Help! Black skirt tetra not doing too well

[Hmarie37]

Hi all, I’m reaching out because one of my black skirt tetras does not appear to be doing well and nothing seems I’ve tried has helped. I first noticed he was hanging out in a floating log by himself, at first I thought it was cute until a couple days later I noticed he was still frequently “hiding” in this log. Parameters - 20 gal, 0 ammonia 0 nitrate 0 nitrite, 7.0 pH and 76.5 degrees. He will take a small bite of food occasionally when I feed the tank but no more than one bite before he goes back to hiding. I can tell he’s severely losing weight and while the log has moved he is still staying to himself in one spot for a long period of time. I don’t see any white spots so no ich I presume. I have treated the tank with Cloverleaf Absolute Wormer (those are the closest symptoms I could find) and that was over a week ago and the symptoms appear to be the same. The tetras all get along swell so I don’t believe he was being bullied, I watch them all the time and am sure I would have noticed. If the other fish swim near him he doesn’t move or react much at all. I’m not sure what could possibly be wrong with my boy there are 6 black skirts total and two white skirts (one passed about a month ago, exhibiting the same symptoms as this guy) I don’t have a gH or kH testing kit so I’m not sure if that could have something to do with it. Please be nice, I just want to help my baby!

 

[Fishies4Ever]

This is very odd behavior. I tried looking it up and I can’t find anything. Your parameters look good. I have had a serpae tetra up at the top of my tank hiding behind some driftwood. I haven’t been to worried about it but it is curios behavior. It could be do to poor water quality. I would do a water change and see how he is doing. Is there any other fish in the tank? Other than that I am not sure what could be wrong. Very sorry I would ask Colin_T for advice he is really good with this kind of thing.

 

[Hmarie37]

Hi all, I’m reaching out because one of my black skirt tetras does not appear to be doing well and nothing seems I’ve tried has helped. I first noticed he was hanging out in a floating log by himself, at first I thought it was cute until a couple days later I noticed he was still frequently “hiding” in this log. Parameters - 20 gal, 0 ammonia 0 nitrate 0 nitrite, 7.0 pH and 76.5 degrees. He will take a small bite of food occasionally when I feed the tank but no more than one bite before he goes back to hiding. I can tell he’s severely losing weight and while the log has moved he is still staying to himself in one spot for a long period of time. I don’t see any white spots so no ich I presume. I have treated the tank with Cloverleaf Absolute Wormer (those are the closest symptoms I could find) and that was over a week ago and the symptoms appear to be the same. The tetras all get along swell so I don’t believe he was being bullied, I watch them all the time and am sure I would have noticed. If the other fish swim near him he doesn’t move or react much at all. I’m not sure what could possibly be wrong with my boy there are 6 black skirts total and two white skirts (one passed about a month ago, exhibiting the same symptoms as this guy) I don’t have a gH or kH testing kit so I’m not sure if that could have something to do with it. Please be nice, I just want to help my baby!

@Colin_T any insight on this issue?

 

[Blackghostknifekid]

how old is it? ):

 

[Blackghostknifekid]

do you have only one black skirt?

 

[Hmarie37]

do you have only one black skirt?

I have five other black skirts and two white skirts, I’ve had them for approximately 6 or seven months

 

[Hmarie37]

This is very odd behavior. I tried looking it up and I can’t find anything. Your parameters look good. I have had a serpae tetra up at the top of my tank hiding behind some driftwood. I haven’t been to worried about it but it is curios behavior. It could be do to poor water quality. I would do a water change and see how he is doing. Is there any other fish in the tank? Other than that I am not sure what could be wrong. Very sorry I would ask Colin_T for advice he is really good with this kind of thing.

I’ve done a 25% water change since noticing the symptoms, I’ll do another here shortly. It’s him and my five other black skirts, two white skirts and 2 Cory’s.

 

[Fishies4Ever]

Could you put up a picture of the whole tank?

 

[Hmarie37]

Here’s the tank, he’s back in the log

 

[Colin_T]

Did the fish look like it does in the picture when you got it, or has it become sunken in around the head during the last few weeks/ months?

If the fish isn't eating much and has lost weight over a few weeks, it probably has an internal protozoan infection. Metronidazole is the treatment of choice.

If the fish is eating normally (well) and is losing weight over a few months, it is usually intestinal worms. The cloverleaf medication contains flubendazole and if that was used correctly, it should have removed any worms and gill flukes from the fish.

See the following link for info on intestinal issues in fish.

What to do if your fish has Stringy White Poop.

Fish do a stringy white poop for several reasons. 1) Internal Bacterial Infections causes the fish to stop eating, swell up like a balloon, breath heavily at the surface or near a filter outlet, do stringy white poop, and die within 24-48 hours of showing these symptoms. This cannot normally be...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Hmarie37]

He definitely didn’t look like that when I got him from the shop, this is a more recent development over the last two weeks. I appreciate all of the information you have provided. I will read over this and act quickly. Thank you!!