Sick Royal

[Rush07]

My Royal was really lethargic today and just hung on the glass. He usually hangs out in his cave during the day and only comes out at night. He has been eating well up until today. Neither his eyes or stomach are sunken in, but his eyes look like they have a white haze over them. Any ideas what might be wrong with him. Ammonia and Nitrites are both at zero, nitrates about 10. pH 6.5 (not change), temp about 75F. No new additions to the tank or anything else I can think of that might have caused stress.

 

[Stevie]

Hi.

I rember reading somthing like this in pfk a year or two ago. I memory serves me correctly they said try feeding it patoto skins????

Not sure how good this info is but its a start!

 

[Pure]

This is a tough one. Hazed eyes and lethargic doesn't really tell us much. How long have you had him and how big is he?

Some things you can do now to see if it helps, is up the temp to about 82-84. Your current fish shouldn't have a problem with this. Add a strong power head, or a couple of smaller ones. Also add a large airstone with a powerful pump on it.

I would also go ahead and soak his food in garlic extract. This is just incase there is some sort of internal parasite at work here. It actually would be a good cleaning out of all your tank inhabitants.

 

[Rush07]

Unfortunately he died the next morning after I posted. He was OK (alive) about 6:00am and floating at about 9:00am.

He went down so quickly. Is it possible that there could have been something wrong with the Zucchini? He was eating fine up until the night before when he at a whole piece and the next day he was just not right.

There is a lot of water flow in the tank; its a 55 gallon with two Fluval 305's running. The water temp has been stable at about 78F. Even when I took him out his eyes were not sunken and his belly was not sunken or bloated. The only "symptom" was that he had cloudy eyes. I had had him about 8 months. He was about 5 or 6 inches.

I am really bummed because the 110 gallon that is just about finished cycling was designed for the Royal. Big piece of driftwood and plenty of caves. I want to get another but am a little nervous without knowing what killed him.

I did have ich about 6 weeks ago on the Pike and got rid of it by raising the temp for 10 days. Held it steady at about 88 and it did the trick. I have never seen a pleco with Ich but maybe it affects them differently?

Pure- could you please elaborate on the garlic? What is the benefit? What should I know that I don't about the benefits of garlic?

Thanks.

 

[Pure]

WOW that does suck! I'm sorry bout that!

Well garlic is a natural way to kill internal parasites that live in the fishes gut and intestine. That's about it. It is an easy and cheap med that works for internal parasites, and it can be used as a preventative med to them.

The zuk could have been treated with some sort of pesticide. This is the only thing that makes any kind of sense. Again I'm sorry.

 

[Rush07]

Thanks for the info on the garlic. Good to know. Maybe it was just a freak thing. I am going to do some more research and see if I can pin it down to something. If not I will wait until the tank is fully established and get another. Maybe a Vampire or White Spot. Thanks again for the info.

 

[Pure]

Well if you want I could do some digging for you and find another large royal to replace that one>> Pm me if you want me to.

 

[Rush07]

Thanks for the offer. My lfs usually has one or two but I want to see if I can figure out what killed before I go and possibly kill another. Thanks again, though.