Hi there everyone
Please help! I have a female bristlenose in a 60gallon tank with 4 clown loaches and 6 priestella tetras - She's been very happy for a number of months but suddenly about a week or so ago has stopped eating, seems to be breathing very rapidly and tends to lie on her back which I find very alarming! We've added Melafix to the tank on the weekend and given her new wood (which has been duly boiled before being added to the tank) as she had lost interest in her previous wood - which she used to love. We thought that perhaps the plant food we'd put in for the plants had perhaps tainted it as the wood had gone dark again after her stripping it initially. Her colour has darkened considerably and she appears almost black now, whereas previously she was a much lighter colour. A week ago she was sucked onto the side of the tank with her pectoral fins fluttering like mad, but not moving anywhere. Now she's doing this strange thing of lying on her back or side and isn't interested in eating - we've tried all of her normal favourites. About the same time as her strange behaviour we also got an infestation of tiny snails from a new plant we put in a month before. The water quality has all been tested and everything is all fine. The other fish are thriving.
Please help - I don't want to lose our dear little 'Slurpetto'. What can it be and what do we do?
Please help! I have a female bristlenose in a 60gallon tank with 4 clown loaches and 6 priestella tetras - She's been very happy for a number of months but suddenly about a week or so ago has stopped eating, seems to be breathing very rapidly and tends to lie on her back which I find very alarming! We've added Melafix to the tank on the weekend and given her new wood (which has been duly boiled before being added to the tank) as she had lost interest in her previous wood - which she used to love. We thought that perhaps the plant food we'd put in for the plants had perhaps tainted it as the wood had gone dark again after her stripping it initially. Her colour has darkened considerably and she appears almost black now, whereas previously she was a much lighter colour. A week ago she was sucked onto the side of the tank with her pectoral fins fluttering like mad, but not moving anywhere. Now she's doing this strange thing of lying on her back or side and isn't interested in eating - we've tried all of her normal favourites. About the same time as her strange behaviour we also got an infestation of tiny snails from a new plant we put in a month before. The water quality has all been tested and everything is all fine. The other fish are thriving.
Please help - I don't want to lose our dear little 'Slurpetto'. What can it be and what do we do?