What's wrong with my festae?

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rumblesushi

Feeder Fish
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Jul 18, 2005
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Yesterday my festae stopped eating and started acting very strange. He's breathing harder than normal, not REALLY heavy with rapid gill pumping, just a little harder than usual.

He also keeps tilting forward suddenly, and moving in short jolting increments.

His colour is still fine, he doesn't have any wounds other than a split anal fin, and a slight nip on the tail.

There's been no new tankmates, and I've had him for months.

Water parameters are fine, and all other fish are fine.

He seems ill but I just have no idea what these symptoms are.
 
ime, festae are more sensitive to rising nitrates than other larger CA/SA cichlids. they will be the first to show signs of stress as the nitrate levels rise and other comparable species will show no signs of stress at all. without knowing anything else about your setup that's the only thing I can think of.

if you can give some more info about the setup (tank size, tankmates, water parameters, water change schedule etc) then it may help to figure out if what I mentioned above is the problem or not. :mrsatan:
 
Bud_Man_Jr said:
omg same thign just happened to me yeasterday.she wont eat.only moving in short bursts.i will miss her if shes passes :(
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first thing I'd suggest to do is a water change without knowing anything else about your tank. however, if you can provide the same info about your tank that I asked rumblesushi for then maybe we can find something that both your tank and his have in common that might be causing this problem for your festae. :)
 
30 gallon long.6 cons.1 orange festae.lots of hiding spots.they are all paired up and none fight .i just got done doing a water change when i posted that reply.i feed em these chichlid sticks and red chichlid flake food.after they eat they run back to their post with their mate.the tank has always been diamond clear.
 
Jason it's a 190, nitrates only 15, like I said the water conditions are fine :) No am/ni.

I do 1 or 2 50% water changes a week, at least once a week.

Tankmates are mainly a loisellei, oscar, JD, some bichirs, some catfish, and a papyrocranus afer.

The fish doesn't get bullied either.

I was just wondering if these were known symptoms, some kind of disease, or something unique to festaes or what. I really like this fish, don't want it to die.
 
fishman thanks for the reply. How do they get bloat? Is it something that festaes or cichlids are especially susceptible to?

What is clout?
 
Clout is a medication I believe. Bloat is well, remember Deuce Bigalow lol Malawi Bloat (which, contrary to the movie, does not occur in saltwater fish :)), here is some info:

Treating Bloat using Clout is also relatively simple. As already mentioned above, before you begin treatment, remove any carbon you might be using in your filters and perform a 30-40% water change. Using a disposable cup, dissolve in some tank water one tablet of Clout per 10 gallons (round up if necessary). Pour the mixture into the tank just a little bit at a time, perhaps taking a half hour to administer a complete dosage -- this drug can be very strong and so it is important to follow this guideline so as not to shock your already stressed fish. Repeat the same dosage for the next two days, again performing a 30-40% water change beforehand. Daily water changes are essential for Clout's maximum effectiveness. The water changes also facilitate the removal of the old, disabled chemicals. Three days of treatment should be sufficient if the inflammation is not too severe, otherwise treat for a full five days. If after five days, you still don't notice a change, then resume treatment again after a two day hiatus. Once you have concluded the treatment, perform a final water change 24 hours after the last dosage.

That is about clout. Here is a website that explains:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/malawi_bloat.php

Best of luck!

javey
 
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