german blue ram

[chris_1127]

i have a german blue ram that ive had in a seperate hospital tank for several weeks now, it has been very thin since ive had it, and also seemed to be having bouyancy trouble, struggling to stay off the floor of the tank. Its belly is very concave, arched almost, but it is still eating. I initially suspected internal bacteria so medicated for this a couple of weeks ago, to no avail. i am halfway through a dose of swim bladder treatment at present but it still isnt showing any signs of improvement, and is really struggling to get off the floor of the tank now. pH is about 8, nitrites and ammonia 0, nitrates about 30ppm. any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like it could be internal parasites and they can get secondary infections with them, what does it look like when the fish goes to the toilet, is the anus red and inflamed, and can you se anything prutruding from the anus, sunken belly also is a sign of internal parasites, also it can be a sign of tb, and also they get deformaties of the spine with tb.

 

[chris_1127]

got to be honest havent been able to see what the faeces look like, but theres no redness or anything. the bouyancy thing seems to be a major problem though, soon as the fish stops actively swimming it sinks quite heavily downwards. I have some internal parasite meds at home too, what i might do is finish the course of swimbladder treatment then leave it a week and try the internal parasite meds if theres no improvement.
I dont think theres any sign of curvature in the spine at all, would it be curved to the side, or a vertical curve?
Thanks for the help btw

 

[WILDER]

Also try some shell peas, and daphnia, that should clear the fish out.