As you can see from the pics he's in bad shape. I don't know how old he is. I do know that the tank was neglected for a long time. There is some sort of crusty stuff below his lower lip, major fin damage and to me he looks very thin for the size of his head. Some small cichlid pellets came with him but he seems to spit them out. The tank was set up with fresh water last night and filter has the old media. Testing water now so I'll post back with that info shortly.
JD help please
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jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ohhh, the poor guy!!! I wouldnt treat him with any meds yet- healthy water & some aq salt may be all he needs to recover. If he doesnt improve over the next wk (or starts to get worse), we can look into some options for treatment. What a shame that he was neglected!!! Im glad he is in good hands now!
Thanks for the encouragement.
pH 6.8
Ammonia 1.0
Nitrite 0.5
Nitrate 20
Doing a large water change now. Guess I'm going to need a Python as I am bucketing it this morning. The ammonia and nitrite from my tap is high and I filled the tank with it last night. I'm going to use my well water today. This filter is crappy, I need a new one, the way the media looked last night it should have been able to process the toxins in my tap water by now or at least make a dent in it.
pH 6.8
Ammonia 1.0
Nitrite 0.5
Nitrate 20
Doing a large water change now. Guess I'm going to need a Python as I am bucketing it this morning. The ammonia and nitrite from my tap is high and I filled the tank with it last night. I'm going to use my well water today. This filter is crappy, I need a new one, the way the media looked last night it should have been able to process the toxins in my tap water by now or at least make a dent in it.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Good job! He needs healthy water most of all so keep up the good work! 
PWC done. Luckily the hose from the well pump reaches the tank. wOOt!
I'll check parameters again in about an hour.
Any special care for this fish or just treat as usual? Any advise on what to offer him to eat to fatten him up some?
I'll check parameters again in about an hour.
Any special care for this fish or just treat as usual? Any advise on what to offer him to eat to fatten him up some?
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Lets see how he does over the next few days. I dont keep these guys but im sure others will help out with feeding rec's! Good luck & keep us posted!
Fed him some frozen blood worms I have for treats for my other fish. He devoured them. Even took a bite at the plastic fork I was using to drop them in the tank. I'm going to hit the store for some larger fresh food for him.
I rigged a make-shift bio filter out of a large air stone and an old, large bag of carbon I kept in my goldfish tank. Put the air stone between two pieces of driftwood and layed the carbon bag on top. Hopefully it helps.
I rigged a make-shift bio filter out of a large air stone and an old, large bag of carbon I kept in my goldfish tank. Put the air stone between two pieces of driftwood and layed the carbon bag on top. Hopefully it helps.
DragonFish71
Great white snark
Clean water and good food can go a long way to bring him back to good health. I suggest try feeding him some frozen foods with high protein, bloodworms, beefheart, krill. Let it melt in a cup with a few drops of garlic juice, feed him a little. See if he eats it or ignores it. If he eats it, give a little more, don't give him all of it at once. If he ignores it, try again later.
JDs are like oscars in the fact that they are drama queens and don't handle mistreatment well. Poor guy probably thinks at this point humans are slime (yeah, ok, he isn't too far off) JDs are kind of like cats and dogs instead of fish. They have more personality and intelligence than some other fish. He needs to learn to trust, so work with him by trying to give him the right foods. He'll come around.
I help my LFS rehab abused fish, mainly JDs, oscars and jags. That is the process we use.
JDs are like oscars in the fact that they are drama queens and don't handle mistreatment well. Poor guy probably thinks at this point humans are slime (yeah, ok, he isn't too far off) JDs are kind of like cats and dogs instead of fish. They have more personality and intelligence than some other fish. He needs to learn to trust, so work with him by trying to give him the right foods. He'll come around.
I help my LFS rehab abused fish, mainly JDs, oscars and jags. That is the process we use.
I think he is feeling better. My LFS gave me a sample of some floating pellets for large fish. The owner did not want me to spend the money on food only to have the fish turn his nose up at it, so to speak. The first one I fed him he spit out a number of times but finally swallowed it. I gave him another this morning and he chomped it down. To quickly get some protein and fat into him I dropped in three ghost shrimp, two tiny minnows and a small (about half an inch) kinda Platy looking thing yesterday afternoon. Only one shrimp and one minnow left. Yes, I know I should not be feeding him live fish because then he might start demanding it, but I felt I needed to get something in his belly. I also thought that I would be a good indicator of how he is feeling if decided to hunt these little fish. He seems to always be on the move. How often should I be feeding him and how much? Going to try some lettus(sp?) today.
jetajockey
come get me tang police!
I'd feed him 2-3x a day till he is healthy looking again. Look at his poo and if it is white and stringy then I'd look into treating for parasites, but otherwise fresh water and good food is all I'd stick with. Based on his size I would say that he's about a year old, definitely a male, but could be much older and just hasn't been fed well.
jetajockey said:
Poo looks good, large, solid and poo colored. I know he has not been fed well as they were trying to sustain him on very small cichlid pellets which, when I observed him, he did not eat. The last good meal I know he had was a smorgasbord of African Cichlids that a LFS said would be appropriate to house with him. That was months ago.
I'm changing 16 gallons a day while I vacuum up the crud from the substratless floor. Just got done and need to check parameters in an hour or so.
Just an update...
"Big Dude" went to the LFS yesterday. The pairing did not go so well and the two had to be separated. Things were going well and they were bumping and lip locking and such, we allowed this to go on for about a half an hour. Then he gave up, he moved to the top of the tank and she just kept tagging him. I think he just got tired as she is a big fat healthy female and he is recovering from neglect issues. After he fattens up some more we will give it another try.
"Big Dude" went to the LFS yesterday. The pairing did not go so well and the two had to be separated. Things were going well and they were bumping and lip locking and such, we allowed this to go on for about a half an hour. Then he gave up, he moved to the top of the tank and she just kept tagging him. I think he just got tired as she is a big fat healthy female and he is recovering from neglect issues. After he fattens up some more we will give it another try.
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