:help: I have a 75 gal. tank that I have had set up and running like a dream since July of last yr. I recently traded several of my ciclids for this big Texas something ciclid. Now all of the sudden he's sluffing (sp) and has been scratching himself on rocks and logs. He's not eating and has developed sores where he's lost scales. I also have 2 good sized catfish and another smaller ciclid that are swimming around like they've all lost their minds-seriously. Non of them are eating and one of my catfish looks like he's losing his color. I have changed the water, I've had it tested, I've done everything but nothing seems to be working. I am afraid I'm going to lose them all. Even my algae eater is swimming up to the top of the tank and then back down really fast like he's trying to commit suicide.:wall: My water is fine. The ph is just a little low. But I can't seem to get rid of the cloudiness.
Something is VERY WRONG with all of my fish!! Please help!
- Thread starter mommacatfish
- Start date
do some research on parasites. most you just can not see with the naked eye and will have to diagnose by looking at symptoms.
these fish must have gotten stressed somehow. did your pH drop drastically recently? try to find out what could have caused the stress that made the fish vulnerable to disease and correct that as well.
some symptoms of parasites:
clamped fins(when the fish hold their fins close to their body bc of irritation)
scratching/flashing
less/more active
hovering at the bottom or the top of the tank
if your fish arent eating anymore, then you dont have much time. do research to the best of your ability and treat as directed, keep your water great, and make sure you correct whatever is stressing the fish out. check back here when you find out more. adding some stress coat with water changes wouldnt hurt the fish at all either.
these fish must have gotten stressed somehow. did your pH drop drastically recently? try to find out what could have caused the stress that made the fish vulnerable to disease and correct that as well.
some symptoms of parasites:
clamped fins(when the fish hold their fins close to their body bc of irritation)
scratching/flashing
less/more active
hovering at the bottom or the top of the tank
if your fish arent eating anymore, then you dont have much time. do research to the best of your ability and treat as directed, keep your water great, and make sure you correct whatever is stressing the fish out. check back here when you find out more. adding some stress coat with water changes wouldnt hurt the fish at all either.
also, take a flashlight to your fish and look at their bodies and fins very closely. see if you notice anything after looking at symptoms for parasites. this might help you more to correctly diagnose whats wrong with the fish. try not to really flash it in their face too much and suddenly though.
they dont have ich, right?
they dont have ich, right?
These symptoms are right on the $$ for all of them. What do I do? Do I trust the medications that they sell at Petsmart? The drastic change was when I fished out the others to take for trade. It was a real nightmare, nobody wanted to go. Now I wish I would've just left well enough alone.
id recommend doing a google search for fish parasite symptoms just to make sure.. and taking the flashlight and looking closely. there's different treatments for different types of parasites that might work better than just using the all-in-one parasite medications from a LFS. its always best to make the most accurate diagnosis possible.
is it ich? ich is small sugar looking white spots on your fishes body and fins.
your new fish could have brought the sickness in with him, its always best to QT fish when possible. also, arent texas cichlids aggressive?
is it ich? ich is small sugar looking white spots on your fishes body and fins.
your new fish could have brought the sickness in with him, its always best to QT fish when possible. also, arent texas cichlids aggressive?
Texas cichlids are aggressive, but he hasn't shown any toward the others. I don't see ick. The only thing I can see is that they have abrasions. The Texas is hovering at the top of the tank, the catfish are swimming around like crazy and scratching and the algae eater is sporatically swimming up to the top and then back down, he's definately hovering at the bottom otherwise. They are very aggitated and have been nipping at each other also. I will google parasites.
you could add a little bit of salt to your tank for right now and up the temp a few degrees, but salt bugs scaleless fish... like cats(cats are scaleless, right?)