# Blue Acara Not Right



## Thepauly (Mar 25, 2011)

I have had one of two of my blue acaras acting "drunk" the past few days. He swims very slow and lethargic looking, often slowly bumping into things to stop. Majority of the time he sits in a rock cave on the bottom and doesnt move. One notable point I have noticed is that he is super colored up and dark, much more than normal. I looked through the library and didnt see anything that may resemble the strange symptoms. Any ideas??!

The pair have been in the 55gal for about 6months with no issues living with 8 red-eye tetras and one small gold SAE. The tank water has been very stable, testing today at: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, ~10 Nitrates. Did a 50% WC today which livened him up for a bit then back to the cave. Other than two WC's a week between 25-50% nothing in this tank has changed in at least 6 months. Thanks alot in advance!


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## Thepauly (Mar 25, 2011)

Video there that shows the sick one and the most movement I've seen out of him for awhile.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

The dark coloration and heavy breathing are signs of stress. Does he look a bit bloated you?

I'm wondering about internal parasites. Does he go for food? Does he spit food back out? Has he pooped normally? I suggest starting with some antiparasitic meds- PraziPro is a good choice.


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## Thepauly (Mar 25, 2011)

Thanks triscuit. After browsing a huge amount of fish diseases and trying to find the closest symptoms that I observed, I started internal parasite treatment yesterday morning. Too late tho, he was belly up when I got home at 9! oh well, learn and move on. That was a tough one to diagnose as there where no external signs other than very dark coloration. He never looked bloated, no weird scales, gills where fine but he never touched food.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Sorry to hear that- I would still continue with the meds. If it was parasites, your other fish are at risk too.

I recommend a week of daily treatments and water changes, and stop feeding for the week to help clear the fish's GI tract.

What did you start to treat with?


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## Thepauly (Mar 25, 2011)

I have kept the treatment going for the same reasons you stated, using tetra parasite clear. Had to go with that as it was cheap! not sure how good it really is either. Everybody else is doing good though.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... lmdn=Brand


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