Convict problem

[tommyd]

Hey,

My male convict has been acting strange. Him and his mate just had a batch of fry and he is defending them fiercely as good parents. But he seems to be swimming erratically. Also, his front end seems to float higher than his back end so that he's swimming at almost a 45 degree angle. When not swimming, he sinks to the bottom amidst his fry. I am guessing some sort of infection? I would quarantine him, but I'm afraid the female won't do a sufficient enough job in protecting the offspring. Should I worry? What should I do about his condition? He's in a 100 gallon with a Green Texas, a Jack Dempsey, channel cat, pleco, and a LMB. The tank is heavily planted and contains driftwood. Also, the tank is a strange color, amber almost. I know this is probably from the driftwood, but the wood has been in there for a good couple weeks and only now has the water changed colors. would it still turn the water that color?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[bigdaddy]

i had the same problem with drift wood it was dry kept in my basement witch is a dry basement for months and then i soaked it for a week then screwed a rock to the bottom and put in my clown loach tank with in 2 to 3 weeks the water smelt bad and it got cloudy and my fish got very ill some died.. great filters did water changes and still bad results. i ended up throwing away the wood. as for convicts there terible fish to breed because they NEVER stop breeding there babys will breed and they will take over a tank in less then a year. the male con acts very wierd when breeding they swim funny, most of the time its to show off so what im saying is you could have 2 problems 1. your drift wood has bad Bactria or a parasite and it can harm your fish
answer to 1. take it out and do a water change and leave it out
2. take the m or f convict out so they dont breed

 

[bigdaddy]

if the waters like a yellow then i think its the drift wood. thats the color my tank was turning

 

[bigdaddy]

what kind of filtration do you have?

 

[tommyd]

I have dual Penguin Emperor 350b's? I think that's what they're called.

 

[bigdaddy]

well its not your filtration.. im back to my #1 & #2 options then
take the drift wood out and do a 10% or 20% water change

 

[tommyd]

Dam, you really think it's the driftwood? I paid 30 bucks apiece... And how come all the other fish are fine?

 

[bigdaddy]

i know drift wood is not cheap lol thats why i do my own lol.. but there are so many ppl that handle that pice of wood before you get it.how long did you soakit before putting it in your tank? and it could just be the nature of the convict. in my 55 gal i had only 2 cons m and f in it with 2 balla sharks when the cons started to breed the male acted weird he was swimming crazy in the air bubbles chasing his tail and swimming in circles with the female, after the eggs were laid he became over aggressive with the female and the ballas, he could be swimming like this to show aggression.

 

[bigdaddy]

what color is the tank changing to?

 

[tommyd]

Almost tinted with an amber color. The driftwood was presoaked but I soaked it in a 55 gallon that belongs to my friend for about three weeks.