female cockatoo apisto scared the heck out of me!

[allaboutfish]

so yesterday i was switching up my rock placement bc i didnt like it, and today i did my usual head count of fish and couldnt find my female cockatoo apisto. so i picked up every rock and found her under one of the rocks..... ALIVE!!!!! so for now on ill always make sure to get the fish to go to the other side of the tank and always have sand as my substrate bc i think that's what saved her.

 

[allaboutfish]

my male was pretty happy to see her too. i expect babys soon.

 

[Homedog98]

Yikes! Is she ok?!

 

[allaboutfish]

yea she's swimming around fine. i dont know if i actually put it on top of her or if she burrowed under it. bc she likes to just borrow under the rocks and stay under there.

 

[rich311k]

I am glad she is ok.

 

[BboyTony]

What gallon tank u got?

 

[allaboutfish]

29

 

[allaboutfish]

ok so now im not so sure she's ok. she is staying in one spot now. is she just stressed or what?

 

[Homedog98]

ok so now im not so sure she's ok. she is staying in one spot now. is she just stressed or what?

Is she aggressive towards the others? Is she getting picked on?

 

[allaboutfish]

well considering there are only 3 other fish the male and 2 corys i doubt anybody is aggressive towards her. now lately she has been trying to keep all fish away from her "cave" but that's it.

 

[Homedog98]

All you can do is hope at this point. If you've got any stress coat on you, it should help her calm down, but there's not much you can do.

 

[allaboutfish]

darn it! i use to use stress coat for my dechlorinator but now i use prime. would a betta dechlorinator help in any way? maybe i can get my mom to pick up stress coat. its just really sad she looks trometized just sitting there.

 

[Homedog98]

darn it! i use to use stress coat for my dechlorinator but now i use prime. would a betta dechlorinator help in any way? maybe i can get my mom to pick up stress coat. its just really sad she looks trometized just sitting there.

The betta dechlorinator won't help much sadly. She'll just have to stick it out a bit longer I guess.

 

[allaboutfish]

She definently has signs of stress. instead of her bright yellow she has black splotches.

 

[Homedog98]

I can't remember, but I think I read somewhere that Epsom salt can reduce stress... But don't hold me to that... I'm not sure.

 

[allaboutfish]

what wopuld it look like if she were missing scales?

 

[allaboutfish]

oh oh oh! i have melafix!!!!!!! wouldnt this help if it had embrasions or missing scales?

 

[Homedog98]

Probably. If she has red splotches or rough looking scales, a dose of melafix can't hurt.

 

[allaboutfish]

and i told my mom to look for stress coat at kroger hopefully they'll have it.

 

[severum mama]

Wait! Stop!

Is she blotchy and still yellow? That happens sometimes. If there's no one picking on her, and you've seen her go back and forth between super bright yellow and blotchy yellow, IME she is getting ready to spawn.

If this were my tank, I would do a large water change and watch her. She should yellow up again. Once you see her turn bright yellow with the black slash through her eyes, she is definitely thinking about it.

Just watch her. There is no need for treatment for an ailment you haven't identified.