help, i have a dying frontosa

[FrontosaurusRex]

i just noticed one of my fronts swimming around upside down and i think he's dying. his stomach is a little bloated, but nothing else looks wrong with him. he's swimming violently around the tank on his side and upside down. i'm setting up a 10g tank right now for QT but i dont know how to fix this.

[Darbex]

Sorry to hear this dude. I just lost one of my discus to the same sounding thing. He was trying to jump out of my tank. I never found out what happened just assumed that because I have been busy at work that I didnt take care of them like I should have.

[FrontosaurusRex]

i've got him in a 10g with some clean water and an air stone. I dropped in some Epson salt and one Parasite tablet. He seems to be swimming better than he was 10 minutes ago but i still dont know whats going on. i pulled him out and examined him closely and his anus looked a little red at first but now it doesnt. i'm freakin out man.

[Zulaab]

Water change lately upset him/her ?
You know the same issues that John had a few days ago with the Chloramines going into the waters...

[newb]

please dont turn this into a carbon bottle speech....that has nothing to do with a sick fish.

[FrontosaurusRex]

I did a water change about 3 days ago but everyone else is perfectly ok. I keep checking on the little guy and he seems like he's doing better but I'm not certain. I keep thinking his swim bladder might be messed up....thats a very general statement but what else would make him swim all weird like that?

[Joe Reborn]

Epsom Salt, 1tsp per 5 gal of water. Raise temp up a bit 84 or so should be good. Best of Luck to you.

[supadave]

Sorry to hear about your issue Rex . I remember reading something on Cyphos.com a couple years back about some members having the same issues with their WC fish. If I remember correctly , it didn't have anything to do with the water . I think they said that it was intestinal parasites . I'm not 100% sure but I think Ron R. had an issue like yours a couple years back. You may want to PM him for some advice. Also, you may want to go over to Cyphos.com and post your problem there since that board is primarily Cyphos.

[Mzungu]

Is he still upside down? Or has he righted himself?

Got a test kit handy for the big tank?

[Joe Reborn]

Supa does bring up a good point. Do you know the history of your Gibbs. I learned everything about mine when i ordered them and dealer told me they were treated and all good and had some with some issues. I used Jungle: Parasite Cure and Epsom Salt. Day1: Dose of J:PC and 1tsp of Epsom Salt per 5gal, Day 2: Epsom Salt, Day 3: 50% Water Change Dose J:PC and Epsom Salt, Day 4: Epsom Salt, Day 5: 20% Water Change Epsom Salt, Day 6 Epsom Salt, Day 7 20% Water Change look at Progress. No Feeding during the treatment at all!

[imagirlgeek]

First, don't feed him. If he's got a blockage, the Epsom should help move that out. If it's a bacterial infection, you'll want to treat with an antibiotic...probably either Triple-Sulfa or Erythromycin. Oh, and be sure to keep the temp consistent on the 10g.

It could be internal parasite, but I think you'd have seen some of the stringy poo symptoms and he probably wouldn't have much of an appetite.

There are a lot of things that can affect the swim bladder, unfortunately.

[FrontosaurusRex]

i'm just gonna cross my fingers and hope he'll keep getting better. No stringy poo or discoloration. He hasnt turned upside down since i put the salt in the tank. I forgot to put a heater on the tank so I'm about to do that. Knock on wood, but he seems like nothing is wrong. I'm gonna keep him in the 10g for at least 24hrs just in case. Thanks everyone for your help.

[myjohnson]

I had this problem about 2 years ago with a tropheus I was keeping. I think it's swim bladder was infected.

I used some human antibiotic and treated it for 10 days in a 10g tank. After 10 days it was swimming all normal again.

Good luck dude.

[mark razmandi]

Supa does bring up a good point. Do you know the history of your Gibbs. I learned everything about mine when i ordered them and dealer told me they were treated and all good and had some with some issues. I used Jungle: Parasite Cure and Epsom Salt. Day1: Dose of J:PC and 1tsp of Epsom Salt per 5gal, Day 2: Epsom Salt, Day 3: 50% Water Change Dose J:PC and Epsom Salt, Day 4: Epsom Salt, Day 5: 20% Water Change Epsom Salt, Day 6 Epsom Salt, Day 7 20% Water Change look at Progress. No Feeding during the treatment at all!

ive had same issues with internal parasites. Best thing to do is to mess with him as little as possible, salt, temp, correct meds and keep the water clean, change every couple days and just wait.

[Zulaab]

Newb it had nothing to do with Carbon filtration. it had to do with the introduction of Chloramines into the water supply since the City of Houston has started using surface water from Lake Houston. I have seen fish do strange things when they are exposed to chemicals. Rex said the fish seemed as it was getting better in new water which I made, obviously now, the wrong statement it could be a water issue.