# Cichlid with curved/bent spine



## ShadowPhoenix (Aug 25, 2017)

On 17AUG17 me and my girlfriend went to our pet store for decor and browsed the cichlids they had, where we noticed the cichlid in question as well as a breed of catfish which were abandoned earlier that day. The associate we spoke to, wasn't the store aquarist but was able to tell us first hand what the reason was that they were given up for. We inquired what they wanted, and she said we could just have them. While she was preparing the labels and bag, we noticed that the catfish was missing the left fin on its belly. It swam perfectly fine and there's no nubs or scarring as if it was born missing it.

















After we got them home, we acclimated them for 30-45min and then watched how the tank reacted. No aggressive behavior except from our two bloodparrots who are just push arounds to the catfish, which we got handled with interruption and isolation period in a breeder net. However we noticed that the cichlid was having difficulty swimming as well as staying upright. Well we kept observing every so often and noticed that after a period of time of laying on it's side, it would curve/bent at a tight angle almost in the shape of a "L". Now keep in mind it can swim, the farthest I've watched it swam has been once across the length of our 55gal. We were worried what would happen overnight, and prepared ourselves for the worst. After the fourth day I decided to place him in our breeder net, to prevent any bullying as well as keep it elevated just below the surface to reduce water weight.









It's been a week now since we brought it home, and with the last three days keeping it in the breeder net, it hasn't had any improvement. I've had hope for this one since it made it overnight the first night, please any help to treat would be appriciated


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

That's usually a telling sign of fish tuberculosis. Do not handle the fish by any means because it can be spread to humans. The best thing you could do is euthanize him and start treating with antibiotics for gram positive bacteria.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Is the fish bent all the time and did you not notice this when you got it?


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## ShadowPhoenix (Aug 25, 2017)

Deeda said:


> Is the fish bent all the time and did you not notice this when you got it?


We did not notice the spine bending until hours after we brought it home. It still can swim on it's own and has made numerous attempts at tearing through the breeder net. I believe it could be a spine injury but it will only curve its spine after a period of laying on its side


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Thanks for the info, I'm wondering if the fish was injured by any other tank mates.

Could you provide more info on the tank dimensions (L x W x H) and about how long it has been set up?

Are the fish in your signature the ones in this same tank and if so, what other fish are there?


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## ShadowPhoenix (Aug 25, 2017)

If it was injured it was before the previous owner turned them over to our petstore, as the tank mates we have been to some degree helping/encouraging the fish to stay upright and to swim, no aggression what so ever.

Tank dimensions: 48 x 12 3/4 x 19

The ones in my signature are the tank mates, including an Electric Yellow, three Bala Sharks, two Plecos, and a unknown breed of catfish(pictured above)


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## ShadowPhoenix (Aug 25, 2017)

ShadowPhoenix said:


> ...The ones in my signature are the tank mates, including an Electric Yellow, three Bala Sharks, two Plecos, and a unknown breed of catfish(pictured above)


I've updated my signature with a corrected version of the tankmates of my 55g, for some reason I couldn't edit my post


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Thanks!! There is a time limit for editing posts so no worry.

It is possible the fish was born deformed and it became more noticeable as it aged, was injured previous to your purchase, is very old or as suggested it could be fish TB.

I've only experienced a bent spine on a fish one time and that was a Malawi Nimbochromis venustus that was at least 10 years old and it developed over a 6 month period and I had to euthanize the fish.

On a side note, I see that you are using Photobucket to host your pics so be aware that they have changed their policy regarding free 3rd party linking of pics so eventually they will catch up with everyone that uses them. You can use another pic hosting site or link directly by using the Full Editor attachment via this forum.


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## ShadowPhoenix (Aug 25, 2017)

That is a possibility. I've been giving it a salt bath suggested by the aquarist at my Petco store who prefers natural remedy methods first, and it's had alot more movement and not so much bending or even as aggressive as a bend as usual, but will still lay on its side and have a slight curve. It was suggested to see if there was a bloat or swim bladder issue. *** not noticed it eat in the last two days, but I can't pinpoint weather it's a movement issue or a lack of hunger so I'm still curious what could be wrong. I've tried several different foods that I use except for frozen beef heart.


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## ShadowPhoenix (Aug 25, 2017)

Well, through our efforts, it was just an unhealable issue. He started having frantic actions today, I noticed that he swam a little completely upside down, then about half hour ago we noticed he was seizing, and 10min ago he passed away.

I want to thank those who helped with feedback.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

I'm sorry for your loss, it was probably beyond anyone's attempts to fix.


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