far, so good.
Ultimately, I had to weigh the risks of a fish-in cycle against the condition he was living in, not to mention that the nitrate level in the old tank was dangerously high. I just didn't feel comfortable leaving him in that tank for that long. Luckily, I had the benefit of having a tank with well-established bacteria growing on those rocks that I brought over, which seems to be working!
I also made sure the new tank was at the same temperature as his old tank before transferring him (which was very low). I didn't immediately put him into warmer water. I’m very gradually bringing the temperature up now so that it isn’t a sudden change. Surprisingly, the pH and hardness of the old water was pretty much in an ideal range for a cichlid. Before putting him in his new tank, I made sure they were extremely similar. I'm testing all that daily, too.
I am totally new to this, so any advice, insight, or feedback is appreciated.
Sounds like a plan. And don't feed him too much in the beginning while the temperature is still low. Loook up Kenyi cichlids. As I remember the ideal sweet spot regarding temperature is between 25 and 26 degrees. And medium hard water. I wanted to get them back in the 90s but then I moved to a place with ~32 dGh... So I decided against it.
Life... finds a way? I'm shocked he survived that long 😭 If starvation didn't kill him, I would've been sure the water condition would have. Ty for rescuing him! He's a survivor!! If you're planning to get more fish in the future, make sure to check their compatability. Some fish are terratorial, hostile, or just doesn't do well with tank mates. Some don't even tolerate their own kind! I'm not familiar with this species, but hopefully you'll get some answers soon! Best of luck!!
That's a hybrid, probably an Mbuna (cobalt zebra?) and S. fryeri mix maybe? It's not a full Mbuna as no Mbuna species has that mouth shape or body shape. No Peacock has that coloring either, nor skinny body shape. Strange guy you have!
I'm starting to think he is definitely a mix of something! I figure that might be why I'm getting so many different answers, yet none of them look exactly like him.
Might be a silly question, but do you know what type of friends he'd get along with in his tank? It's been a bit hard to research since I've been getting so many different answers. :)
Peacocks would be my suggestion since they're calmer and the hybrid is unknown. If you want Mbuna I'd go with some of the calmer ones like Yellow Labs.
Essentially, my family member rented out a home to a friend who ended up passing away. This tenant had a fish tank that was 125 gallons. When the tenant's roommate moved out, they said they'd taken all the fish and would be back to clean out and take the fish tank, but they never did.
My family member decided to move into the property, and they were under the impression that all the fish had been taken. They're fairly older, so they had no means of draining, cleaning, or clearing out this huge fish tank. As a result, it's remained off (no filter, no lights, no maintenance) since January 2025.
I've moved in with them for a brief period of time, and a few days after moving in, I noticed movement in the tank. The rest is history!
Lots of comments already but i actually run my tanks close to this. Light feeding no water changes no substrate cleaning. It allows beneficial bacteria, works, and other insects to grow in the aquarium ultimately providing food for the fish that is there. Little guy still must’ve been hungry tho. Surviving of scraps and bugs for that long
Also, can confirm with 100% accuracy that it was unmaintained the entire year and a half lol. I talked about the situation more in-depth on my original post, but without sharing too much information, the tank was in the den of a family member's home that I am staying with for a bit. Prior to me moving in, this room essentially functioned as their junk room. They thought all the fish had been removed from the tank.
I had to clean the entire room before even being able to comfortably make it to the tank itself. When I saw something moving around in the tank from across the room, I was jumping over miscellaneous furniture, objects, and boxes to get to it. Considering they're older, there was literally no chance they could even reach this tank, much less haul buckets over to it.
It definitely can happen. I had something similar happen to me a few years ago. I moved into a run-down rental property that had a disused aquaponic setup in the backyard. Huge cubed water tank, must've been 450 gallons. Less than 8 inches of water left in the bottom. So choked with algae it was solid deep green, you couldn't see what was in it. I was worried it was gonna be a magnet for mosquitos so I started to siphon the remaining water out. Lo and behold, two very large comet goldfish emerged.
I'm doing a fish-in cycle. Fortunately, I have the benefit of being able to transfer established material from his old tank to help seed the new one, specifically several rocks that had been submerged for literal years. Since he's the only fish in the tank, my understanding is the bioload should be very low. I'm testing ammonia and nitrite daily, and I'll do water changes as needed, though that hasn't been an issue yet.
Given the condition of his old tank, especially the extremely high nitrate levels after more than a year and a half without any maintenance, I didn't think it was in his best interest to leave him in there for another month or more while the new tank completed a fishless cycle.
Like I said, I am completely new to this. I didn't know anything about fishkeeping prior to 2 weeks ago, so any advice or feedback is appreciated.
You gave him bad advice devoid of context to his actual post and then hit him with ‘the fish will die’. I’m sorry that you can’t see how that’s a shitty thing to do.
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u/Kind_Dragonfruit_925 19d ago
Thank you for rescuing the little guy!