# Jack Dempsey is broken. Please help!!



## iheartconvicts (Sep 24, 2007)

I love my JD, and now he is broken. Everytime I come near the tank, he charges and strikes glass to get my attention. And 2 days ago he did exactly that, and the next minute he was going around in tight circles non stop, like chasing its tail. After about 5 minutes of that he began floating belly up or on side. It has been like this for 2 days now, I did a full water change to see if that may bring him around, but nothing. I'm afraid that after so much time passes he will just starve to death. He just can't seem to shake that belly up position. Is there anything I can do to remedy this?????? Please ppl.

I don't know what happened to get him like this, was it a stroke from excitement? Gas from over-eating?

What can I do to bring things back to norm? Or does my fish have to be destroyed?


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## iheartconvicts (Sep 24, 2007)

So I have been researching the problem my JD is having. It has to do with swim bladder. Perhaps the food, "TetraCichlid Jumbo Carnivore Sticks" gave him issues. That is my only conclusion because he has been always fine in the past, and this happened suddenly.

I can't find anything about curing it. Some help please readers.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Hi, 
He may have some kind of internal injury or neurological disorder in which case there's not much you can do for him other than keeping his tank water conditions perfect and protecting him from any other sort of stressors like aggressive tank mates and such. He'll either recover on his own or he won't

On the swim bladder idea: _Could be_. Check out this article 
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/f ... oating.php 
for a few ideas and then I would also try adding Epsom Salt at the rate of 1 tableespoon per five gallons. Don't feed or attempt to feed him. He's not going to starve, (they can go weeks without food), and if he does eat it will likely only make the problem worse. You want to get him swimming and behaving normally before you start feeding him again.

Good luck. Please post back with additional questions or concerns

Robin


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## iheartconvicts (Sep 24, 2007)

Hello Robin, thank you for the response about the problem I am having. My JD is still pretty healthy considering he swims around the tank in a "drunk" like state. But cannot stay upright, only belly-up or side.

I have read about similar articles on using needles to empty air from bladder etc. But I'm really blind as to what exaclty to do. Unless it showed a step by step with pictures. So I don't think I want to try that option unless you can suggest a more detailed site to visit.

With the "Epsom Salt" method, how long should my JD be kept in the solution. My tank already uses freshwater salt around 1 tbsp for every 5 gallons (FW salt used to keep parasites away). So should I just drain all the water in tank and re-fill with epsom salt mixture?

Please reply asap, I will be picking up the Epsom Salt today. Thank you again Robin.


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

You can leave the 'freshwater' salt, (sodium chloride?), in the tank and you don't need to drain the tank although it's always a good idea to do a partial water change, (30-40%), just prior to adding anything to the tank.
Dissolve the Epsom salt first and then add it slowly over several hours time.

Robin


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## John_Auberry (Dec 14, 2006)

Mine did the same thing.


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## TonMarie (Dec 8, 2021)

Hi my jd is also broken he's goin wild in the tank smashing off the glass acting like a drunk white girl all over the place n then lays belly up help please


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Sorry to hear you're having these problems with your Jack Dempsey Cichlid.
Unfortunately, things haven't changed very much in treating this problem since 2008. So, I believe that the recommendations offered above with the Epsom Salt treatment for the water of the tank are still valid. It's too bad the OP did not respond with any information concerning the outcome of his sick jack Dempsey. So, its unsure if the recommended treatment will be effective or not in treating your fish. Good luck with it, and I'm sorry there wasn't more info we could provide you to hopefully correct this problem.


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