Jack Dempsy Stressed and at surface

[Jgray152]

Hello,

I have a Large Jack Dempsey (Jack) that seems to be stressed and I can't figure out why. This has gone on for about 3 weeks, about a week or two I think after I topped of the tank with tap water which is public water, I don't think I added conditioner which I normally do so my ammonia readings were a little high when I checked them this past weekend. After adding conditioner the readings have dropped to zero.

Now I thought maybe Jack was stressed because of the ammonia readings but he is still acting very stressed and im not sure if there is an underlying issue.

I see no spots or sores on him, he is eating, he doesn't hide in his cave like he always did he stays around the surface but is very black in coloration with blue spots, usually greenish in color.

When the lights are off, he calms down, coloration mostly comes back and swims a bit better, usually lies on top of his rock cave. Breathing becomes a bit more shallow than when he is stressed.

I took some pics of his eyes, not sure if there is something there but doesn't look completely normal. His eyes are a bit cloudy, not much and above the eyes look puffy to me.

 

[Jgray152]

So I have been closely observing him everyday. I keep the lights off as he returns to his normal coloration in the dark and not nearly as stressed.

He hovers around, doesn't swim much but tends to point up a bit at the surface. His eyes are a bit cloudy too though.

I am medicating right now with a round of PimaFix and MelaFix. Since I saw some cotton like growths in other areas on the side of his head. thos I think are gone now but the white dot above his eye is still there.

He does eat... a little.

I used one of the same pics above and just circled the areas which have changed. I'll get pics soon. Since his eye seems to be poping out a tiny bit, should I treat this as pop-eye and use Maracyn 2?

 

[Owain4]

can you give us a tank size and water parameters, anything you've done to the tank lately, added or removed

 

[F1 VET]

Any ammonia is bad, u should be doing 2x/week 30-40% wc with dechlor. Also all those meds don't seem necessary with one tiny spot, try salt and clean water, 1tablespoon per 10/20 gals not table salt.


Go S. Vettel #1 rb8

 

[Aquanero]

I would do a large water change, dose as suggested with aquarium salt. If your ammonia was high chances your nitrites and nitrates will also be spiking. Salt will help in this situation. A swelling/cloudy eye is one of the signs of detereating water quality, and could be the onset of a bacterial infection. Clean water would be the fist step and a filter maintenance schedule needs to be aheared to. Dimming the lighting might also help as the fish will feel more secure. I think clean water and salt will fix this issue since it appears to be cought early enough. Check your water perameters and keep the temp between 78 and 80 degrees for a couple of weeks. Also what is the Ph? The higher the Ph the more toxic the ammonia will be.

 

[Jgray152]

Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 15+
PH around 8
55 gallon Aquarium.
Stock is mixed Mbunas Cichlids and Jack Dempsey.

The tank has been like this for over 5 years.

This happened when I did a water change, not sure how long after I think a week or so after te water change. My tap water has ammonium or something of the sort which shows up on the ammonia tests. I must have forgot to add the dechlor / Condition in the tank because the ammonia was higher than safe in the tank. I found this out about 2.5 weeks after I noticed my jack dempseys personality was changing.

I did add dechlor / conditioner to the tank which removed the toxin as quickly as I put it in. Tests confirmed. I have no doubt this was caused by the ammonia.

Also its not just one little spot. Jacks eye is swollen and he also had cotton like growth on random parts of his head which are now gone except for that white spot which has not changed. Im using both meds because of a possibly bacterial infection and the cotton growth. Unfortunately Melafix does not seem to be doing the job.

I will be putting him in a 30 gal hospital tank this weekend once its setup.

All my other 10+ Mbunas are perfectly healthy.

 

[Aquanero]

Treat with Tetracycline in the hospital tank. This should help and keep the water very clean. Also some declors can give a false reading on your test kit. Any amonia will be much more toxic the higher the Ph. HTH.

 

[Jgray152]

Water Params...
Ammonia 0 (was .25 after wc)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate: when is it ever low
PH. 8.6-8.8 . Tap water is 8.8. I never really looked at this to much since all my fish were always fine but 8.2 - 8.4 is where I always liked it. hmm
Temp: 74-76. Non adjustable thermostat

Situation went from disturbing to bad this weekend.

Now he is sideways completely and only his right side points up at all times. If he darts, he will swim straight but if he doesn't have to, he will just be sideways. He darted on my just because I put the net in the tank to bring him closer to look at him.

Now put aquarium salt 1tbs per 10g in the tank yesterday, and Maracyn 2 as well. I just did the second dose of Maracyn 2 tonight.

What ever is above his eye seems to be getting deeper. really odd and im not sure whats causing him now to be sideways arching his whole body. In this pic he is not arching much as he is around the rocks but out of them he arching pretty bad.

 

[rocky2]

looks bad

 

[Jgray152]

I have had him for 6 years about and never an issue....I forget one time to do one thing and this happens... Time to make some changes.

He is still kickin though. I keep getting out of work to late to get more meds...I hope to grab some tomorrow.