Help, clamped sick fish!

My beloved rainbow wolffish has become lethargic. He is just laying on the bottom and ignoring me. I even reached my hand in the tank and got no response. Normally, the wolf fish is super active and would never let me stick my hand in his tank.

He is 6" in a heavily planted 20h by himself. Nitrates are 20ppm, Ammonia and nitrate are 0. The temperature is about 75.

Occasionally he swims up around the tank's perimeter in a circle gulping air, kind of like a fish with nitrite poisoning. When he moves, his fins are clamped and he just wiggles through the water. There are no signs of any external parasites. I have Sulfa, kanamycin, quinine sulfate (gentle yet strong parasite med), methylene blue and aquari-sol. I can buy more medications tomorrow if necessary, however I have no idea as to what this could be.

I want to get this fixed though, because I would be devastated if he did not make it.

:help:

Thanks for the reply. I use API liquid test drops. They are no more than 6 months old. Typically water changes are 50% and I usually do water changes every 7-10 days. Since the fish is full grown, I don't feed it often. When I do, it's always weekly water changes.

Last night I did an 80% water change, and made sure the water was the same temp to the nearest degree. I tried to do a thorough gravel vacuuming, but the gravel had almost nothing in it aside from bits of driftwood immediately under the driftwood in his tank. I didn't add prime or stress coat, since I do not have any but I used dechlor.

Today when the timer turns the lights on I will try to get some pictures.

Also, to answer the questions I missed, the aquarium has been setup for about two years, and I've had this fish for a little over a year. I also am using a sponge filter with a 30-60 air pump. The fish is fed 2-4 times a week normally. He gets krill, feeder fish, zebra danios, guppies, convict fry and other fish. In the past two weeks he was only fed krill as well as my small colony of guppies who I've had for about two years.

I would think that even with a lack of oxygen, the wolffish wouldn't be lethargic as they can breathe air. Also, if oxygen was low the bacteria in the filter would begin to suffocate first and the water conditions would deteriorate before he would get ill. IMO

I would add a second filter to the tank to see if it helps, except for the fact that I would have to punch out a spot on the lid and the fish would be able to jump out between the cracks. I will add a small pond/water fall pump though to try to better circulate the water just incase.

I couldn't get a picture of him today because he has been staying in the plants. However, when I looked closely at him, he drew his attention to me which is a good sign. I am really debating treating him with sulfa as it seems to be the best medication for these symptoms of unknown illness that I know. I think I may start treatment tomorrow night if the pump doesn't help.

BettaFishMommy said:

first, stop feeding him the feeder goldies. they are notorious for bringing disease into your tank, and are not very nutritious. livebearers are better as a live food choice, but only if you know the source is disease free.

he may be affected by an internal parasite from the feeder fish?

you could add one of those long bubble wands to increase oxygenation. the small space needed for an airline to go into the tank means you don't have to cut any more holes in the lid.

other than that, i'm hesitant to give advice on medicating, since we don't know exactly what is affecting him and throwing meds at a sick fish willy nilly without a diagnosis isn't a good idea IMO.

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Where I work, we always treat clamped fish or gasping fish with sulfa. A lot of times, the only parasites encountered are ick, velvet and dormant skin parasites. Many times, the symptoms the fish has only effect a single species in the aquariums at work, leading me to believe that it is bacterial in nature rather than a parasite. One thing I have found, is treating those fish with sulfa is much more effective than leaving them.

I like sulfa versus other bacterial meds because it seems less harsh towards fish and treats a wide variety of bacterial infections that cannot be pinpointed. I personally do not believe bacterial infections cannot be accurately diagnosed without using tissue from the fish and examining it under a microscope, so I am just taking my best shot at this.

I've heard many people say that feeding feeder goldfish causes parasites, but IME the only people that get parasites from feeders are those who feed more than the fish can eat in one feeding. Plus, internal parasites normally cause stringy feces, which the wolf fish has not had. After seeing conditions the fish are raised in, I feel just as confident feeding my fish goldfish as I do livebearers or danios. Much more often than goldfish, livebearers come in with bacterial infections and are much more prone to various parasites and bacteria than goldfish. I've even checked out bait shop fish which were in much worse condition than even the weakest looking feeder goldfish. As for nutrition, I do mix up the diet often. I pretty much feed him whatever fish is looking good and healthy at the store be it assorted tetras, danios, livebearers or goldfish as well as krill.

A little update: I was planning on starting treatment tonight, but he is starting to act like normal again.

My girlfriend brought her dog over and he follows the dog through the tank and tries to bite at it. He watches me, but isn't active like he was. I think he is getting better. Maybe I will buy a second air pump today and see if I can increase aeration.