My male Laetacara is presenting some strange symptoms. As I'm away at uni and having to rely on my BF for details, I'm finding it difficult to diagnose what's wrong with him.
I think this starts a couple of weeks back when I changed the external filter. I put all the old media into the new filter so that it didn't go into a cycle. Just to be on the safe side I did another water change a couple of days later before I went back to uni.
My BF came back with me to uni for a week, and my dad was left to feed the fish. Despite me always telling him not to over feed, he did, and my BF came home to find the fish all bloated. I lost one of my female bettas to the bloating. Bryn (my BF) did a water change and then didn't feed them for a few days until they all settled down, and then tried them with some veg.
By now Bryn had noticed that the Laetacara had gone pale. He was still moving around, and took some bloodworm. This was 2 days ago. Since then the male has become very lethargic and is today sitting on the sand, still apparently pale.
I'm worried that he might have a bacterial infection, but I'm not sure and don't want to medicate with the wrong thing.
Tank size: 200ish Litres
Been set up for 6 months now.
New external filter (with old media) set up around the beginning of February.
Weekly water changes of 20-40% + gravel vac.
Tank mates: 8 female betta, 1 pearl gourami, 7 espei rasbora, and the two Laetacara. No one else showing the same symptoms.
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites:
Nitrates: 0ppm (What the?
)
pH: 6.8
His colour has picked back up to normal:
Not the most colourful of fish anyway, but apparently all his markings were washed out earlier before this picture was taken. I'm worried about him sitting on the sand and not moving much though. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for any help, and sorry about the novel of a post!
EDIT: Gah! Nitrites have come back as 0.50ppm! I've asked Bryn to do a large water change now. Could the mini cycle be causing the Laetacara's symptoms? Could the fact that the Laetacara is wild caught be the reason why he's the only one showing signs of distress?
I think this starts a couple of weeks back when I changed the external filter. I put all the old media into the new filter so that it didn't go into a cycle. Just to be on the safe side I did another water change a couple of days later before I went back to uni.
My BF came back with me to uni for a week, and my dad was left to feed the fish. Despite me always telling him not to over feed, he did, and my BF came home to find the fish all bloated. I lost one of my female bettas to the bloating. Bryn (my BF) did a water change and then didn't feed them for a few days until they all settled down, and then tried them with some veg.
By now Bryn had noticed that the Laetacara had gone pale. He was still moving around, and took some bloodworm. This was 2 days ago. Since then the male has become very lethargic and is today sitting on the sand, still apparently pale.
I'm worried that he might have a bacterial infection, but I'm not sure and don't want to medicate with the wrong thing.
Tank size: 200ish Litres
Been set up for 6 months now.
New external filter (with old media) set up around the beginning of February.
Weekly water changes of 20-40% + gravel vac.
Tank mates: 8 female betta, 1 pearl gourami, 7 espei rasbora, and the two Laetacara. No one else showing the same symptoms.
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites:
Nitrates: 0ppm (What the?
)pH: 6.8
His colour has picked back up to normal:
Not the most colourful of fish anyway, but apparently all his markings were washed out earlier before this picture was taken. I'm worried about him sitting on the sand and not moving much though. Any ideas?
Thanks in advance for any help, and sorry about the novel of a post!
EDIT: Gah! Nitrites have come back as 0.50ppm! I've asked Bryn to do a large water change now. Could the mini cycle be causing the Laetacara's symptoms? Could the fact that the Laetacara is wild caught be the reason why he's the only one showing signs of distress?
