My African Cichlid cant swim

Question
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Followup To
Question -

Hello Again,

Two days later our fish's fins have all fallen off.  He has red spots everywhere but he continues to breathe even though he cannot swim.  SHould I continue to wait and hope he gets better?  It is difficult to watch him suffer this way.  Thanks.
Tom




Hi,

I have 9 African cichlids in a 55 gallon tank.  4 of them I've had for about 2 years.  We got 5 new ones several months ago.  We deemed the new ones to be too small to swim with the larger cichlids (We had a goby get eaten after a cichlid got over the divider so you can see they are very aggressive) so we sperated them with a divider.  Today we came home and one of the smaller fish was in the wrong side of the tank.  He was trying to get back under the divider (our cichlids dig under the coral all the time).  The little guy seemed hurt but he was alive.  I scooped him up and placed him in his own seperate part of the tank where he is not being disturbed by any other fish. He is breathing heavy but the part that really worries me is that he cannot swim.  His top fin and side fins (sorry I don't know what they are called) seem undamaged.  I cannot see the fin on the bottom of the fish because he is stuck on the bottom of the tank.  I left him alone for a while and found him on his side still trying to swim.  I propped him up but who knows if it will happen again.  I cannot watch him all night so I hope he is alive tomorrow.  Any suggestions on healing this fish or why he can't swim?  He seemd to not be able to go up and down.  He flaps his side fins but nothing happens.  Thanks in advance for your help.

Tom
Answer -
Hi Tom;

Poor fella. Hopefully it is just a result of shock and stress and he will come through after a rest. His swim bladder has probably failed from the trauma. This is the organ inside the body below the spine that helps the fish control buoyancy. All you can do is wait it out and see how it goes. It has to heal on it's own. Keep the tank as clean as possible to avoid infection from any injuries he may have sustained.

Hoping for the best.....

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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Answer
Hi Tom;

The injuries may be getting infected, and there are probably deep tissue bruises as well. He really needs to be in a hospital tank so he can be effectively treated. It is risky and expensive to treat the main tank. Even a fish bowl in a warm place with an airstone is fine. Don't add gravel or decorations. Add aquarium salt to the water (1/2 teaspoon per gallon) and get an antibiotic like "Maracyn 2" by Mardel. Melafix along with the Maracyn 2 is helpful too.

Change water in the hospital tank every other day. I would do about 50% each time. Add salt again too, but only for the water replaced. This means that for every gallon changed, add another 1/2 teaspoon of salt. This keeps the salt concentration the same during the entire treatment.

Hoping for the best.....

Chris Robbins