Possible trauma/head injury??

[cait.russ]

Someone please help!! I have literally just finished doing a water change when I noticed a black phantom in one of the plastic plants so I checked to see she wasn’t stuck and now I think she’s having seizures? She tends to hide in or on the plants now and when she’s in the open she does what you see in the video. There’s no illness in the tank and she was absolutely perfect conditions before. As I say I’ve literally just done a water change and parameters were all good before as well. Someone please tell me if there’s anything I can do for my girl

13 May 2021

youtube.com

 

[Sgooosh]

what are your params?
i think it just has a lot of stress, maybe wait it out

 

[cait.russ]

what are your params?
i think it just has a lot of stress, maybe wait it out

Before they were 7.5 ph, 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite and 20 nitrate. I haven’t checked since I filled the tank back up as I noticed her stuck but I will check. She’s currently just resting in the plant not really moving.

 

[Colin_T]

Her eyes look like they are sticking out a bit more than normal. If so then she has an infection in her head.

If the eyes aren't sticking out, then she might have eaten something and it is stuck in her throat, or she has something irritating her.

I would monitor for 24 hours and see how she is tomorrow.

 

[Sgooosh]

Her eyes look like they are sticking out a bit more than normal. If so then she has an infection in her head.

If the eyes aren't sticking out, then she might have eaten something and it is stuck in her throat, or she has something irritating her.

I would monitor for 24 hours and see how she is tomorrow.

yeah my fish do that when they have an itch when they get stuck and squirm out

 

[cait.russ]

Her eyes look like they are sticking out a bit more than normal. If so then she has an infection in her head.

If the eyes aren't sticking out, then she might have eaten something and it is stuck in her throat, or she has something irritating her.

I would monitor for 24 hours and see how she is tomorrow.

what would any other signs of a head infection be? All of the other fish are happy and look healthy.

water parameters are good PH 7.4, 0 ammonia/nitrite, nitrate has dropped slightly but will test again later tonight as water change was only just done.

 

[Colin_T]

Infections in the head/ brain usually cause the fish to go red in the face around the inside of the mouth, between the eyes and in the sinuses. This is easily seen when viewing the fish from above.

Is she eating normally?

The best treatment for infections in the head are big daily and gravel cleaning the substrate every day for a week, and cleaning the filter.

 

[cait.russ]

Infections in the head/ brain usually cause the fish to go red in the face around the inside of the mouth, between the eyes and in the sinuses. This is easily seen when viewing the fish from above.

Is she eating normally?

The best treatment for infections in the head are big daily and gravel cleaning the substrate every day for a week, and cleaning the filter.

I’ve checked her over and no signs of redness or anything unusual. She’s not eating now but she was before and all other fish including the other phantoms are healthy.

is it at all possible she may be laying eggs as the male is very protective over her and won’t let any of the fish near her. It’s the only thing I can think of as there doesn’t seem to be any signs of injury on her and she isn’t showing any signs of illness that I can see.

 

[Colin_T]

no she is not breeding.

 

[cait.russ]

When she hides in the plants, her body goes very stiff and she’s just frozen there for ages. She only really swims around for a few minutes then goes back to the plant. There’s been a few times she goes vertical or just lays in very strange positions when hiding in the plant.

I’ve attached a link so you can see what she’s like when she goes in the plant.

14 May 2021

youtube.com

 

[Colin_T]

That isn't breeding, it's stress related. She's either sick or being picked on by someone.

 

[cait.russ]

So after testing my water today I’ve had an ammonia spike that is now sitting at 1.0, 0 nitrites and now the nitrate is at 0 as well. I can’t understand how this has happened as my water change is the same as it always is. Any idea what may have caused this? And what may be the best course of action to resolve this?

 

[Colin_T]

Best course of action is to do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the ammonia and nitrite are 0ppm, and the nitrate is less than 20ppm.

It could be caused by uneaten food, a dead fish or rotting plant, the filter might have been off for a bit and some of the filter bacteria died.