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On Monday of this week I noticed that the larger(4inches/10cm) of my 3 Hoplo's appeared to be in some distress. He was swimming erratically but not flashing and seemed unable to rest for any period.

I could see nothing additional in terms of symptoms so called my local LFS for some advice. They suggested a stress related illness which could have even been caused by the other 2 Hoplo's pairing. I am currently running Pimafix, but it appears to be ineffective. The last two days have seen the patient sitting on the sand with rapid gill movement. So I now have him seperated in a small net.

I don't think he has much time left, so would ask what the most appropriate euthanasia methods are these days . I hate the idea of losing any of my fish, but I've had these guys since they were 2cm so am a little distressed.

A month prior to this I had run some treatment for gill flukes for some wild caught cichlids. All seemed to be well until this issue arose. My water stats are Ammonia and Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20 with a PH of 7.2. This morning I noticed a second Hoplo exhibiting some 'random' swimming so would like to get to the root of this as soon as possible. If anyone has any ideas as to the cause of this issue I would be grateful.

Thanks in advance

Paul

Any chance that it's Ich that hasn't shown on the outside of the fish yet? That would explain both irratic swimming (irritation on the gills causes the fish to "itch internally") and breathing difficulties.

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Mats

Hi Mat,

The fishes behaviour has been odd since Monday and normally my Cichlids tend to be quite good at alerting me to Ich. Is it possible that I won't see the white spots due to the Hoplo's scales?

I have Cory's and a few plecs also that seem unaffected. I always seem to come across diseases with very little in the way of visible symptoms. I have some Esha treatment for whitespot and velvet etc which I can run, but will need to get some carbon in the tank and do a waterchange I guess before starting that course.

Cheers

carbon in the tank and do a waterchange I guess before starting that course.

Yes to the water change - always best to change water before treating ANY illness.

If you're medicating, you should REMOVE the carbon, as it's effect would be to adsorb the medication (adsorb -> tie to the surface, similar to absorb, but absorb ties it INSIDE something). You should add a carbon filter after the medication has run it's course.

Of course, it's ALWAYS best to identify the illness FIRST, then medicate, and based on what you're saying, I'm not at all SURE that it's Ich (whitespot).

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Mats

As I was treating with the Pimafix I had removed the carbon temporarily. I'll put some in today and do a waterchange after it been in a while then run the esha hexamita and exit combo as it seems a reasonable catch all and is thankfully not too chemical.

Cheers

Paul