Injured Johanni...any ideas?

[carey]

My sweet "blue 2" apparently hurt himself or was a victim of my other babies it seems. He can only swim with his front fins but otherwise seems fine. He is currently in QT chilling out. When this first happened i checked with out not so local cichlid store and he suggested maybe he squished his back end or an oil gland. He wasn't sure if the fish would make it, but to put in a tbs of epsom salt and keep an eye on him.

Well it's been over a week and he's still not swimming right. He is eating, his water is within parameter and he's not getting chased about like he was in the big tank.

Anyone have this problem before? Any input would be great cause I really really like this fish.

 

[carey]

If we don't know what the problem is what should I do? Not sure if he is in any pain, I don't wanna prolong his suffering if he is in deed gonna die. I could bring him back to the store but I kinda feel I owe it to the little guy to help him out lol

 

[carey]

Heres two shots of him, not very good though. Hopefully someone will know soon...I'm so upset

 

[HUKIT]

Is he swimming head up/tail down? If so sounds like swim bladder disease. I would keep the water clean, lower the water level to help with the pressure, and add Epsom salt at 1tlbs per 5 gallons gradually.

Is the fish eating? You could try deshelled and thawed frozen peas.

 

[carey]

Exactly!! Head up and tail down. He is eating some spirilina flakes but not doing much else. I dosed the 10 gal QT with a TBS of epsom already. Should I re dose? Is the outcome good for this type of thing? Or should I go and get some kind of medication?

I'm soo glad someone has an idea cause i'm at my wits end

 

[HUKIT]

In my experience the outcome is generally not good. I'm sorry, it's never easy losing a fish, especially seeing one slowly go out. I hope I'm wrong but good luck and keep us up to date.

Lastly try the peas but don't feed any other foods for 3-4 days, fasting sometimes helps.

 

[Homedog98]

Make sure to boil, shell, and chop the peas into little pieces too. And if you can't get him to eat them, try using a turkey baster to target feed him. Don't lose hope! He can still make it!

 

[carey]

I'm still watching my fish not do well. He hasn't gotten worse I guess but he def hasn't improved. He wont' even let me get near him with a a turkey baster so that's out. I've been feeding him some flakes and cichlid sinkers, not sure if he's eating.

Is there any medication I can get? He's in a qt tank so it would be confined. It breaks my heart every time I look at the kitchen. ( only place left for a tank lol)

The only thing that may have changed is his lips are looking kinda swollen and lighter colored. He used to be completely irridescent dark blue but now he's darker...

Any help please?

 

[carey]

On the advice from a highly respected fish store I treated the QT with penicillin. I've gotten 3 opinions that its swim bladder issue so as a last resort I'm trying the meds. I should hopefully see some improvement in a few days I hope. This is only day 2 of treatment. But the third week since he was sick.

Plan sound good to anyone?

 

[HUKIT]

I have not heard of any meds that will help with swim bladder. Just the couple of tips I posted earlier but again I'm rooting for him and let us know how it turns out.

References - Swim Bladder Disease in Goldfish

 

[carey]

Thanks for the encouragement. I'm hoping for the best. But if it doesn't work should I just assume that the qt tank is now home for him? I put in his favorite rock and a hidey hole thing so he feels at home. lol I do have his mate in my big tank, she's real small but do you think if he's gonna live there now he'd want some company?

 

[carey]

I just read your link, very informative. I'm gonna try the peas again. lol

Thanks so much!!

 

[carey]

Well my QT tank is the new official home for my cichlid. I added a small kenyi to the tank so he has company. Decorated the best i could for a 10 gallon.
I hear he could linger for up to 2-3 months so he's gonna have a nice place to live out his time.
He's eating peas and seems more lively since the new addition. In fact I find him chasing the kenyi around!

So heres to recovery and/or a peaceful life. This is a shot of the new tank. Little cloudy from the pwc. lol

 

[Homedog98]

It looks good! At least he's peaceful. I hope he does better! Good luck!!!

 

[carey]

So i had to put a beat up Red zebra into this tank last night and even though its tight in there my Johanni is seemingly doing better. Go figure. He can swim mid water now but still cant move his back half. But he got his buoyancy back. Who knows maybe he will recover. And he's eating better.

 

[Homedog98]

That's great! Keep us updated! Hey, maybe he did brake something!