[Erin514]

Hi,

I have a GBR I just bought on Tuesday. Until today (Sunday), he was active, hanging out at the bottom of the tank, and picking away at baby shrimp and snails for food. This morning he was suddenly lethargic, hanging out upper/mid tank, and not eating. He has gone to the very top of the tank (to gasp for air maybe?) a few times, and his mouth looks weird, kind of white but NOT fuzzy. It didn't look like a fungus or rot to me. His mouth does look like he's constantly panting and maybe can't close it, though? See photos.

This is a fully cycled, heavily planted 55g with a bunch of tiny rainbows and cherry shrimp that are totally fine. Temp is 79, ammonia and nitrites zero, ph is 7-7.5. I did a 25% water change to see if it would help, but no improvement. What do I do?

 

[Erin514]

More photos.

 

[ken31cay]

Something might be off with your water. What's the nitrate reading? Some people liken the GBR as a 'canary in a coal mine', during my time keeping Discus I can confirm that when I missed a water change or some foreign element was in the water the GBR was the first to feel it. Mine did best at 82F - 84F though I don't think your water temp is the problem.

 

[Erin514]

Nitrates were 0-20 before the partial water change.

Nevermind, though. He was already dead when I checked this morning. Took just 24 hours from first signs of illness. :-(

 

[DJRansome]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[ken31cay]

Sorry to hear that. Was he the only addition or did you purchase more than one GBR?

 

[Erin514]

He was the only ram in the tank. There were other additions but they were peaceful dither fish (threadfin rainbow). I'm watching them now for any signs of illness. Fingers crossed they stay ok.

 

[ken31cay]

It's hard to say what happened. The fish in your tank are all peaceful but still the GBR may have been exposed to some new pathogen and succumbed to it due to it being a new environment. It may or may not have been different if he was introduced along with a small group of other GBR's. This is only a guess as any number of things may have happened. I hope the other fish do ok.