African Leaf Fish Illness

[TheMerchant47]

Hi All,

I recently updated/remodeled my tank and afterwards my African Leaf Fish has been acting differently.

He has become much more skittish, hesitant to eat, hiding often, and lays on the bottom (usually upright). Occasionally I see a bubble being released from his mouth.

Filters were cycled, and I added a lot of quick start to the tank. The other 5 fish all appear in good health, and there is no sign of him being bullied (in fact, he was the "boss" of the tank until this issue changed his personality). I've been doing water changes though from water tests I don't see ammonia.

He does not have any external symptoms that I can see. And when he does swim, he does not appear to be struggling. Maybe a little tattering on the tail. I'm thinking maybe post tank remodel he ran into the driftwood?

I could only find one thread posted on this site (about 5 years ago) of someone dealing with a similar case, but it did not have a resolution. Though many thought it could be a swim bladder issue.

I have set up a hospital tank and dosed it with maracyn, and have a 2-gallons of tank water ready to conduct an epsom salt bath (I just have to go out and get some) as I read that epsom salt can help with swim bladder issues.

However, if anyone else has experienced this issue the help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Andy Sager]

Hi All,

I recently updated/remodeled my tank and afterwards my African Leaf Fish has been acting differently.

He has become much more skittish, hesitant to eat, hiding often, and lays on the bottom (usually upright). Occasionally I see a bubble being released from his mouth.

Filters were cycled, and I added a lot of quick start to the tank. The other 5 fish all appear in good health, and there is no sign of him being bullied (in fact, he was the "boss" of the tank until this issue changed his personality). I've been doing water changes though from water tests I don't see ammonia.

He does not have any external symptoms that I can see. And when he does swim, he does not appear to be struggling. Maybe a little tattering on the tail. I'm thinking maybe post tank remodel he ran into the driftwood?

I could only find one thread posted on this site (about 5 years ago) of someone dealing with a similar case, but it did not have a resolution. Though many thought it could be a swim bladder issue.

I have set up a hospital tank and dosed it with maracyn, and have a 2-gallons of tank water ready to conduct an epsom salt bath (I just have to go out and get some) as I read that epsom salt can help with swim bladder issues.

However, if anyone else has experienced this issue the help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

How long ago did you redecorate because it sounds like you just scared the crap out of him when you did it. That's not something you can medicate for. African Leaf Fish are very secretive to begin with so you took his security and changed it around. Make sure you left plenty of hiding places or if you didn't, add more of them.

 

[TheMerchant47]

How long ago did you redecorate because it sounds like you just scared the crap out of him when you did it. That's not something you can medicate for. African Leaf Fish are very secretive to begin with so you took his security and changed it around. Make sure you left plenty of hiding places or if you didn't, add more of them.

About 2 weeks ago with a full redocoration, and about 4-5 days with some added plants I had to removed becuase of a major algae issue, plus the driftwood was about 6 years old so I replaced it (it wasn't a particularly hardwood) so it was further feeding the algae issues.

He started being more skittish with the new plants added (there was some melt, so I did water changes and removed the melted bits).

His tail looks a little worse for wear, but the rest of his fins look good, and when he does move he does not have issues staying upright and his movements are still pretty sharp (not that "wormy" motion you see when a fish is very sick)

Fins are clamped, but he would always keep them clamped. Even on his "normal" days he would be pretty shy.

 

[Andy Sager]

About 2 weeks ago with a full redocoration, and about 4-5 days with some added plants I had to removed becuase of a major algae issue, plus the driftwood was about 6 years old so I replaced it (it wasn't a particularly hardwood) so it was further feeding the algae issues.

He started being more skittish with the new plants added (there was some melt, so I did water changes and removed the melted bits).

His tail looks a little worse for wear, but the rest of his fins look good, and when he does move he does not have issues staying upright and his movements are still pretty sharp (not that "wormy" motion you see when a fish is very sick)

Fins are clamped, but he would always keep them clamped. Even on his "normal" days he would be pretty shy.

Can you post a 1-2 minute video of the fish? ( Upload video to Youtube or Imgur or your favorite site them post the link to it here. ) I'd like to see the tail even tho the timing still says you scared him.

 

[TheMerchant47]

Can you post a 1-2 minute video of the fish? ( Upload video to Youtube or Imgur or your favorite site them post the link to it here. ) I'd like to see the tail even tho the timing still says you scared him.

https://imgur.com/Jf6WDbD

Apologize for the camerawork. Like I said, he is skittish.

Notice around 28-30s the bubble coming from the gills.

You can see has is swims away his movement is still pretty healthy, but certainly different behaviour

At the end of the video I tried to get a good shot of his tail, which is a frayed a bit.

**Edit: So after posting this I put food in the tank and walked out of site and he was out looking for food. So if he is just being dramatic... my god fish.

I'll have to find some more driftwood. And hopefully as the plants come grow in he gets happier

 

[Andy Sager]

https://imgur.com/Jf6WDbD

Apologize for the camerawork. Like I said, he is skittish.

Notice around 28-30s the bubble coming from the gills.

