URGENT!!! PLZ Help fast! Another fish is sick!

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Pyramid_Party

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2008
4,916
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68
Monterey, CA
Hi,

looks like my Blue acara is sick. It seems it has what my Firemouth had in this thread http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/fo...d.php?t=210094


That firemouth passed away within 2 days of getting sick. I dont know whats going on. The Acara was fine this morning and I started hearing some splashing noises and looked and I can see his breathing is rapid and his mouth is moving up and down more than usual, and every few times he makes a gupling reaction, like hes gulping for air. Behavior is different too, hes not swimming around like normal, hes staying in one spot and his colors are darker than normal. This is just the way the Firemouth was.


I can also see that when my Yellow acara approaches him he gets freaked out and darts around. The Blue Acara is the dominant fish and now all of a sudden hes afraid of the yellow acara. Maybe the Yellow knows hes sick and taking advantage? I dont know what this problem is but its deadly.

My water parameters were checked just now and this is what I got:


Temp: 79
Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: 0
NitrAte: 20
Hardness: Hard
PH: around 7.8


I also notices a similarity with the Firemouth and the Blue acara. Ive noticed that their fins get eaten away kinda. Not like fin rot but they get a little tattered. I can see the Blue Acaras tail fin has a few small splits at the tip. What can I do for the fish?

I got plenty of oxygen and aeration in the tank. Its a 55 gallon with (2) AC 110s on it. Please offer me some advise. Thanks
 
Did you recently changed their foods? Did the FM have larger than normal stomach?


I had a GT that acted like that than it developed bloat and died within a few days. Hope someone else chimes it, I know how it feels when you get no answers online.
 
No, I didnt change anything. The fish does not look bloated at all, neither of them. The FM wouldnt eat, but the acara has accepted food.
 
not sure what it is but the only thing I can think of is to add some aqaurium salt and bump up the temp a few degrees. best of luck
 
Pyramid_Party;2742233; said:
No, I didnt change anything. The fish does not look bloated at all, neither of them. The FM wouldnt eat, but the acara has accepted food.

Keep an eye out for bloat just in case, in the mean time I would probably treat the whole tank with Jungle's parasite clear.
 
Best of luck, but limited info makes a diagnosis hard. Gasping and lethargy usually indicate crappy water, not form your readings tho. I wish i could help more but I have lost all faith in my ability to be a fish doctor in the last year with several deaths due to illnesses I have never seen before in my own tanks. Bloat / Ducklips / Giant festering sores. All i can say is, good luck.
 
I'm going through something similiar to the OP.
I have a blue acara that seems to be gasping for air as well. He is the only fish in my tank thats doing this. Actually, my stats are the same as the topic starter's as well.

I added a couple of air stones to the tank and overnight, the acara stopped gasping. When I pulled the air stones out, the acara started gasping again. I have a 9x turnover rate on this tank theoretically. Both spraybars on my tank are aimed at the surface as well.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but contribute. I as well would like to see some suggested answers to this because I am going through something kind of like Pyramid_Party.


BobRoss
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com