Black Moor Issues

[newbiefancyowner]

I made a new addition to my tank yesterday by adding a black moor! And as happy as I am about it, he doesn't seem to be quite right. He sits on the bottom of my tank with his head down and body up, anywhere from 45 degrees to completely vertical, and sometimes he lists to the side, though he never flips upside down. He swims seemingly normal, but he also hasn't eaten anything, even though there have been two feedings since he's been in the tank. I know that he smells the food, and my Oranda doesn't steal any away from him, he just doesn't see it or succeed in getting it. I have both pellets and flakes, and neither worked. Could someone tell me if he has a swim bladder issue/how I can get him to eat?

 

[GNarnian]

The first questions we need answered are these:
How big is the tank?
what are the other tankmates?
When was the last water change, and how much was changed?
What are the water parameters?
Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:

If you can tell us some or all of these, that would help us out a lot!

 

[newbiefancyowner]

The tank is 20 gallons, with one tank mate, an Oranda. They're both about two inches, so I will upgrade when they're bigger. Ammonia is .5, Nitrite is 0, and Nitrate is a little below 5. I just changed about 30% of the water yesterday. I've just noticed that sometimes the Moor drifts to the side a bit when he swims, but he barely ever does it

 

[GNarnian]

I would do another 50% water change. Right now if you can swing it. any amount of Ammonia in the water is toxic to fish, so that might be what this little guy's problem is.

 

[newbiefancyowner]

Alright, I'll try that. But my other fish seems to be doing just fine, can the ammonia affect one and not the other?

 

[GNarnian]

Some fish are more susceptible than others to water conditions, and show signs more quickly.

 

[Shanny]

Hi.

Did you get the black moor from a big chain pet store? Did you quarantine it for a couple weeks before adding it to the tank? Just wondering if maybe it was already sick.

 

[Sharpchick]

If a fish is prone to floatiness, flakes are a number one enemy. Even sinking pellets would need to be soaked before feeding. One of my ryukins can eat pellets with absolutely no ill effects (I was feeding Hikari Lionheadsinking pellets), but the other gets floaty and start eating bubbles immediately after eating pellets. That's why I switched to gel food as the diet mainstay.

Moors often don't see as well as other fish. Compound that with this one being new to the tank, and you've got a lot of stuff going on.

Get a decent sized plastic colander and put the moor in it while still in the tank. Feed a couple of bites of spinach (frozen or fresh boiled until floppy) and release the moor. See if that helps. (Spinach was the only thing that helped the floatiness and head standing for my ryukin, and I usually saw results with 2-3 hours.)

 

[newbiefancyowner]

Thanks for the advice! I'll definitely try the spinach, but after a 60% water change, he's swimming around as normal, so I think the ammonia was really affecting him

 

[GNarnian]

Well that's good to hear! Just make sure you keep up on the weekly water changes!