Stress?? not sure!

Milo

Milo

Large Fish
#1
Jun 29, 2006
389
2
0
41
Brampton, Ontario
#1
I think one of my fish has something wrong with her. I noticed last night that she has been up at the top of the tank, not gasping for air but just floating there. She looks really really stressed! I'll give you guys the story as to what happened.

So on Sunday, my husband and I noticed that our demasoni was stuck on the filter. He wasn't dead so we took him out of the tank, set up a temporary hospital tank and put him in. (story isn't about him, but my demasoni died)

So we decided that we were going to clean out our tank. As we were cleaning it out we noticed that we were missing a fish. There wasn't any sign of him anywhere. Because of this we agreed to give my father in law 3 fish. To sort of control the population of the tank. So we took out all the rocks in the tank, went in with the net and took out the 3 we didn't want anymore. Grabbed them, and put the rocks back. Whenever we clean out our tank we put salts in to take off some stress and feed them some mysis shrimp (mmm).

Last night as we were watching tv, I noticed that one of our cichlids was floating on the top. He wasn't dead but I figured that he would be dead by morning, I asked my husband if he wanted to set up the Hospital tank again and he said no. (He is still upset about his demasoni). I asked him then to take him out of the tank because I didn't want to wake up to a dead fish, he replied to leave him in the tank and maybe he will pull through.

Anyways, this morning I woke up and thought he was dead because I didn't see him anyware. My husband found him under a rock, still alive.

Signs of the fish.

First it is a Julidochromis Ornatus cichlid.
He is sitting at the top of the tank, just floating, not out of the water
he doesn't appear to be gasping for air.
Has not been eating since all this happened.
He isn't the smallest in the tank there is one other fish smaller than him.

I don't have any water paramaters, but will get them tonight.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to what I should do? Or what this could be from?

Thanks everyone.
 

THUNDER

THUNDER

Banned
#3
Jul 22, 2006
567
4
0
#3
Sounds like its a new tank with new fishies. You would need to let the tank become cycled with proper filteration and treatment to the water to ensure the health of the fishies. Also, make sure you know exactly what will be the correct water condition for the fishies you have. You cant just mix fishies that you like together.

Thunder
 

homebunnyj

homebunnyj

Superstar Fish
#5
Jul 13, 2005
1,299
4
0
Western NC
#5
I noticed your sig... is the tank still cycling? If so, how often are you testing? What fish are in the tank?

How did you go about cleaning your tank? What 'salts' did you use and how much? How much water did you change?

You have your own test kit, but just didn't have time to test before work? I can sympathize with that, it's hard to deal with a tank problem when you gotta rush right out the door and get your day started.
 

THUNDER

THUNDER

Banned
#8
Jul 22, 2006
567
4
0
#8
I see you removed the cute phrase from your signature. You are telling us that your saltwater will never cycle for 6 months?!?!?!?

Thunder
 

Milo

Milo

Large Fish
#9
Jun 29, 2006
389
2
0
41
Brampton, Ontario
#9
hi homebunnyj.... When i do my water changes i do it every friday, I take out 10% and syphon it out with the a device like the python. That way i can clean the gravel to :) After that i put the water back in and add the chlorine remover and salts. The chlorine remover is from big als and the salts are Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Aquarium Salt. I add 2 teaspoons of the aquarium salts. After that i give them a treat... they just went through a big "storm" so they get some mysis shrimp. I give them mysis shrimp once a week.

I didn't get to the water change untill sunday but i don't think the extra 2 days would have caused him to act the way he is.
 

THUNDER

THUNDER

Banned
#11
Jul 22, 2006
567
4
0
#11
I was told that aquarium salt is not really neccessary, so I already gradually removed the salt from my 29G tanky. You should do the same. Also, when you do water change, you will have to know how many gallons you are adding back to ensure exact measurement of addin salt, if you wish to continue using salt. Other than that, I guess the use of salt is not required anymore.

I love the Phyton suction hose, but the ending tube is too big. I wish it would be smaller, so it be easier to suck around plants and things.

Thunder
 

Milo

Milo

Large Fish
#12
Jun 29, 2006
389
2
0
41
Brampton, Ontario
#12
hi Thunder, I take out 9 Gallons each water change. I only had the salt after a water change. I calms things down in there. Actually I could probably stop using it now as there isn't any need for it.

But back to the original post. Does anyone have any idea as to what could be wrong with my fish and how i could fix it?
 

homebunnyj

homebunnyj

Superstar Fish
#13
Jul 13, 2005
1,299
4
0
Western NC
#13
Yeah, I don't think the extra two days would be a problem either. I have never had cichlids, but I don't add salt to any of my tanks. Do you feel it's helpful for cichlids in particular?
Have you recently changed out your filter media, possibly causing a mini-cycle? Have you added any new fish that could have brought disease with them? Are all the other fish acting perfectly normal?
 

Milo

Milo

Large Fish
#14
Jun 29, 2006
389
2
0
41
Brampton, Ontario
#14
All the other fish are acting pretty normal. I havn't changed the filter yet but need to do so next week. I started to add the salt when i was adding the cichlids to the tank. I did it to help them calm down. i just sort of got into the habbit of adding it i guess. I havn't added any new fish in months. and all the other fish are fine. Its like he just got all spooked when i was taking the other fish out.
 

Milo

Milo

Large Fish
#16
Jun 29, 2006
389
2
0
41
Brampton, Ontario
#16
LOL Cinlink you kill me! Ha Ha thats funny! We should keep it going!!!

I hope she makes it, would be a shame if she died because i know i have 1 male 1 female.

I figure she is just stressed from the whole ordeal of someone taking out her fish mates. poor girl... I was glad i saw her alive this morning. She was hiding under a rock. Better there then in someones belly :)
 

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