lgarvey
Fish Crazy
Hi,
I have a sick blue aulonocara, or at least I think he's sick. He's normally very energetic and bossy, but he's spent the past few days hovering behind a rock or sitting on the substrate. The water params appear fine, wtih both Am and Ni at 0. Water temp is fine. ph, everytime i've tested it has never budged off 8 (perfect for peacocks). And I did a water change of about 40% about a week ago, and will do another water change tomorrow. I do all the regular stuff -- wash filter only in used tank water, I use dechlorinator etc.
He's the biggest and bossiest fish and doesn't get bullied, his fins are intact. He isn't coming up to eat -- isn't realy interested in food right now, whereas before he would be a voracious eater, so something is definitely wrong.
He flashes every now and again, but not excessively. They all flash regularly and I have made several posts about it, but the general consensus is that this is typical lack malawi behaviour. No redening of the gils, or spots etc. nothing, apart from teh flashing.
Two other fish died over the past 4 months of odd circumstances, and one fish came down with something for a few days, and I thoght it was going to die, but then it made a recovery. I suspect the peacock has the same thing?!? One thing, he doesn't appear to be breathing fast -- his gills are moving are a regular pace, but I have noticed then when another fish gets it sits on the bottom of teh tank and pants. There is plenty of aeration in the tank and the two external filters create a good amount of current.
I think there may be something valid in the fact that one fish actually recovered from what4ever it was suffering from, which would suggest bacteria over parasite if a parasite would eventually kill the host. That's assuming the peacock is suffering from the same thing that the previous fish had.
Would a UV steriliser be good thing on the tank? I have done a single course of sterazin, which treats flukes. It didn't make much difference in the frequency of their flashing, but a regular poster I think it was Wilder mentioned that to deal wtih flukes (if they have flukes) requires several treatments. As I said they aren't flashing constantly, but do flash regularly, but this may be natural behaviour.
What could it be?!? What should I do?
L
I have a sick blue aulonocara, or at least I think he's sick. He's normally very energetic and bossy, but he's spent the past few days hovering behind a rock or sitting on the substrate. The water params appear fine, wtih both Am and Ni at 0. Water temp is fine. ph, everytime i've tested it has never budged off 8 (perfect for peacocks). And I did a water change of about 40% about a week ago, and will do another water change tomorrow. I do all the regular stuff -- wash filter only in used tank water, I use dechlorinator etc.
He's the biggest and bossiest fish and doesn't get bullied, his fins are intact. He isn't coming up to eat -- isn't realy interested in food right now, whereas before he would be a voracious eater, so something is definitely wrong.
He flashes every now and again, but not excessively. They all flash regularly and I have made several posts about it, but the general consensus is that this is typical lack malawi behaviour. No redening of the gils, or spots etc. nothing, apart from teh flashing.
Two other fish died over the past 4 months of odd circumstances, and one fish came down with something for a few days, and I thoght it was going to die, but then it made a recovery. I suspect the peacock has the same thing?!? One thing, he doesn't appear to be breathing fast -- his gills are moving are a regular pace, but I have noticed then when another fish gets it sits on the bottom of teh tank and pants. There is plenty of aeration in the tank and the two external filters create a good amount of current.
I think there may be something valid in the fact that one fish actually recovered from what4ever it was suffering from, which would suggest bacteria over parasite if a parasite would eventually kill the host. That's assuming the peacock is suffering from the same thing that the previous fish had.
Would a UV steriliser be good thing on the tank? I have done a single course of sterazin, which treats flukes. It didn't make much difference in the frequency of their flashing, but a regular poster I think it was Wilder mentioned that to deal wtih flukes (if they have flukes) requires several treatments. As I said they aren't flashing constantly, but do flash regularly, but this may be natural behaviour.
What could it be?!? What should I do?
L
