Blue Acara Cichlid is looking very lethargic and hangs in the bottom of the aquarium.
- Thread starter EelBoyTheChampion
- Start date
I was observing the cichlid for a while and it seems very stressed. Every time I would peak at him, he would raise his fins and turn away. Later, the cichlid started to swim erratically with no direction in mind and bumping into things before settling back down in the bottom.
Your tank is not overstocked. A 55 is adequate space for even a group of blue acaras, as well as those particular eels of yours.
I would just give it time and clean water. The fish does not appear unhealthy. The fact that its eating is a good sign. Your ph is on the high side but certainly not unacceptable for blue acaras.
I literally just had the same symptoms with one of my peacock cichlids it ended up dying because I waited too long thinking she was just stressed or bullied, she eventually began laying flat on one side and died soon after. It then happened to another peacock this time I immediately took him out and placed him in a 5 gallon bucket dosed with methelyne blue and waited until morning, I took him out and placed him back in population and he's fully recovered. This was about two weeks ago and honestly im unsure what would cause this to happen.
To cut this short I suggest medicating your fish as soon as possible.
To cut this short I suggest medicating your fish as soon as possible.
The Acara Cichlid died this morning. As I was tending to my spiny eels since I hand feed them all the time, the cichlid was swimming in an extremely strange way. It was making multiple rotations, swimming upside down and up and upside down, flailing around and slamming into things. It looked to me that it could be an issue with its swim bladder, but it died before I could treat it. I have no idea what exactly killed it, but I think that the high nitrates might of really affected him although he was still eating before I starved the fish for about three days.
I made sure to do a 10% water change every hour to make sure that there wasn't any sudden change in nitrate levels to prevent shocking the fish. But the API Freshwater master Kit kept the Nitrate Levels at a constant 5ppm after five separate 10% water changes. So I cleaned my power filter, scrubbed it down, cleaned the sponges which did have some Cyanobacteria matter on them which had since turned blackish in color. I then waited about two hours to do two more 10% water changes and after testing, the API Freshwater Master Kit kept the Nitrate Level at a constant 5ppm still. I do not feel safe performing any test for Nitrates with this kit.
Another thing that might of bothered the cichlid is a lack of oxygen. My 55 gallon aquarium is 48' in length and the power filter is on the left side of the aquarium. So the tank does have a dead spot in the very right corner of the tank where fish waste did build up. I don't know whether I'm pulling straws here or if I should immediately rectify this and increase aeration in the dead spot. I have a Koralia Power Head and even after wrapping it in Nylon, it would not deter the spiny eels from trying to hide in there.
Now I'm feeling gutted and extremely worried that my spiny eels might be affected.
I made sure to do a 10% water change every hour to make sure that there wasn't any sudden change in nitrate levels to prevent shocking the fish. But the API Freshwater master Kit kept the Nitrate Levels at a constant 5ppm after five separate 10% water changes. So I cleaned my power filter, scrubbed it down, cleaned the sponges which did have some Cyanobacteria matter on them which had since turned blackish in color. I then waited about two hours to do two more 10% water changes and after testing, the API Freshwater Master Kit kept the Nitrate Level at a constant 5ppm still. I do not feel safe performing any test for Nitrates with this kit.
Another thing that might of bothered the cichlid is a lack of oxygen. My 55 gallon aquarium is 48' in length and the power filter is on the left side of the aquarium. So the tank does have a dead spot in the very right corner of the tank where fish waste did build up. I don't know whether I'm pulling straws here or if I should immediately rectify this and increase aeration in the dead spot. I have a Koralia Power Head and even after wrapping it in Nylon, it would not deter the spiny eels from trying to hide in there.
Now I'm feeling gutted and extremely worried that my spiny eels might be affected.
- Dec 2, 2018
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The Spiny Eels are doing just fine and don't seem to be stressed out. I hand fed them yesterday and they were chasing my hand when I was going to grab more blood worms. Turned on the tank lights today and they came out their hiding places and were swimming about. However I'm worried that those symptoms might creep up on them so I'm keeping a watchful eye.
