# Firemouth not doing well



## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

Hello,
Haven't been on here in years, but I'm glad to see the forum is still very active. I have a question about a firemouth cichlid my sister bought recently. She wanted to get a friend a fish tank, and she asked me for help in setting it up. So after a trip to the pet store and the purchase of a tank of Craigslist, this is what the set up is:

20 Gal. long tank
1 firemouth cichlid
1 farlowella
5 neon tetras
1 bamboo shrimp
4 plants, gravel substrate, a rock and a small piece of driftwood (planning to get more rocks soon, just haven't yet)
2 filters: 1 Aquatech 20-40 gallon power filter, and 1 Aquaclear (I've forgotten what size it is)

Since I have an established tank, when I set this tank up, I put fish in immediately. The Aquaclear filter is from my (established) tank, as is the rock and the driftwood. Seems to have worked well as far as the bacteria go; the water params are as follows:
Ammonia: .25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 20-30 ppm
Ph: 8 (higher than I expected)\
Temp: about 78-80 F

Ok, now finally to the problem. The firemouth cichlid (about 2 inches long) is not doing well. Ok so maybe that's an understatement. The tank was set up last Saturday. He seemed to be fine then. Monday, my sister said the firemouth was swimming funny, starting after he ate. She said he swam upside down a couple times, but it was just for a split second then he righted himself and went on swimming up and down and side to side on the front of the tank. Tuesday he was just sitting in the bottom. So I put him in a breeder net in the tank. I added a very small amount of salt and a very small amount of epsom salt to the net, as I couldn't remember whether the shrimp and the farlowella were OK with salt. I also put the little piece of driftwood in there so he'd have a hiding spot. He was listing a lot (almost sideways), and when he did try to swim, he swam in loops. I didn't expect him to live through the night, but he's still plugging along. He seems to have improved slightly. There are no visible signs of disease on him and his coloring is pretty good. He has eaten some, and he has pooped some. But he still just sits on the driftwood, and if I put my hand or a net in the the breeder net, he swims very loopy. 

If you made it this far, thank you! Any idea what could be the problem? Like I said, there are no visible signs of disease (dropsy, ich, fin rot, anything like that). I thought maybe constipation, but he has pooped some. He's looking a little skinny, I'm guessing because he hasn't eaten much (duh). His food is flakes, and some Spectrum Thera + pellets (the ones with garlic, in case it was some internal parasite...not sure how much good it would do but I figured it was worth a try). 

Thanks in advance for the help!!

Lydia


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

It does sound like "swim bladder". Did you dump him into clean water? A sudden drop in electrolytes can sometimes have that effect, too. medicated food and peas are worth a try, as is salt or epsom salt in the water. T. Meeki are central american, they can take higher pH and moderate hardness.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

hello lydia...i really has been quite awhile...good to see you here again and glad to see you still keeping fish...
i am going to go along with emc on this one..sounds like swim bladder.....
good luck and i hope he gets better soon..


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

Hey lohachata! Glad to see you're still here! 

Thanks for the help! I gave the owner some nice mushy peas with instructions on how much to feed him. I'll probably stop by tonight and see if there's any improvement. Will the bamboo shrimp be ok with Epsom salt or salt in the water? Also, what kind of medication should I put in his food? Sorry for all the questions!

Thanks again for the help!


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

Well, I've inherited the fire mouth for now to keep a closer eye on him. He's improved some but he's still very loopy. I put some squashed pea in but I'm not sure if he ate any or not. He mostly lays kind of side ways on the bottom of the net. What kind of medication should I put in his food? Since he's in my tank I can't really put much salt in (I've got a kuhli and a bamboo shrimp).


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Hospital tanks are handy. Hard to say what more meds might help.


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## Lydia (Feb 6, 2005)

It all makes sense now, unfortunately. I just saw camallanus worms sticking out of you-know-where. I really wish now that I hadn't put him in my tank. So now it looks like I'll have to treat the whole tank just in case. Agh!! In looking on the internet, I'm planning to try fenbendazole in whatever form I can get it. Any suggestions from people with success treating them would be much appreciated! None of the other fish have any symptoms at all, but from what I've read, I need to treat the whole tank. The firemouth had only been in the tank since Monday or Tuesday.


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