fishmommy

Hi there,
I am new to posting in this forum so I hope I am in the right place. I have been reading several posts looking for info on what to do with 2 of my Lamp Eye Tetras, they have seperate issues.

Lamp Eye #1 - For the past 3-4 weeks has been growing a ridiculous belly. I know the first thought is usually dropsy but I am 99% positive that is not the case. Lamp Eye #1 swims around fine, plays with the other fish, is displaying no signs of being sick and has a hearty appetite. So I thought it might be constipation and I tried the pureed pea thing. Lamp Eye #1 spit out his peas, he did eat the normal food though. Outside of the fact that the fish looks like it will explode any second, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it. I'm confused and don't know what else to try. Could it be the food? I feed them flakes made for tetras.

Lamp Eye #2 - 2 days ago I noticied this fish started breathing rapidly and every once in awhile it mouths at the surface. Because it is breathing so rapidly, its gills are not closing completely and it seems rather red in there. I don't know if it is redder then normal, I've never paid attention to it. My first thought based on research is gill disease but I don't know. I don't like to see the fish suffer, and if I can treat it I would like to. I am very hesitant of going to the pet store and asking for advice as the first time I did that I was told the wrong information and ended up losing half my fish. Any thoughts on this one?

This is a 30 gallon tank and its inhabitants are a couple different types of tetras, 2 algea eaters and a catfish. All the statistics on the tank are fine; ie pH, nitrates, etc... The last new fish to join the tank was the catfish and that was 2 weeks ago. The tank has been operating for 19 months and some of the fish are the original inhabitants.

Any thoughts you may have for either Lamp Eye would be greatly appreciated. I love the Lamp Eyes they are so much fun to watch swim. Thanks!

Lucy

Hi fishmommy welcome to Fish Lore

I'm sorry your fish aren't feeling well.

A couple of thought come to mind, #1 tetra could be constipated, you can try feeding him bits of thawed frozen peas, that should help things get moving, since he rejected that, try soaking it in a bit of garlic juice. Otherwise maybe fasting him would help.

#2 tetra could be suffering from the effects of ammonia.
What are your readings for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?
Anything other than 0 for both ammonia and nitriates with some nitrates showing would mean for some reason your tank isn't cycled or going through a mini cycle.

The next thing that comes to mind is parasites. Did you quarentine the new fish before adding them?

What kind of algea eaters do you have? Some get huge.

Others should be along shortly, so hang in there.

Good luck.

fishmommy

Thanks Lucy, here is the additional info.

Just checked the tank again and I have 0 for both ammonia and nitrites, and less then 20ppm for nitrates. What I have noticed lately is that my alkalinity is lower then it what it used to be which is making the pH a little lower. It's not at a dangerous level but I do notice a difference there when testing. That has not been an issue in the past and I'm wondering if it is now becoming a factor in fish health. Would I just add pH increaser to fix that?

I don't remember what type the algea eaters are, but I've had them since almost the beginning and they have not grown beyond their 1 inch length. I do remember the pet store telling me these won't get big.

I did not quarentine the catfish before I added him. I really didn't even think to.

Laelanna

Do they have a dark stripe running the length of them and a brown the rest? If so, they are probably oto's.

As for the ph, DO NOT add any chemical to mess with it. Your fish, for the most part, can adjust to a ph change, but not to a constant shift in ph. Someone should be able to help you more than that, but thats as much as I can help you with for now.

Lucy

I agree with Laelanna about the PH.

Ok, so your not in a mini cycle, that's a good thing.
Try fasting the bloated tetra and possibly increasing the aeration.
What's your water change routine?

fishmommy

I do about a 10% water change weekly. When I change the filter, which is about every 4 weeks, I do a 25% change.

Yes, I do belive the algea eaters are otos.

Lucy

How are they looking today?

What're you using to test?

fishmommy

Lamp Eye #1 is still bloated.

Lamp Eye #2 is still fluttering its gills very rapidly.

I currently have test strips from Jungle Laboratories.

Lucy

You're not getting an accurate reading with the strips.
I'd suggest getting yourself a liquid test kit, the API master kit is highly recommended. I wouldn't trust anything else.

I go back to what I originally thought, they're feeling the effects of ammonia in the tank.
Every time you replace the filter media, you throw out most of the beneficial bacteria your tank needs to process the ammonia.
You only need to rinse it in used tank water when you do your weekly changes and only replace it when it's falling apart.

Keep an extra filter sponge in your tank, when you do need to replace the one in your filter, the extra one will have bacteria built up on it.

I'd start daily water changes, about 50%, until you can get accurate readings.
For the bloated tetra either fast him or give him bits of thawed frozen pea, not pureed. You can try dipping it in garlic juice, he might accept it that way.
Another thing that might help is frozen daphnia.

Use Prime as your water conditioner, it'll help with the ammonia until ypur next water change.

fishmommy

I thought I should come back and post an update about the Lamp Eyes.

I did get a liquid test kit and and the ammonia was not off, nor was the nitrites or nitrates. So I was back to square one again. But about 3 days after I originally posted in here, Lamp Eye #2 went back to his normal self. He was no longer breathing heavy or behaving in an abnoraml way, so I'm assuming he was just having a bad couple of days and there was really nothing wrong in the first place.

Lamp Eye #1 is still bloated and fat, though I do believe he is smaller then before. I try to fast it every couple of days, but I'm not sure it is making a difference. Maybe this fish just wants to be obese. He doesn't seem to care that he is bigger then the rest of the lamp eyes as he plays and swims with them like a normal size fish. As long as they're happy then I think I will just leave them alone.

Thank you for all your help and suggestions!

Lucy

Thanks for the update.

I'm glad #2 is back to normal.
Maybe #1 is just a chubby fish.