# Sick Frontosa?



## fishmasterxl (Apr 20, 2008)

Hi, I have a 4 inch Frontosa that has been acting really weird lately and I don't know why. I have a tank with 3 Fronts, two calvus and two leleupi and a pleco. All the other fish in the tank are fine and acting normal with no signs of disease. My one large Frontosa has not been eating at all and his/her color is extrmely dark. He/she hangs out in this dark cave all day and is super shy to come out even when feeding. My water perimeters are always great and the rest of the fish are doing just fine. This has been going on for a few days now and I'm wondering what gives. I have them all in a 55 gallon fish tank right now but I am upgrading to a one 125 soon as soon as I can find one for affordable. Anyone know why my fish is so depressed? or what disease it could have. It's also breathing very hard it seems.


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## felix51 (Jan 30, 2009)

Tough to say, but i experienced the same with mine, where the big guy doesn't want to come out and feed, and is very dark. It seems after a few water changes everything was fine. I found mine to be quite shy, even during feeding time, to the point where i became worried as well. Try feeding your fish normally, then dump some brine shrimp (or other meaty food) right near the cave he hides in, and see what happens. I think when a fish is breathing heavy it's an oxygen thing, which is why a water change might be prudent, but i'm sure there are other reasons too. I don't know how big yours are, but a 55G isn't considered large enough for Fronts, but i also noticed you are considering an upgrade, but with the current size tank your water changes must be frequent.

Good luck!


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## rrich741 (Apr 18, 2008)

it might be gill flukes. The symptoms seem right on spot.


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## iamnotjackjohnson (Aug 4, 2004)

Are you feeding them live aquatic worms by any chance?

I've had frontosa mysteriously get sick when I used to feed live black worms, and I've heard of that happening to quite a few people.


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## fishmasterxl (Apr 20, 2008)

I thought Gill flukes also do to the breathing. I use two emperor 400 filtration so I know its not an oxygen problem. I feed them hikari cichlid gold sinking pellets and the occasional frozen blood worms. The fish ended up dying unfortunetly and now another Front is acting up. I'm going to go ahead and treat for Gill Flukes.


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## joesfish (Mar 29, 2004)

I am sorry to here about your lost. I don't know what size frontosa you had in a 55 gallon, and for some people they claim never having a problem. This might not be your situation, but many people try and keep frontosa in a 55 gal tank not realizing that in a short time they will need to buy a bigger tank. Having them in a small tank leads to stress, illness and death. With larger tanks people have more room for human error and smaller tanks less error margine. Filtration, water condition, tankmates, and tank size all lead to a healthy tank and are the things we can control. Like I said I don't know what you fish died from without more facts, but I figure it was a good time to say my thoughts on 55gal tanks and Frontosa. Sorry about your lost.


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