When hubby was in the hospital I was in and out fairly often just to walk around and going out to smoke, they have a 75 gallon tank in the lobby full of African cichilds that have very bright colors and they always keep it clean. One night I was going out to smoke and stopped to look at them and 2 of them were laying on the bottom on their sides not moving at all. I told the guard that 2 of the fish were dead and he said no, said they did that often and they were just sleeping. I know fish sleep and I don't have any Africans but I've never seen that before. When I came back in 30 minutes later they were still laying there and the next morning I looked and I think they were missing from the tank, it was hard to tell cause they have so many....was he right? Do fish lay down and sleep sometimes?

I have Africans and sometimes in the morning I can come in and they are sleeping, as in stationary. But I have never seen them lay on the bottom. I would think there was a problem!

The tank had been cleaned that day, I talked to the guy doing it. He said he cleaned it twice a month but didn't know anything about the fish themselves. I found that odd, I wouldn't want a cleaner that didn't know if something was wrong or not.

When Oscars sleep, they will just drift motionless in the tank, quite often tilting to one side. I have never actually seen them lying completely on the side.

That is odd!! They require the same water readings as an Oscar so they must have had a GREAT filter running if they are only cleaning twice a month!

And who the hell would hire a tank maintenance person who doesn't know what they are taking care of?

They seemed to be cutting back on everything else so I guess tank care is pretty low on the list. I wanted to see the filter but it's under the stand and it was locked. He said they only feed them every 3 days too, I feed all mine everyday except the babies and they get several feedings a day.

HOLY CRAP!!! I feed my Africans daily! My O's are on an every other day schedule but everyone else gets fed everyday!

Well,Dont pay attension on his water change(twice a month?) thats pretty stupid..I clean my african tank 3 times a week to keep them healthy and colorful...if cleans the tank twice a month, I hope he has a strong filter.Also, what type of african's were they? Because Certain types of africans will do that, my moori's did that..but all the other mbuna's didn't.

I don't have a clue, they were in a tank at the hospital.