# EMERGENCY! Fish staying still at bottom; not moving much...



## msaddie7 (Aug 20, 2009)

My tank has been established for over 4 months. 2 cichlids & cat fish. 15 gal tank. Friday night I accidentally overdose with Cichlid Essentials - but the fish seemed ok. I did a water change last night (Tuesday). This morning I treated with an algae chemical (I followed all the directions) but now my one fish is just sitting still on the bottom; barely moving any fins or his mouth. If I tap on the glass he startles and moves, but then goes back to the same position. I think he's dying....

What do I do? Anything that would help?

This is my first fish tank and all has gone well - I really don't want him to die!


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Hi,

Some of those algae killers can be trouble. Since algae isn't harmful to your fish it's really best to control it naturally, IMO. You do this by not over-feeding, not having the lights on too much, and doing regular partial water changes and gravel siphonings.

So first of all I would discontinue the use of the algae killer. And then I would do a partial water change of 30% using a good quality declorinator. Check your filter media for any kind of build up and if there is one then rinse the media off in a bucket of tank water. You want to make sure you have a good strong flow of water coming out of the filter return.

Additionally I'd fast the fish for the next 24 hours and add Epsom salt at the rate of 1 tablespoon per five gallons to work as a mild analgesic, (pain killer) and laxative. Dissolve the Epsom salt first and add it gradually over several hours time.

What kind of cichlids are you keeping?
Robin


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## msaddie7 (Aug 20, 2009)

Thank you Robin! I did a 2 gal water change last night and I also replaced my filter. I also used a little aquarium salt and, of course, a declorinator. Thankfully my "Hogi" is doing well this morning. I really thought he wouldn't make it but turns out he's a trooper. I threw out the algae stuff - I'll NEVER use anything like that again.

I'm not 100% certain, but from my best research I believe that "Hogi" is a female M. Auratus and "Boss" is a male Aulonocara "Stuartgranti maleri". Plus my little catfish - they are generally all very happy together. I've even noticed my cichlids actually letting the catfish clean them - which I assume is fish behavior for "you're okay".

The tank was originally set up by my friend, an expert fish keeper, before she left town. The bottom is a mixture of regular sand and some sort of special black and white live bacteria/enzyme sand. I don't know what its called - but my friend said it was alive and expensive sand. Because its sand, I've never siphoned it - but now that you mention it, I think that would help emensly. Is there any tool I can use to siphon sand without a clog up?


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

Hi,
glad the fish seems to be doing better. 
A number of things stuck out from your post, I'll just quickly address each one.

Aquarium Salt is not the same as Epsom salt.

The 15 g tank is WAY too small for an Auratus, and really most cichlids. Auratus are some of the most aggressive cichlids and even in a much larger tank they are only manageable with carefully selected tankmates.

Sand needs to be siphoned just the same as any other substrate. Because it's so dense it becomes anaerobic, meaning there's no air and then you can have pockets of bacteria build up that can be extremely harmful to your fish. It is a challenge to siphon the sand without sucking it up. What you might do is stir one small section of the sand with the end of your siphon hose with the suction 'off' and then pull the nozzle away a short distance and siphon up what ever you've uncovered. If you've never disturbed the sand substrate then do this stirring/siphoning in very small sections and not all in one day. The danger is that you may already have an anaerobic pocket under there and you don't want to disturb it all at once. If you can't get to the sand to siphon it on a regular basis then gently stir small sections of it everyonce in awhile. This will allow air in and release some of the waste which can then be drawn in by the filter.

The catfish 'cleaning' your fish may not be such a good thing. At night your cichlids don't exactly sleep but they do become very docile and unaware. The catfish on the other hand does a lot of its feeding, scavenging at night. I don't know what you can do to stop it but a larger tank would definitely help.

Robin


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