[LuciousLeftFoot]

Yesterday I moved 4 juvi Lab. M'bamba and 2 juvi Maingano into my 55 gallon.....Everything seemed fine yesterday and all night but one of the larger juvi M'bamba is struggling to move around, has swollen eyes and they are slightly milky around the bottom edge. My water pH:7-7.5 KH: 120-180ppm GH: 120ppm NO2: 0.5ppm NO3: 20ppm Ammonia: 0ppm, I did a WC this past Saturday and added a few rocks that I had bought a couple days prior. I spent two days scrubbing and soaking them in hot water then letting them soak overnight in water with SeaChem Prime in it. No one is exhibiting behavior like this other than this one juvi. I am going to have a hard time setting up a hospital tank b/c I have 4 more juvi's in the small tank that need growing out. Any help would be stellar......Thanks ~L~ You can see my tank specs in "My Tanks" section of my profile.

 

[Robin]

Could you better describe the problem the fish is having with moving around? Was it moving okay when you put it in the tank? How about it's eyes? Were they normal when you put the fish in the tank? Is the fish eating?

In an established tank your readings should be, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate below 40ppm so I would do another partial water change of 40% with the Prime declorinator to try to get your readings where they should be.
I can't say for sure what the problem is but two possibilities are water quality and/or aggression from one of the other fish.

Robin

 

[LuciousLeftFoot]

We had a casualty......he was a goner. The fish was fine when it went in yesterday, no issues at all.
It was swimming on its side and hiding against some rocks then would stop moving and gasp....rinse repeat for a while then he quit moving all together. I will do a change in the morning before work but no one else is showing signs of stress. In fact they are all happier than I have seen in a while but I am keeping a close eye on them for the next week or so. Thanks for the help, I will update after I see everyone is ok.

 

[Robin]

If the fish in question went from being fine to the condition you describe basically over night then most likely he was injured by another fish. Can't be 100% sure of that but there's very few illnesses that will take a fish that fast with no prior symptoms. Still I'd watch the other fish closely and focus on getting your water parameters where they should be.

Sorry you lost him.

Robin