Sick Keyhole Cichlid

[davo]

Hello all,new to the forum,any help you can give me much appreciated,I have a 180 gallon well established community tank,all levels are fine,have livebearers breeding successfully,good oxygen levels and temperature also.

I will refer to the fish as male however I am unsure as to the sex.
I have 3 keyhole cichlids,they were added to the tank approx 4-5 months ago. all three were the same size and colour,and although two have more than doubled in size,over the last two months I have noticed the third one hasnt grown,he was always a bit of a loner-the other two have paired up,he has slowly turned darker and darker,you would hardly recognise him as a keyhole he is so dark now.the last two days he seems even more darker,his fins have just begun to clamp a little and he just looks like a very sick fish also hes not at all interested in food.all other fish are in v.good condition,any help would be appreciated,love the keyholes,one of my favourites and would be a shame to lose one.

water change about 2 weeks ago,usually change about 100 litres roughly once a month.only chemicals added are stresszyme/stresscoat and aquarium salts.tank mates are clown loaches and yoyos,bristlenose,keyhole,kribs,angelfish,cherry barbs,gouramis -pearl,dwarf and cobalt,boesmani rainbows,peacock eel,siamese fighting fish,a few mollies,platies and cherry barbs,large spotted raphael catfish.its a 180 gallon tank roughly 3 foot by 3 foot by 5 foot.no new fish added in last 3 months,the keyholes in question are one of the latest additions and theyve been in 4-5 months.thanks in advance for any help!

 

[james_fish]

Have you noticed any breeding activity from the other two? Maybe they are getting irritated by the third Keyhole's presence?
I wouldn't worry about the size thing, I have 6 Keyhole's (2 bought about 20 months ago and the other 4 between 6-10 months ago) the original two differ massively in size now but they where exactly the same size when I bought them & both incredibly healthy. Maybe your small one is a slow developing female. From my experience when they turn black it is stress/being unsettled. But this can occur during the most simple things for example when I enter the room quickly and it startles them.

If it gets any worse I would isolate the fish.

James.

 

[davo]

Th

 

[davo]

Thanks for your reply James,have seen no signs of the other two breeding they just tend to hang about together more than other members of the tank,they just tend to treat him with indifference,will eat around him sitting there immobile-they arent avoiding him.I know they do change colour alot-the other two regularly change but this fish is really dark all the time,nearly black all over and it stays in the corners of the tank,I never see it eat in the last month or so,and now clamped fins also,nothing abnormal as far as growths or rot,no ich or parasite that I can see anal area not overly red,just looks unhappy/unwell,and also possibly thinner than the day I bought him 6 months ago,definitly no growth.the only thing I have done that is out of the ordinary for me is I have started to feed them a bit of veg every now and again,say once every other week,broccoli or cucumber,mainly for the loaches,they generally devour it all but if there is anything left the next day I remove it.

I had anchor worm about 4 months ago,the keyholes never showed signs of being infected,tank was treated properly with anti parasite,all worms visible removed with tweezers,euthanised a couple of guppys which were the two that brought it into the tank and have had no problems since.

One other thing that is happening in the tank right now is the kribs have just bred and are very protective,but I have never seen an altercation between them and this fish,they mainly go for the boesmani rainbows and the cherry barbs and only when they get close to their little shell which is in one corner and he tends to stay at the other end of the tank.

Only other thing I can think is I have two 6" angels in there who have previous for bullying fish and eating a couple but again I have never seen them even bother with the keyholes,its usually the cherry barbs they go after.

This is bugging me I know the fish is unwell,and I dont know how to help it,I am on the verge of setting up some sort of hospital tank,but think this may stress it out even more and other than salts and a bit of stresscoat I dont see what else I can do-also the tank is pretty well set up,I dont think its a problem with the tank more this particular fish,its like its got depression or something!(is this possible?)

Many thanks in advance to anybody that can help me save my keyhole =)