I have my jack which is about 3.5" in a 55 for now with my 7.5" oscar and a 2" meeki. And now for a couple of days now he has been very scared and wont swim up to the front of the tank like he use to, he will go and hide under the filter. He now doesn't eat very much, and he use to eat a lot. I think there is something could you please help.
Something's with my Jack Dempsey
- Thread starter honda237
- Start date
What are your water parameters?
Temperature?
How is the poop? White and Stringy?
Hows the belly look?
Any visible signs on the fish? If you dont see anything it could very well be an internal parasite. The same thing just happened to an electric blue dempsey of mine. Currently 3.5'' (Had him since an inch), always was a good eater until one day I noticed his behavior change and a loss of appetite.
I ended up moving him to a 10 gallon by himself and treated him with Parasite Clear. On day 7 he started eating a little. A few days after he was eating like before. Eventually he went back in the tank he was raised in.
Temperature?
How is the poop? White and Stringy?
Hows the belly look?
Any visible signs on the fish? If you dont see anything it could very well be an internal parasite. The same thing just happened to an electric blue dempsey of mine. Currently 3.5'' (Had him since an inch), always was a good eater until one day I noticed his behavior change and a loss of appetite.
I ended up moving him to a 10 gallon by himself and treated him with Parasite Clear. On day 7 he started eating a little. A few days after he was eating like before. Eventually he went back in the tank he was raised in.
The temp is set at 82 and he seems to like it like that. But he looks perfectly normal. His stomach looks normal. I never get to see his poop. I did feed them feeder fish a week and a half ago. But all he did is bite them to kill them. Was urs very scared when u would walk in the room almost like I beat it but I didn't.
Where do you get your feeders from? Never feed your fish feeders from them big box stores like petco, petsmart, etc.... Most of there feeders are sick.
If you don't see any visible signs and are sure he's not the same as he was before, I would bet he has an internal parasite.
You also mention he runs when you get near the tank. This is another sign of him being sick if he normally doesn't do that.
Before medicating him I would try raising the temps a little more (86-88 degrees) and add 1 tablespoon of salt for every 5 gallons of water. Keep an eye on him for the next week after that. If there are no signs of improvement then I would start a medication.
Parasite Clear has worked wonders for me. This medication treats internal bacterial infections.
Here is a link to the product. Good Luck!
http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=TB636
If you don't see any visible signs and are sure he's not the same as he was before, I would bet he has an internal parasite.
You also mention he runs when you get near the tank. This is another sign of him being sick if he normally doesn't do that.
Before medicating him I would try raising the temps a little more (86-88 degrees) and add 1 tablespoon of salt for every 5 gallons of water. Keep an eye on him for the next week after that. If there are no signs of improvement then I would start a medication.
Parasite Clear has worked wonders for me. This medication treats internal bacterial infections.
Here is a link to the product. Good Luck!
http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=TB636
I would also stop w/ the feeders all together and switch to a healthier diet (cichlid sticks, Marine A w/ spirulina pellets and a high quality flake). Feeders have absolutley no nutritional value to them. Most are more bad for your fish then good.
From a bait shop? Uggh. I would bet money that he's sick because of them feeders! Like I mentioned above, treat with salt first, if nothing improves after a few days, then medicate. If you do nothing, he's good as dead. Your choice.
ErikFromNJ;3083075; said:
I agree with ErikFromNJ that the feeder are the problem.
I hope he feel better.
