Cichlid Advice - Missing His Tail! My Filter Died A Month Ago Whic

[electric yellow]

I need help!!

Ive not had an issue with my cichlid tank ever and today i noticed my labidochromis - hongi has no tail fin left! It is swimming with its head up on nearlly a 90degree angle.

The fish (googled a pic) coz i didnt wana stress him.

None of the others are showing any signs or illness so i think it is just an aggression injury. What should i do? I dont have a hospital tank as the filter died in it.

He is currently seperated in a floating plastic breeders box. Its see through. Ive the light turned off coz its hot here and been on for 8hrs and added a plant to it for coverage so he doesnt get stressed. It seems to be ok for him and he is not struggling to stay floating and sitting just above the bottom of it. I found him hiding behind the top of the heater. He doesnt look sick and his others fins look fin. The aggression in the tank has never been bad. They have all been together for over a year and we bought them at the same time.. Im wondering whether its lack of space or hiding spots or stress?

Tank stats:

4ft by 3ft
external aqua one CF700 filter
decor: large ship wreck, two tunnels, different caves made from fake wood
temp 26-28deg
one fluro light
one purple light
ph: 7.6-7.8

stock:
2x hongis
3x electric yellows (2 girls 1 boy)
1x electric blue (girl)
2x mangianos
2x covnicts (females)
8x feeder fish (used to cycle and feed cichlids but they never ate them!)
2x yellow tail acies (1 boy 1 girl)

I turned the light on to see if he was ok and he swam around excitedly as much as he can.

 

[WILDER]

He might get stressed in the breeder box.
Do you have an airstone and heater for the hospital tank.
Might be better off adding him to the hospital tank and do daily water changes.
or buy a new filter.
If he not struggling to swim with his tail gone he might make a full recovery.
Does the wounds look clean.

 

[electric yellow]

There isnt or doesnt appear to be any open wounds and it doesnt look infected. I put him in the box because he was struggling to swim and looked real tierd so though a smaller space will help him stay less active so he can recover. The other fish dont seem to give a hoot about the box being in there. My hospital tank isnt in operation at all :\

I have a communal 3ft with gouramis, plecs and clown loaches in it but the ph in that is neutral. Its a calmer tank but the swing og ph would probably only do him damage.

My partner noticed it yday....but failed to tell me

They are a bit chasey chasey every now and then but its not out the usual.

 

[WILDER]

Ok bless him.
Once they struggling to swim they rarely make it as they get exhausted.
Good Luck.

 

[electric yellow]

Hes got his colours up today

I feed them down the opp end of the tank from him so they wouldnt scare him. They get excited when they get food and flick around everywhere. I put a bit of food in the box and he ate it. Today i have let him ut of the box to see how he goes. If he is capable of swimming then i will let him stay out, i will keep me eye on him. They box is still in there incase he needs to hide.

 

[WILDER]

Thanks for the update bless him.
hope he makes it.

 

[electric yellow]

So a bit of an update....stressfull update...

I went out last night and came home today to find the whole tank of fish all squashed into the top corner gasping for breath and laying on their sides...they were white, the water was brown. It appears my filter (which is actually a CF1000 not 700) hadnt been filtering for at least...a month! Instantly i felt sooo bad for them. I had noticed recently a surge in alge growth on the glass and boat but didnt think anything of it. My partner hurryly cleaned the filter, media and pipes which had at least 4inches or more of fish matter and sand in it. It wasnt filtering at ALL!! I did a in a hurried 50% water change and nearlly cried as some of them turned the right way up when i added fresh water. They had all gone white and looked like they were choking or suffocating.

It was horrible to watch.

So im wondering whether the tail disappearing may be a lack of filter and clean water infection?

What would be the signs? Do i need to treat or just keep the tailess fish seperate for a bit longer till he looks better and is stronger.


Thing i dont understand is i did my water test the other day and it all came back with good levels....

 

[Corleone]

If the filter's been out, that could definitely be the cause - you'll need to test for ammonia and nitrite ASAP, and likely do frequent large water changes to keep that in control until the filter can be replaced. If it has been broken that long, you might have to keep the water changes up to deal with a cycle, but save all the media out of the current filter for the new one. Every bacteria helps.

 

[electric yellow]

The filter started working once we cleaned it. The fishie with no tail died over night I found him in the ship wreck under a plant. We are keeping our eye closely on the one with part of his tail missing to.


The others seem to be going...ok...they are taking a lil bit to recover. They all have their colours back but there is one or two that still dont look 100%. I put the media back in the filter but we even had to wash that as it was all clagged together with sand and fishy poo.

The reads came back ok after three hours from my water change. No ammonia or nitrAte. Slight bit of nitrite but i am testing it again today. Waters a bit cloudy today but a 50% water change always stirs up the sand for a day or so.

Im pissed the readings never elevated due to no filtration....is that normal? The test kit is only 6mths old so should of picked it up. It was in its mid 30s (celcius) temp wise here so maybe the hot days elevated the lack of filtration..

I felt sooo bad.

 

[kj23502]

Is it a liquid test kit? Or strips? I don't understand how it couldn't be functioning for that long with out you noticing it?? Wouldn't you have noticed a reduction in water coming out of the output area?? If it's been that long and it really hasn't been working that whole time then all the good bacteria are probably shot.

 

[electric yellow]

I didnt notice. While i do regular water changes and readings i dont always check the outflow pipe...

I use API liquid test kits.

I did a reading this morning and the ammonia came back as 0 but my nitrAte and nitrIte were off the chart

My tank is cycling again by the looks of it.

I took some water to my aquarium guys and they tested it and got the same results that i did today. They gave me a ten litre bucket of water from their mumba tank and a filter sponge they took out the other day. (theyre good boys in that shop) They wrote me down instructions on how to get the fish through the cycle and gave me some stuff called Prime by Seachem which removes chloramine, chlorine, ammonia and detoxifies nitrite and nitrate. I added what they said to and have to do a 30% water change wednesday morning and add another dose. Also cranked up the airation in the tank.

They said it is likely i will lose a fish or two due to the cycle.

 

[electric yellow]

I just did a 20% water change to try and bring the levels down, without interupting the Prime i put in before. My electric yellow died aswell as one of my yellow tale acies

It was horrible to watch.

Im hoping the water change and the nitrite and nitrate detixifyer is working and the nitrazorb pouch i put in the filter also works.

 

[WILDER]

have you done a gravel vac.
Water changes till water stats are back to normal.
Increase aeration in the tank.

Yes finrot can be caused by bad water quality.
Bless him R.I.P.

 

[electric yellow]

have you done a gravel vac.
Water changes till water stats are back to normal.
Increase aeration in the tank.

Yes finrot can be caused by bad water quality.
Bless him R.I.P.

Yeah i vaccumed the sand yday when i changed the water and also today when i changed it again

The levels are still off the chart but they have come down a little bit. Should i treat for fin rot when the levels are back to normak? Or is it something that will go away as the water improoves?

The aeration in the tank is at its max but i can add another bubbler in if one is not sufficient...

 

[WILDER]

Carry on with the water changes and if fins show no signs of healing I would add a med.
Any red streaking or red edges to the fins.,