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I am stumped....Lethargic Red Zebra please help

1318 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  cichlidaholic
Ok I was out of town for about 4 days with the fish on a auto feeder that probably under feeds them a little but they are all well fed and didnt think it would be any problem at all. On Saturday I get home and everyone is 100% fine. Then Sunday morning I start noticing my largest Red Zebra(male I am pretty sure) acting very strange laying on the bottom in strange positions tight up against rocks then hiding up top between filter intakes and the tank. He is being very very Lethargic and now is getting beat up by the 2 smaller Red zebras in the tank and his rear fin is showing the damage. His color is still fine and I have been keeping the lights off to hopefully lower stress. Yesterday I did a 40-50% water change. The water condition was fine before the change and remains fine after.

Temp: 79-80
GH: 180
KH: 240
Ph: 8
Nitrate:0
Nitrite:0
Ammonia:0

He is still showing some appetite though not feeding as aggressively as normal. Everything else
in the tank appears 100% good even the ghost shrimp that hides always and the 1" Red zebra fry.

This tank is about 2 weeks new for me I bought it and moved it pretty successfully not losing any fish before I moved it was setup for about 2 years.

5 Yellow labs
3 White ones with red eyes
4 Giraffe
3 Red zebra(plus a 1in orange baby)
2 German Red
1 Striped one that looks kinda like a convict
1 Black shark with a red tail
1 Synodontis spotted cat

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=171910

I unfortunately dont have a hospital tank yet is there anything I can do other than "hope" he
makes it?

Thanks a bunch hope I covered all the needed info.

Brandon
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Do you know what the gender's of your red zebra's are?
Its definitely some combo of male and females cuz there is a fry from them in the tank that has made it. The fish I am talking about is about 4.5 inches the others are about 3.5 inches and not nearly as brightly colored so I think the one with the problem is the male and the other two are females. Though as I said now that he isn't doing great the other two are giving it to him pretty good with the rest of the fish in the tank pretty much ignoring him.

Thanks,
Brandon
Did you maintain the old filter media when you moved the tank and set it back up? Or did you replace with new filter media?

Did you keep the substrate that was in the tank before? (This could have gotten stirred up in the move and released bacterial pockets into the water...)

I'm concerned about your test results. You shouldn't have a zero nitrate reading on an established tank that isn't heavily planted.

What you are describing sounds aggression related. I would make a real effort to get those fish all properly identified...Soon...

That's a pretty odd stock list from what we can tell so far.

Zebras are notoriously aggressive. These fish are also easily stressed, and depending on how you handled the move of the tank, this could have added to the stress. They are likely re-establishing territories at this time, and it's not unusual for the king to be "de-throned".

Other than making sure the water is pristine and possibly adding some Melafix to the tank to aid in healing, there isn't much you can do without a hospital tank.

As I said, it sounds aggression related, and it may just mean that you need to revise your stock list as the fish are maturing.

But get a second opinion on those water parameters! Moving a tank can cause alot of problems, and I'd rule that out first.

Kim
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