# Sick Fish...Gasping, Hiding, But looks fine???? HELP!!!



## Catra (Mar 26, 2009)

Hello, I am new to this so any help would be greatly appreciated. I'll provide all the usual info then get to the problem.

Tank size is 100 gallons actual, temp. 78, amm. 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 5, pH 7.8 and kH 8, alittle low but I can't keep it up above that and oxygen is 8.3 or so. Crushed coral as substrate, 3 pieces of african driftwood, sandstone quartz as my rock formation. Rena Xp3 and Xp2 filters with bio media and carbon, 2 penguin 350 filters with carbon cartridges. Supplies on hand are as follows, Jungle Labs Parasite Clear, anti-parasite medicated fish food, Mardel Coppersafe, Malachite Green, Methylene Blue and Garlic Guard. Fish species, 4 yellow labs, 2 red zebras, 2 clown labs, 2 fireline mloto, 2 firefish, 2 super red empress', 2 maingano, 2 walteri, 1 taiwan reef, 1 chipokae, 1 green face and 1 gold nugget pleco. I have had my tank set up since mid january and have had fish since february 20

Okay the problem...A week and a half ago I noticed one of my super red empress' was hiding out and pumping its gill VERY hard, not swimming much and not eating. Monitored for a few days, no abuse evident, no cuts, no scraps, no external signs of parasites, etc. Did a partial water change, no improvement. Added some salt to bring the water to 0.15% thinking maybe stress, help relax the fish, no improvement. A few days later, a few more fish came down with the same symptoms, firefish and green face cichlids. I just performed a water change today (3/31) and added some Jungle Labs Parasite Clear thinking it was a internal problem after reading several forums and researching the symptoms. There has been no evident improvement, all other fish are fine except for 3. I have another 40 hours or so till my next water change and Jungle Lab treatment, but I want to make sure I'm going down the right road here and its not fungal or bacterial. The fish that are pumping their gills look perfectly healthy. I monitor the water quality every other day to be sure its not stress.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I feel I have a problem that could get out of hand. Thank you for your time.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

just beacause there is no sign if a quarrel as in torn fins doesnt mean the fish isnt being harrassed if water quality is good id say it being harrased due to what you described and hes just gettin lucky to not get nipped...could be something else however im no expert im sure somone will shed more light onto your problem


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

It could be bloat. Fish with bloat start off spitting out food and then not eating. You may or may not see long stringy white/clear feces. Fish will gasp, hide and become lethargic. Towards the end they may develop a bloated/or sunken in belly. Usually takea about a week or so for the symptoms to run their course. Quite often one fish will get it, die, and then one or two other fish will start in with the same symptoms.

It's also possible that you've got an aggression problem. Fish will gasp and stop eating when they are being harrassed. You might try removing one of the non eating fish to a hospital tank and see if his symptoms improve, ie: he eats.

The JPC is a good idea. It's not going to hurt your fish if you medicate and they don't actually have bloat--as long as it's not a frequent occurance. Increasing frequency of partial water changes and siphoning the gravel before, during and after treatment is helpful when treating bloat. You may need to do more than one round of the JPC.

Where your tank is relatively new I would continue to monitor water quality closely. Take note as to whether any fish's symptoms seem to improve directly after water changes. Make sure you're using a good quality declorinator.

Robin


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## Catra (Mar 26, 2009)

I want to thank you for your response to my issue and to update as well as provide a little more information. I have seen no noticeable improvement in the fish that seem to be sick, and I have one more treatment of Jungle Parasite Clear tomorrow. I have however noticed white stringy feces trailing from a few of the sick fish. I have considered bloat as well, but reading up on the problem made me think otherwise due to the amount of time that the first fish started showing symptoms, a week and a half. I am however going to finish my second treatment of JPC and if there are no improvements I will move the sick fish to a hospital tank.

Out of 22 fish, I have about 4 or 5 that are showing the symptoms, white stringy feces, very heavy breathing, flicking their head and sometimes even a choking motion, hiding and not eating. Now to the aggression, I'm not sure about any bullies, no one seems to be bullying, and when my one red empress looked sick, I thought the second red empress was beating it up, but now it too seems to be sick. Also, I'm thinking of using my anti parasite medicated food, good or bad idea since only a few are sick? Also, if the JPC shows no signs of improvement, are there any suggestions on another parasite med that might work a little better.

As always, thank you for your time.


