Red Empress: Problem

[iamzrad]

I noticed about a week ago that my male red empress lost most of his color. I since then got rid of almost half of the cichlids in the same tank, and only replaced 1 (male zebra obliq.), but his color is still pale.

He always stays in the same spot, just hovering there, and barely moves around with the others.

He is not eating very much and it looks like his poop is almost like a clear strand.
He does not have any surface abrasions, nor any "visual" signs of bacterial or fungus.

I took this picture middle of February,

And now he has no blue on his face whatsoever.

Should I isolate him in a hospital tank or something?
*Kinda clueless on what to do.

I will take a picture of him tomorrow for reference.

 

[F8LBITE]

Ive lost a few fish that had the same symptoms you described. I think its eithet parasites or Malawi bloat. Leaning towards bloat though, ever since ive stopped feeding different kinds of food and just stuck to NLS its almost stopped happening. The rest seem to be doing fine. Ive also been feeding less. Good luck

 

[iamzrad]

I have 4 different kinds of food that I feed the 75gal. african tank.
NLS cichlid pellets, cichlid-flakes, brine shrimp and blackworms.
The pellets and flakes are the normal diet, but I treat them 2-3times a week with the live food and they really enjoy it.

*Before the lights went out tonight, I examined him a bit closer and I don't see any 'bloating' of him at all. Looks normal in size.

 

[F8LBITE]

Mine didnt look bloated either, looked the same but with faded colors and wouldnt eat. I have a peacock I pulled as soon as I noticed he had stopped eating. I put him in my hospital tank at 86F, added salt and let him chill in the dark for a few days waterchanges every other day. Ive been giving him a little food and he's been eating so hopefully I caught it in time, we'll see.

 

[Sonny Disposition]

Not sure what you could do at this point. It may be too late for him. Since he's not eating, he'll be hard to treat.

I make or mix about 50 percent of the food I give to my cichlids. Every batch has two or three bulbs of crushed garlic in it. After a disasterous bout of bloat which claimed three out of six sp. "Long pelvic," I haven't seen it since.

 

[SubMariner]

Mine didnt look bloated either, looked the same but with faded colors and wouldnt eat. I have a peacock I pulled as soon as I noticed he had stopped eating. I put him in my hospital tank at 86F, added salt and let him chill in the dark for a few days waterchanges every other day. Ive been giving him a little food and he's been eating so hopefully I caught it in time, we'll see.

Good Advice JR!
Yea, I've seen this before. Typically, it's your water and food, but it also could have something to do with the community of fish that inhabit the tank with him. I've also learned that your filtration system could be a factor. Is it providing enough air and circulation for the amount of fish in the tank. Add a air stone and pump more oxygen in to the tank, trust me it sounds stupid,but the fish react in a positive way. They become more active because they can breath better. Power heads are great too.

Incidentally, Salt is a must and Metro is great for those stringy poops. If he's still eating take the advice that Terry our last speaker spoke of and start feeding him garlic in his food or buy some that has it already. Garlic kicks butt!

Most likely, he has something on him and it's going to take some time to recover. I had an incredible looking German Red Peacock that I moved from a 29 gallon to my 92 and immediately he lost all his color. Reason being, he wanted to live and not be killed by all the Alpha Males in that tank so he instinctively turned off his color in order to survive. That's normal.

Nevertheless, I placed him back into the 29 recently and he is now gradually getting his color back. Clean that gravel Dude, sometimes unsavory things live there. If you have over an inch of substrate in your tank the probability of bad bacteria or parasites and their eggs build up pretty high.

In most cases, I try to keep my substrate under 1" inch or less in order to avoid problem tanks. There have been cases where I had to totally junk all the gravel in one tank because my fish kept getting sick consistently. After the rocks were gone they were back to normal and problems solved. Sound silly right, but it's a fact jack.

However, I try to stay away from black worms and if you read the article that Andrew from Scales posted it talks about old food which might be the cause of bloat and other illnesses. Here is link to the article.

http://www.capitalcichlids.org/forums/showthread.php?t=3823

If all fails, consult your nearest LFS doctor and inquire about the following meds; Prazi Pro, Formalin, Metronidazole. Red Empress's are a hearty fish and for them to act that way something is wrong. You need to act now.

Take an Asprin and shot of Tequila and call me in the morning.

Good Luck,


RM

 

[iamzrad]

Got him in a hospital tank today.
Bumped temp. to 83-84 and added some salt.
Going to try to make some garlic cichlid food tomorrow.
Gave him some NLS pellets today and he didn't touch them.

 

[SubMariner]

That's fine, some people aren't hungry when there sick. Give him a day or two then feed him again to see if he eats. NLS does have food with garlic in it so look into it.

Good Luck,

RM

 

[iamzrad]

He's got malawi bloat
Treating him now with maracyn-two and some salt.

He's clearing up a bit now, he's eating some, and I see a little bit of color coming back.

 

[McFluffrichromis]

At least you caught it early.

 

[fishmeds]

My two cents...Excessive salt can actually cause Malawi Bloat. Stress, improper diet, improper water conditions, and salt are thought to cause/aggravate it. Are you using trace elements in your tank? This can help prevent not only Malawi Bloat but Hexamita as well. If the fish is in a hospital tank with no biological filter, I would cease feeding altogether or cut it to next to nothing...fish can go a long time without food and as said, many fish stop eating...the exception to this is if the fish will still eat and you administer medication via feed. You need to treat the fish with a medication containing metronidazole and I would consider something to prevent seconday infection on top of 100% clean water. Our drug of choice for Malawi Bloat is Parinox as it prevents secondary infection, causes less stress on the fish than other medications, and is easy on the bacterial bed.

Edit: I would discontinue the use of Maracyn