Fish is vertical, nose pointing down

[mary_12]

I have a black convict cichlid that may be sick. It stays vertical with it's nose pointing down. It swims a little in basicly the same position, but most of the time it stays at the bottom of the tank in a corner. I don't see any outward signs of disease or injury. It still eats but waits for the food to sink to the bottom. This has been about a week now. The fish is around seven years old. It's the only fish in the tank and has been alone for at least three years.

I never check the balance of the water (I know, I'm terrible) but I clean the tank about once a month. I feed it tropical fish food flakes and I don't think I overfeed. I cleaned the tank four days ago about 70%.

The only trauma that I can think of was in January when we lost power for four days due to an ice storm. The temperature dropped and the pump was not running during that time.

I've been searching the internet for information and the closest thing I can identify with is a swim bladder problem. Also, I added 2 teaspoons of Epsoms salt to the 10 gallon tank yesterday.

Please advise. If it is a swim bladder problem, I read somewhere it can be relieved with a hypodermic needle but I don't know the procedure. Please explain this procedure if it is something that might help.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Hi Mary to the forum.

I am not sure what it could be but I advise you to get you water tested asap. Also, you say that you cleaned the tank and took out 70% the other day? That seems an awful lot to me, why did you do this?

I have never had problems with swimbaldder and until recently I thought it was rare in non-goldfish. Could it be bloat? How much do you feed? I don't know the life expectancy of convicts, could he be old?

Hope This Helps for now...

 

[wuvmybetta]

Yipes @ the needle! Swim bladder can be straightened out quickly by feeding fresh or frozen food. It usually comes from too much dry food, hope that helped a little Best of luck!

 

[mary_12]

I took out so much water because I felt there might be a problem with the water, or too much waste & food on the bottom. Something is obviously wrong with the fish and since I can't see any problems with him, I assumed it was the water. Normally I don't take out nearly that much...maybe 30%.

I feed a small pinch of food once a day. Ocassionly I feed him twice a day if he seems to go for the food aggressively, but that's not very often. He usually stays active moving rocks around all day.

It doesn't appear to be bloat. He does seem to be a little larger all over, including length, but the scales aren't puffed out. I just don't know.

 

[mary_12]

The needle scares me too, but my husand said he would do it. He is a taxidermist and knows a little basic fish anatomy. I don't want to have to go to that extreme though.

What frozen foods? I read green peas somewhere. Do you thaw them first, mash them up or what? Remember his mouth is at the bottom of the tank so the food will have to sink.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

The needle scares me too, but my husand said he would do it. He is a taxidermist and knows a little basic fish anatomy. I don't want to have to go to that extreme though.

What frozen foods? I read green peas somewhere. Do you thaw them first, mash them up or what? Remember his mouth is at the bottom of the tank so the food will have to sink.

Food like bloodworm is frozen. When feeding frozen peas they should be defrosted and deshelled and then cut/squashed into small enough pieces.

I don't think boat is the same as dropsy (where the scales stick out), I think bloat is a digestion probelm, hense the peas where as dropsy is an internal bacteria. Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[gadazobe]

Has he been like this only since you did a major water change? Also, how big is the tank? Could be the major water change stressed him out completely.

 

[mary_12]

The tank is 10 gallons - I posted 20 gallons earlier in error. I didn't change the water until after his strange behavior. That's why I changed it.

I'll try the peas this evening.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

The tank is 10 gallons - I posted 20 gallons earlier in error. I didn't change the water until after his strange behavior. That's why I changed it.

I'll try the peas this evening.

10 gallons is quite small, how big do convicts get? I don't think you should ever change that much water all in one go.

Let us know how you get on with the peas.

Good Luck

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Just looked up black convicts.

I got that they get to 6"+ and need a minimum of 30 gallons. Link This could be your problem.

 

[mary_12]

Thanks for all the input. He's not crazy about eating the green peas but he did eat a couple. This morning he was actually swimming a little better. Still goes back to the corner and stands on his head. I haven't fed him any flakes for two days. I would appreciate any other advise anyone has to offer.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Thanks for all the input. He's not crazy about eating the green peas but he did eat a couple. This morning he was actually swimming a little better. Still goes back to the corner and stands on his head. I haven't fed him any flakes for two days. I would appreciate any other advise anyone has to offer.

What about what I said above?

 

[mary_12]

I appreciate the link. The tank size may be the problem, but I don't have the room for a 30 gallon tank. It's not an option.