freddy

Question
right after i got off my e-mail with you yesterday i went over and rearranged his rocks and put them back to normal. i do this on a regular basis... just to give him something to do- like a zookeeper does to keep the animals busy.  He usually has the tank all dug out back to where he likes it in about 20 minutes. I'm looking at his tank right now and he hasn't touched the rocks in about 36 hours. THIS... is VERY odd for him.

I wanted to get a good look at him today to make sure i didn't see any visible damage on him, so i took out his rock enclosure to get a better view. he then hid behind the intake to the filter.  again, very odd, and very not him.

sorry I'm peppering you with all these questions....

is there anything i should look for that are symptoms of certain diseases that he might have?
I assume it's close to impossible to tell if his injuries are internal, right?

so sorry for all these questions, ron!
Erin

Answer
Hi Erin,
 It sounds like he is not his usual self but I'm not sure that there is much you can do about that other than trying to give him the cleanest water you can.  I find that the best medicine for fish is clean water -- that allows them to fight off whatever ails them.  Too often people stick chemicals in the tank which in many cases do more harm than good unless you know exactly what you are treating.

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