nitram79

Hi,

over the past few days i noticed my checkerboard cichlid not swimming around so much, and not getting into feeding time either. Now he just hovers in the one spot and his breathing is kinda constant, not extremely rapid but constant with the lips. He doesnt wobble around or anything and doesnt have a floating problem. Just the constant breathing and not swimming around. I also noticed he has a little patch of discolouration on his head, kinda looks like a bit of a dent. Any ideas? Water is fine, and everyone else is fine.

aquarist48

Good morning Nitram. Sorry to hear your fish isn't feeling well. Are your levels for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate where they need to be? The temperature in your tank ok?
Checkerboard cichlids - Dicrossus filamentosa a link you may find helpful. Best of luck. I hope your fish is going to be ok.
Ken

nitram79

Hello and aquarist48,

yeah all my levels are in order. i change the water and clean the filters quite often cause i have so many fish in there. i finally managed to upload the photos so here he is. could it be from over feeding? but that wouldnt explain the mark on his head. maybe another fish bit him?

aquarist48

Your photos came out very well! He could have gotten into a spat with another fish. Too, he may have just scrapped himself on an ornament or something. Keep your eye on him for a while. Try not to worry too much. Sometimes fish just get booboo's! lol
Ken

nitram79

Hopefully your right, but i dont know about this one, will just have to see I guess

nitram79

Well he's still alive, I havent seen him eat yet, which is a real worry. Don't think he can last to much longer without eating

aquarist48

Hello Nitram. Glad to hear that he is still alive. Can you tell if he is losing weight? He could very well be foraging around for food at night and you don't see it.
Hoping for the best!
Ken

nitram79

hey aquarist48,

nah he doesnt seem to be getting any thinner. but i have noticed that the other checkerboard doesnt like him anymore, gets really zippy and darty around him and spots disappear, replaced with a dark stripe and pretty much gets in his face and hassles him. maybe he's the one that belted him in the begining " ïf thats what had caused this? i was suppose to get a male and female, but the little one turned out to be a male as well it looks like.

nitram79

ok i can pretty much see a hole on the top of his head, iv put him in isolation now because he's getting hassled by some other fish and the other checkerboard. i'm going to freeze some water and put him down, i dont think he'll recover

aquarist48

I'm sorry to hear about it Nitram. If the fish seems to be losing his "faculties" then I'm sure you will do what is necessary to keep him from suffering. I'd want to make sure that I've done everything I possibly could before taking that step. Isolation is good and even quarantine if possible. If you don't have a quarantine tank here is a cheap way to create one:Quick and dirty quarantine setup
Best wishes!
Ken

nitram79

Hey aquarist,

He ended up developing a pretty big hole in his head...I mean u could see right into his head. I had him in my baby hatchery for a couple of days but he just got worse. It was last resort....there was no way he woulda recovered from that. shame... i got another one, but i think now i have 2 girls.. or boys, but i think 2 girls