View Full Version : OMG My fish is gone all weird!!!!
kiz84
03-28-2007, 12:22 AM
:help:
I have been given a bunch of cichlids about 4 weeks ago (4 jaguars, 3 convicts & 2 white ones that I'm suspecting to be oscars).
One of the white ones has died already (I think he/she rammed itself into rocks from the look of it in the morning!) and about 4 days later the other one (much bigger) started to lie over on it's side.
I didn't think it was eating as it would not eat with the other cichlids so I took it out into it's own tank. It still has not stopped lying on its side & not eating. I have been feeding it ground ox heart & pellets from the LPS but there is ALWAYS a lot of it left over. It swims out from its rock cave I made for it and lies over on the heater. Then after a little while it will swim back under the rocks and lie for AGES. This has been going on for about 3 weeks now and it is starting to get a bend in the middle.
I have never kept cichlids or oscars before so I'm not sure what to do! Any help or advice would be much appreciated!
CagIII
03-28-2007, 12:32 AM
To figure out the problem we need to know the tank size and your water parameters. I may have an idea on the suspected oscars. Oscars can get bad attitudes. I had one that for the first two weeks would just lay on its side like it was dead but when i would put the net near him he would take off to another corner. Also i would leave the room and peak in to see hime swimming around and as soon as he saw me he would drop back down to the corner.
syddakyd
03-28-2007, 12:42 AM
no. im going to make the assumption this is less then a 100g tank. prolly around a 55g.
oscars are not that aggressive for their size. jaguars on the other hand, are viscious.
for each large cichlid you should have about 55g's of water alone.
for the 4 jags and 2 oscars, i would say you need 300g tank MINIMUM. the convicts will prolly get eater by the jags but they make good target fish for the mean time while they are the same size
TML29
03-28-2007, 12:55 AM
Please do some water tests and let us know. Do you do water changes frequently? Is this something that has happened since the first day you got your fish or just recently? Also, any food left uneaten should be netted out or the water quality will be affected.
Tank size is a concern but I wouldn't worry about that too much right now since it looks like you are having a bit of a situation there.
TML29
03-28-2007, 12:58 AM
no. im going to make the assumption this is less then a 100g tank. prolly around a 55g.
oscars are not that aggressive for their size. jaguars on the other hand, are viscious.
for each large cichlid you should have about 55g's of water alone.
for the 4 jags and 2 oscars, i would say you need 300g tank MINIMUM. the convicts will prolly get eater by the jags but they make good target fish for the mean time while they are the same size
You are not making an assumption here. You are making a judgment! That's not the kind of answer (or attitude) you treat a person with after their first post. For all you know their tank could be bigger than your house. They need help for crying out loud.
wataugachicken
03-28-2007, 8:25 AM
we won't know unless the OP responds with answers about the tank.
Thank you for all your replies.
I have found out for certain that 'Floyd' is indeed an albino convict not an oscar. Just a bit of background on me as I'm not a newbie to fish keeping - just cichlids! :) I've been around fish for my whole life & been keeping them for 10 years personally. The last 2 years I've been breeding siamese fighters & experimenting with colour-crosses, tail types etc. So I do understand about weater parameters & tank sizes etc.
Floyd's water is fine - I've done the required tests. I think the fish is pining for it's mate that died. It's all I can come up with as they are supposed to be very hardy fish and my other convicts have all bred! Right now, he is living in a 5.23 gallon tank. He was living in a 15gal tank. He is 6cm roughly and I do know that this tank and the other tank are both too small to keep him in permanently. I was given them as my friend wanted the tank to breed his bettas in.
He is still not swimming about at all. I tried shrimp pellets & even some tiny worms but he/she wouldn't eat them - just 'puff' them back out. Another weird thing I noticed was that he is getting a red dot on his/her forehead. It's really sad watching him lying there.
Star_Rider
04-03-2007, 3:19 PM
I guess it would help to know posted parameters.
that said...you recieved this fish from another person..do you know what the tank parametrers were in his old tank?
possible OTS maybe??
kiz84
04-03-2007, 11:40 PM
I actually don't think the person who I gave them to me was doing tests on the water... just changing it & they were all perfectly happy. I age my water & try not to add any extra chemicals in if I don't have to. BUT saying all this, Floyd is now covered in white cottony stuff - sort of like what food gets on it after a couple of hours in the water (I do remove any left over food that isn't eaten during the day). It is all over his eyeballs, tail mouth & body. He kind of looks rotten to be honest. I've treated him with an anti-fungal, but since he hasn't eaten I really don't think he will survive the treatment. I feel mean just letting him sit in his tank like that when I know the most likely outcome.
mneufeld
04-04-2007, 3:56 PM
sounds like ich, get some treatment going asap and he should be fine if its not too far along.
Blueiz
04-04-2007, 4:56 PM
Ich isn't white and cottony..its white and grainy like salt. Souns like you are doing the right thing treating for fungus..would really help if you could figure out why it has the fungus tho..
Blue
kiz84
04-06-2007, 12:37 AM
It definitely wasn't ich... more a fungus like cotton mouth or something. Anyway, he died yesterday afternoon so I'm really sad. :( He had such a cool personality!
legendaryfrog
04-06-2007, 7:59 PM
no. im going to make the assumption this is less then a 100g tank. prolly around a 55g.
oscars are not that aggressive for their size. jaguars on the other hand, are viscious.
for each large cichlid you should have about 55g's of water alone.
for the 4 jags and 2 oscars, i would say you need 300g tank MINIMUM. the convicts will prolly get eater by the jags but they make good target fish for the mean time while they are the same size
You are not making an assumption here. You are making a judgment! That's not the kind of answer (or attitude) you treat a person with after their first post. For all you know their tank could be bigger than your house. They need help for crying out loud.
well......his judgement was correct.
The guy he got the fish from is a total insensitive idiot. Its inhumane to put 4 jags 2 oscars and 2 convicits in the same tank, let alone a 15 gallon.
My only advice for you it to return the fish to a GOOD LFS.
Well, its all sorted now anyway. The white ones weren't oscars they were albino convicts. I've separated a breeding pair of convicts into their own 2ft tank (just what I needed!! a HEAP of babies!!!) for now & the jags are in a 4 foot tank by themselves. All round - much happier fish. I won't be taking them to the store, I'm sure I can manage them. It was only the albinos I was having the trouble with. Thanks for all the advice :)
Dwarf Puffers
04-08-2007, 6:50 PM
just out of curiosity (and to prove some judgemental idiots here (hopefully) a lesson), how big is the tank?
no, really?
TELL ME ALL READY!!!
omg forget it... if you wont tell me, i might aswell--- SAY IT!!
please?
The tank the jags are in now is a lovely big tank - 51"x30"x26" (about 170gal) - by themselves. I believe this is still too small for 4 jags but they are MUCH happier now though so that tank should do them for awhile while they are still quite small.
The convicts are still in the 15gal tank but I'm not moving them yet as they have HEAPS of babies now. They are happy enough in there by themselves for the time being.
SOooo.... I hope that answered your questions in reasonable amount of time! LOL