Is my convict cichlid sick

Question
QUESTION: My female convict cichlid is acting very strange. She is hanging at the bottom of our tank, a lot in her log hideout. She will still swim and my male convict is "guarding" her. This just started this morning and she has not eaten anything all day. Her color is also very dull. She usually acts "interested" when we walk by the tank, in other words she comes out to look and follows us around the tank but she isn't acting like that now. Help please!!

ANSWER: Hi Brandon,
  A fish not eating for one day is not really something to worry about. If she doesn't eat for a week, that is a much bigger problem.

  Have you been doing regular, partial water changes?  You should be changing 25% of the water in the tank once a week, every week to keep your fish happy and healthy.  Have you been doing that?

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION:   She did pass away last night. We had put her in a tank by herself hoping that she would get better. Yes I do change the water once every week. As a matter of fact, I changed it earlier in the week. None of the other fish in that tank seemed to be effected by that. She had gotten to where she darted to the top of the tank really fast and a couple of times she was running into the tank sides and then she would lay on the bottom and she had stopped gasping for air. It would be a great help if we had a guess of what it might be and how we can treat it, so that if it ever happens again we will know what to do.

Answer
Hi Brandon,
 Unfortunately it is very hard to say what caused that behavior.  Did she have any missing scales that might indicate that the other fish were attacking her?

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
  Cichlid Research Home Page <http://cichlidresearch.com>