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

the white feces can be a sign of bloat and can be a sign of stress as well to my understanding...but if alot of ure fish are having these symptoms u describe id lean more tward a medical problem wich is far from my specialty...ill let robin finish this one


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## kfig7 (Nov 24, 2008)

I am having a similar problem in my tank. I originally quarantined 2 of my fish, one seemed to be cut from aggression and the other one seemed stressed and stopped eating. I treated quarantine tank with melafix and jpc. Both fish at the time were spitting out food and just very lethargic. I lost one of them but the other made a great recovery. I then put him back in the main tank. A few days later I noticed a different fish starting to spit out food and just not eat. He looks completely healthy and does swim around but just wont eat.

Not sure what is happening because the one that is sick now was the bully so he was definitely not stressed from being chased. I figured it must be some type of internal parasite so I treated the tank with jpc 2 days ago. Still no improvement in the one fish but everyone else is just fine. I am feeding a medicated food right now but it does no good for my sich fish who doesnt eat. Going to try anothe dose of jpc tonight and see what happens in a few days.

Its definitely frustrating as all my water parameters are as perfect as can be and there seems to be minimal aggression. The only thing I can think of, and maybe I learned my lesson, is to definitely quarantine fish for a few weeks before putting them in your main tank. This could easily be the way this all happened.

Lastly, I am not too sure if jpc will help if the fish is already infected. I think you might have to get some medicated food directly into the digestive system to heal them. Easier said than done.


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## illusions2281 (Jan 25, 2009)

i have a similar problem with my red devil. hes twice the size of the other fish but get picked on. he is lathargic and "yawns" often. This has been going on for a few weeks now. any suggestions?


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## Catra (Mar 26, 2009)

Hello everyone, I wanted to reply to all the responses that have been posted related to my issue. I finished the treatment of JPC and replaced the carbon in my filters a day after the last two day treatment was through. I was fortunate enough not to lose any fish and everyone is currently doing very well. My dominant red empress that was twitching its head is no longer doing so and all the fish that were gasping very rapidly have since stopped. My best educated guess when looking back at the situation is the fact that I have an all male tank that has only been set up since with fish since mid february and not everyone has become buddy buddy, therefore stress was most likely the underlying problem and that led to a few fish getting an internal parasite. Since the incident, my one Red Zebra mbuna has decided that he is king of the tank and has taken it upon himself to let everyone know their role. I have quarantined him once and while doing so did not feed him for days, but that seemed to do nothing. But anyways, for those of you who are having the same problem that I did, I would suggest treating with JPC if there are symptoms of an internal or external parasite. I have been told that treating with JPC is okay for the fish whether they do have a parasite or not, it won't hurt them. I would quarantine any gapsing fish and up the salt levels, dim the lights and make the fish as relaxed as possible.

I hope all this helps!!


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## Catra (Mar 26, 2009)

Hello everyone, I wanted to reply to all the responses that have been posted related to my issue. I finished the treatment of JPC and replaced the carbon in my filters a day after the last two day treatment was through. I was fortunate enough not to lose any fish and everyone is currently doing very well. My dominant red empress that was twitching its head is no longer doing so and all the fish that were gasping very rapidly have since stopped. My best educated guess when looking back at the situation is the fact that I have an all male tank that has only been set up since with fish since mid february and not everyone has become buddy buddy, therefore stress was most likely the underlying problem and that led to a few fish getting an internal parasite. Since the incident, my one Red Zebra mbuna has decided that he is king of the tank and has taken it upon himself to let everyone know their role. I have quarantined him once and while doing so did not feed him for days, but that seemed to do nothing. But anyways, for those of you who are having the same problem that I did, I would suggest treating with JPC if there are symptoms of an internal or external parasite. I have been told that treating with JPC is okay for the fish whether they do have a parasite or not, it won't hurt them. I would quarantine any gapsing fish and up the salt levels, dim the lights and make the fish as relaxed as possible.

I hope all this helps!!


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

> 4 yellow labs, 2 red zebras, 2 clown labs, 2 fireline mloto, 2 firefish, 2 super red empress', 2 maingano, 2 walteri, 1 taiwan reef, 1 chipokae, 1 green face and 1 gold nugget pleco.


I'm glad things seem to have settled down in your tank. it might be worthwhile to look closely at your stocking list. The general rule of thumb for an all male tank (what I do) is one of each species and species that don't look like each other. You have quite a few instances of two of one kind of fish, and while you do have a good sized tank, it's not clear that this would work for the long run. Just something to consider . . . (what I said does not apply to the labs, which can be in a mixed gender group in an otherwise all male tank)


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