You can see has is swims away his movement is still pretty healthy, but certainly different behaviour

At the end of the video I tried to get a good shot of his tail, which is a frayed a bit.

**Edit: So after posting this I put food in the tank and walked out of site and he was out looking for food. So if he is just being dramatic... my god fish.

I'll have to find some more driftwood. And hopefully as the plants come grow in he gets happier

I didn't see any disease on the tail but it does look a little ragged which can be from a number of reasons. Keep an eye on the loaches not pestering him.
The bubble from the gills is nothing to be concerned about. They are labrynth fish (like Gouramis) so they can breath air out of the atmosphere.
I will say he looks a little thin so you may want to increase the number of feedings per day. If that means you have to leave his sight, I'd do it. Fish are funny, they like consistency so when you changed his environment, you really messed with his head. I didn't see anything that time and some extra food can't fix. For the time being, I'd skip adding any more decorations while he's recovering.
Hope this helps.

 

[TheMerchant47]

I didn't see any disease on the tail but it does look a little ragged which can be from a number of reasons. Keep an eye on the loaches not pestering him.
The bubble from the gills is nothing to be concerned about. They are labrynth fish (like Gouramis) so they can breath air out of the atmosphere.
I will say he looks a little thin so you may want to increase the number of feedings per day. If that means you have to leave his sight, I'd do it. Fish are funny, they like consistency so when you changed his environment, you really messed with his head. I didn't see anything that time and some extra food can't fix. For the time being, I'd skip adding any more decorations while he's recovering.
Hope this helps.

He's always been a little thinner (he's about 6-7), even when he was a pretty active eater, but I can up the quantity, maybe just increase the water changes if I need. I just bought some frozen food as well so maybe that will entice him

I'll hold off on the decorations and just let the plants grow. The water sprite and the stem plants are taking off luckily, and the crypts finally stopped melting. Hopefully that Val and the Amazon sword take off.

Might be worth looking into CO2 later. Never done it before though lol

 

[Andy Sager]

He's always been a little thinner (he's about 6-7), even when he was a pretty active eater, but I can up the quantity, maybe just increase the water changes if I need. I just bought some frozen food as well so maybe that will entice him

I'll hold off on the decorations and just let the plants grow. The water sprite and the stem plants are taking off luckily, and the crypts finally stopped melting. Hopefully that Val and the Amazon sword take off.

Might be worth looking into CO2 later. Never done it before though lol

If the plants don't need it, no need to add it. Not all plants need added CO2 to do well.

 

[TheMerchant47]

If the plants don't need it, no need to add it. Not all plants need added CO2 to do well.

True, some are a little slower than others

But in other news, I put on the frozen food today, he grabbed a good chunk, and is now cautiously going about the tank. So there's improvement

 

[Andy Sager]

True, some are a little slower than others

But in other news, I put on the frozen food today, he grabbed a good chunk, and is now cautiously going about the tank. So there's improvement

Make sure you thaw frozen foods out before feeding it. Leaf fish also like live foods so if you add some (i.e. newborn livebearer fish, small earthworms or black worms ), he may put on more weight faster as they are a more complete diet.

 

[TheMerchant47]

Make sure you thaw frozen foods out before feeding it. Leaf fish also like live foods so if you add some (i.e. newborn livebearer fish, small earthworms or black worms ), he may put on more weight faster as they are a more complete diet.

Hi. Unfortunately after what looked like a brief improvement he did not make it. Passed last night.

Thanks for taking the time to try and help

 

[Andy Sager]

I'm sorry to hear.
Here's a few pointers should you try this specie again:
Leaf fish, ( African or S. American) do better on live foods than dead or frozen. To be honest, if you're not breeding Guppies or Platies for the fry to feed them, they can be a real pain in the Arse to keep alive.
Yes they'll eat some other foods but they don't get the nutrition, vitamins and whatnot to really keep them fat. As I mentioned, your fish looked skinny to me so even tho he may have been eating other foods, he was not getting enough of what he needed or you weren't feeding him often enough to keep hi fat and happy.
Feeding frozen foods is fine ( if you get your fish to eat them) but you should be thawing them out in a liquid vitamin supplement. You don't want to feed fish food that is still frozen.

When you are dealing with fragile fish ( and yes, leaf fish are more fragile than you think), you want to put them in a fully decorated tank that you are not going to change around. If that means waiting for plants to grow in or you are planning on adding more at a later date, you really shouldn't put more fragile fish in until you are happy with how the tank looks and just let it be. I've had tanks of fish just lay down and die because I went in to clean the glass in their tank ( because it was in a store) so it's not that uncommon to me to see fish freaked out. Once you understand the psychology of a particular fish specie you are dealing with, YOU have to adapt to what they need, not the other way around. In some of my home tanks, I had to do my cleaning after the lights were out so as not to freak out the fish. When the fish were asleep, I would put a divider in the tank that they couldn't see through then do my work. Some fish are just that crazy.

Lastly, if you should try the leaf fish again, I strongly recommend them in a species only tank. This way, they can have more security. Leaf fish look like leaves because they need to hide from predators. That means they are, how to put this gently , Scaredy Cats.

Hope this helps.