One of my bass is obviously having problems, and I am going to try and save him if possible. He has eaten one feeder fish over the past four days and has reluctantly taken some bloodworms, but he is obviously not eating. He usually eats 3-4 feeders a day for comparison, so something is off. He has no visible sign of disease at all and water parameters are perfect (Amm = 0.0; Nitri = 0.0; Nitrate = 20.0). I did a water change the day before I started noticing problems (four days ago), but none of the other fish, including the two other bass are having any problems at all. The other bass are definitely consuming what he is leaving for them, so he is the sole factor. I saw him eat one fish two days ago, and I have seen him SPIT OUT two others! WTF! Never seen a bass spit out a fish and not eat. Based on these observations (not eating, good water, other fish, and no external problems), I am assuming there is something internal going on. This leaves me with questions:
1) Does this generic description of a problem sound familiar at all? Any thoughts on what might be causing this fish's problems?
2) How would you treat this problem? What meds? Should I pull him from the tank? If so what type of setup should I use? 10 Gallon with sponge filter ok?
Note: I already raised temp to 88 and added 1 tbs of salt per five gallon an hour ago - so we will see what happens with that, but should I do more?
3) How should I try and feed him? Should I continue offering feeders, or is this a bad idea when sick? Should I try the bloodworms more since he is still eating them slowly?
Note: Answer to this question might consider whether you would advice in with other fish or alone, as alone would be easier to feed with less competition.
I used to keep fish as a kid, but was a bad fish owner and am trying to do much better than my dad taught me. This is my second group of fish since I started keeping fish again this year, so I don't really have a ton of treatment about fish problems and meds and such, so being specific would be helpful. I am learning a bunch because of this site, but this guy is kind of being one of my first problems (unfortunately for the guy), so I guess you get to learn about this too on him. He has become so skinny that his jaw is quite larger than his stomach, and I don't think he has much time left. If nothing improves, I expect him to be gone in a day and and half, just based on my novice predictions. So any advice would be really helpful. Thanks for any suggestions you can provide.
1) Does this generic description of a problem sound familiar at all? Any thoughts on what might be causing this fish's problems?
2) How would you treat this problem? What meds? Should I pull him from the tank? If so what type of setup should I use? 10 Gallon with sponge filter ok?
Note: I already raised temp to 88 and added 1 tbs of salt per five gallon an hour ago - so we will see what happens with that, but should I do more?
3) How should I try and feed him? Should I continue offering feeders, or is this a bad idea when sick? Should I try the bloodworms more since he is still eating them slowly?
Note: Answer to this question might consider whether you would advice in with other fish or alone, as alone would be easier to feed with less competition.
I used to keep fish as a kid, but was a bad fish owner and am trying to do much better than my dad taught me. This is my second group of fish since I started keeping fish again this year, so I don't really have a ton of treatment about fish problems and meds and such, so being specific would be helpful. I am learning a bunch because of this site, but this guy is kind of being one of my first problems (unfortunately for the guy), so I guess you get to learn about this too on him. He has become so skinny that his jaw is quite larger than his stomach, and I don't think he has much time left. If nothing improves, I expect him to be gone in a day and and half, just based on my novice predictions. So any advice would be really helpful. Thanks for any suggestions you can provide.
