fower horn fish

Question
will you me help please...!? i have 1 year old flower horn fish. 3 days ago i woke up one morning, half of its body vertically turned into black and it cant hardly swim sometimes it swim upside down. what happened to my fish and can it be cured?  

Answer
Hey Mark,

I just answered a question similar to this, and upon doing furious research over it, I've found that flowerhorn cichlids tend to have black markings on all of them (except albinos, of course). Many owners of them claim that the coloration changes over time, as well. However, a very rapid change in color is typically never a good thing (especially paired with bad swimming!).

First off, make sure you have a good, vitamin rich diet, which should include fresh veggies twice a week. Peas *crushed small enough to be eaten* or the bristly tops of broccoli make for good vitamin rich foods that are cheap and easy to find. Also, bloodworms, brineshrimp, and other protein rich foods are good to add once or twice a week too! These are a general preventative measure, and aid in proper fish health. Keeping the water quality as good as possible, and at the right temperature range will also help. Because i don't know the exact situation, i can't offer tips on how to help it. However, for a cichlid tank, pH can be a bit higher then a typical community, ad the temperature can be set into the low 80*F range. Sometimes, a bit of aquarium salt will help perk fish up too, and can be left in the water long term for prolonged health.

To your exact situation, I'd attribute it to some sort of water or food problem. If something's changed in the last few days, such as an ammonia increase, that could the the cause. However, if everything seems normal, then it could be prolonged exposure to a bad condition has shortened it's life as well. I suspected a bacterial infection of sorts the last time i answered this question, but after doing more (and deeper) research into the subject, I'm leaning more towards a correctable water or food condition.

If you are paranoid (like i am) and wish to pick up a generalized bacterial cure, tetracycline or Maracide (maracide is made by maradel) are good, common products that will help a broad spectrum of problems. However, before treating for anything, let the water quality change, and food change settle for a day or two. If you make the appropriate changes, and see no improvements, then you may begin treatments. Also, for a very experienced cichlid owner, talk to Nicole Putnam (she's on this site in the fish category). She's a huge resource for me when i come across cichlid problems i cant seem to cure at pet shops i visit. She'd require you know more about your exact case though (water test results, tank size, temperature, decorations and substrate, specific descriptions of the fish including size, age, any abnormal growths, etc.)

Best wishes and hope this helped. If not, Nicole would know far more about cichlids then I, and she certainly can help!