This is my bonsai flowerhorn...
He has been in his new tank for about 3 weeks, tank is over a year old. 55 gal, 280gph canister, moderately planted, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20ppm.
I do weekly water changes at about 30%
Tankmates are 2 discus (in the process of rehoming) 6 giant danio, a chocolate pleco and about 12 corys. He is only slightly aggressive towards the pleco and discus just chasing every once in awhile but otherwise coexists great.
He has always done backflips and weird sort of tricks but about 5 or 6 days ago he started laying on the bottom of the tank upside down. I thought it was a swim bladder issue, but he will do that for about an hour and then swim up and swim around the tank, beg for food, etc. then after a while he will swim down and go belly up again. I also thought it was constipation so I fasted for 2 days but everytime I am near the tank he rights himself and swims up to beg for food. I have even seen him eating while he is upside down. He doesn't seem to be in any discomfort.
I don't know what to do... He is my favorite fish and I really want him to be okay. I am not a fan of premptively medicating if there is no clear diagnosis, so I do not want to do that unless it is something obvious. He wont eat green peas no matter what I do. I thought maybe he is gulping too much air with the Hikari floating pellets (which he always ate before with no problems) so I switched to a cichlid flake, but I read that also can cause them to take in too much air.
Because he is easily able to right himself and swim normally, does it seem like constipation? Is there any possible chance that this particular fish just does this as part of his personality? Has anyone ever seen or heard of that before?
Please help! Any and all suggestions appreciated. Thank you.
He has been in his new tank for about 3 weeks, tank is over a year old. 55 gal, 280gph canister, moderately planted, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20ppm.
I do weekly water changes at about 30%
Tankmates are 2 discus (in the process of rehoming) 6 giant danio, a chocolate pleco and about 12 corys. He is only slightly aggressive towards the pleco and discus just chasing every once in awhile but otherwise coexists great.
He has always done backflips and weird sort of tricks but about 5 or 6 days ago he started laying on the bottom of the tank upside down. I thought it was a swim bladder issue, but he will do that for about an hour and then swim up and swim around the tank, beg for food, etc. then after a while he will swim down and go belly up again. I also thought it was constipation so I fasted for 2 days but everytime I am near the tank he rights himself and swims up to beg for food. I have even seen him eating while he is upside down. He doesn't seem to be in any discomfort.
I don't know what to do... He is my favorite fish and I really want him to be okay. I am not a fan of premptively medicating if there is no clear diagnosis, so I do not want to do that unless it is something obvious. He wont eat green peas no matter what I do. I thought maybe he is gulping too much air with the Hikari floating pellets (which he always ate before with no problems) so I switched to a cichlid flake, but I read that also can cause them to take in too much air.
Because he is easily able to right himself and swim normally, does it seem like constipation? Is there any possible chance that this particular fish just does this as part of his personality? Has anyone ever seen or heard of that before?
Please help! Any and all suggestions appreciated. Thank you.
