Sick common ancistrus, pls help!
Posted: 20 May 2005, 01:55
Hey all, one of my mature (4 1/2 years old) female common ancistrus breeders is quite unwell. Her eyes are sunken and she seems to have little life left in her. She swims only occasionally and with a distressing lack of control, at the moment she is perched rather awkwardly on her side and has not moved for a long time wagging her ventral fins occasionally, and her breathing is shallow. Her fins arent clamped constantly, and her colour is beautiful black as normal, but it is clear she is going to die if not helped. She has difficulty holding her weight on the glass with her mouth. Three days have passed since i noticed all this and i can only think it may be that she was beaten by a male who has just had a growth and agression spurt though no clear signs are evident. The other fish are looking better than fine.
The tank parameters are quite decent, 27deg C water with 0 ammonia/nitrite/ates, no contaminants, ph 7, 60 gal heavily planted and wooded tank with 3mm gravel, reverse flow u/g filter with a supplementary eheim 2028, is a species tank, running for 8 months since last complete overhaul, twice weekly water changes of 30%, no new members or even plants in the last 4 months, not sure of kh at the mo, but has never been an issue here. I feed 2 days of zucchini, cucumber and lettuce then a day of either bloodworm or hikari wafers alternating.
I feel that she will die even before anyone replies to this post, i just wanted to know if anyone had any idea of whether this was old age (i have seen 8 year old specimens, mine being 4 1/2)or perhaps something more sinister.
My main stress (apart from loving her dearly) is because I have not been able to find this species again in my state and the market here is not refreshed with new blood due to strict import laws.
ANY help would be absolutely majorly appreciated, i love her so! Cheers!
Egz
The tank parameters are quite decent, 27deg C water with 0 ammonia/nitrite/ates, no contaminants, ph 7, 60 gal heavily planted and wooded tank with 3mm gravel, reverse flow u/g filter with a supplementary eheim 2028, is a species tank, running for 8 months since last complete overhaul, twice weekly water changes of 30%, no new members or even plants in the last 4 months, not sure of kh at the mo, but has never been an issue here. I feed 2 days of zucchini, cucumber and lettuce then a day of either bloodworm or hikari wafers alternating.
I feel that she will die even before anyone replies to this post, i just wanted to know if anyone had any idea of whether this was old age (i have seen 8 year old specimens, mine being 4 1/2)or perhaps something more sinister.
My main stress (apart from loving her dearly) is because I have not been able to find this species again in my state and the market here is not refreshed with new blood due to strict import laws.
ANY help would be absolutely majorly appreciated, i love her so! Cheers!
Egz
