Pseudomugil luminatous doesn't seem to eat

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zain611

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A few days ago I noticed one of my pseudomugils doesn't seem to eat. Today one of the three I found dead at the top of the tank. At first I thought it was the one not eating but that one's still alive. Is there anything I can do? I was thinking of giving them peas as I found that to work back when I had guppies. He looks kind of interested when he sees something floating as he puts it in his mouth but most of the time he spits it out.
 
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have guppies or livebearers and rainbowfish (Pseudomugils) in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and increase it after 48 hours if there is no improvement so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that.

-------------------------
To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Wipe the inside of the glass down, do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean. And clean the filter before adding salt. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
 
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have guppies or livebearers and rainbowfish (Pseudomugils) in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and increase it after 48 hours if there is no improvement so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that.

-------------------------
To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

There is a calculator/ converter in the "How To Tips" at the top of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.

Wipe the inside of the glass down, do a 75% water change and complete gravel clean. And clean the filter before adding salt. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Thanks Colin, I have cardinal tetras along with shrimp so would salt be suitable? Actually have a tub in the cabinet.

Heres some more pictures of the guy. Not sure if you can tell again lol. He seems to eat but mostly spits out the food.

https://m.imgur.com/0tZVE3z,tP7bqE3,pAElgMo,Ze91ltc
 
Shrimp and cardinal tetras will be fine with low levels of salt (1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres, and increase it to 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres if no improvement after 48 hours).

I can't tell anything from the photo but if he has white patching on top of his head and around the dorsal fin, he probably has a protozoan or fungal infection.

If you have a spare tank or plastic storage container you could move the rainbows into that and use the stronger dose of salt on them. Otherwise add the lower dose and hope for the best.
 
Doesn't seem to be any white spots on him. Looks to now isolate himself from the other fish. The other healthy one likes to swim with the cardinals.
 
So took him out the tank and placed him in a small one and added salt. I've left some peas to boil before feeding him. He seems to have swimbladder disease judging by him spin around when swimming and tries to stay to the top of the water
 
if the fish is spinning through the water it has a protozoan infection in the brain. Isolate it in a spare tank/ container and use the maximum level of salt 4 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres.

Keep it in the salt water for at least 2 weeks and hope you got to it in time.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate on the main tank, each day for a week. That should hopefully stop it spreading to the other fish.

You can try a whitespot treatment but I'm not sure how well the shrimp will tolerate it.
 
Sadly he passed away today :-(. Weirdly one of my cardinals died. They are all healthy so don't understand how that one died. I don't know if it could be done to overfeeding. I fed them some of the peas I fed the pseudomugil. I did have a incident years back where I overfed a neon tetra and it kept floating to the top at a point its side was facing up. Luckily that one recovered after isolation.

Will look at doing a water change.
 
Fish don't die from eating too much. They can die if too much food is put in the tank and doesn't get eaten, but that is caused by ammonia being produced by the rotting food and poisoning the fish.

If a fish gets sick or dies, do a 75% water change and gravel clean the tank each day for a week. And clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks.
 
Fish don't die from eating too much
Oh but they can. Overeating/Overfeeding can cause all sorts of physical problems just like in humans, cats, dogs ETC.

It is possible for some fish species to develop a fatty liver disease (hepatic lipidosis). Overfeeding can also stress fish

PS
As somebody once told me " A slightly hungry tank is a healthy tank"
 
Last edited:

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