Convict is ill

Q&A about diseases and their cure

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GBEAR
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2007 6:37 pm

Convict is ill

Post by GBEAR »

Hi Pam, I have 2 female convicts in a 55 gallon tank, I have had them for about 8 months. I do 5 gallon water changes with a siphon cleaning the bottom, every other week. I check the chemistry with Jungle labs dip sticks and the readings are good, the PH is 7.6, temp 70 - 75 Fahrenheit. Water supply is a deep driven well without chemicals. One of the fish is laying on the bottom of the tank today, it is not bloated and I don't see any spots or fungus. The fins are intact and she will swim normally for short distances. She has in the past rubbed against some rocks in the tank but not all the time. The tank has gravel on 1/3 of the bottom with various bulb plants the other 2/3 are large rock. I have never added chemicals or salt but I did add Melafix and aquarium salt per your instructions in another post to treat for Ich.Any idea what she may be suffering from?
Thanks for the time you take answering these questions, I have learned a lot from this site.
Pam Chin
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Re: Convict is ill

Post by Pam Chin »

Hi gbear,

I see a couple of red flags. One is your temperature, ideal temp is probably going to be 78 degrees, which is quite aways from 70 degrees. Also you need to have a temperature that is stable and that doesn't go up and down. It is the up down of your temperature that can stress your fish and cause problems, i.e. ick. This up and down can be controlled with a heater. I think your fish will become more active if you bump up your temperature slowly. The second flag is your water change routine, changing 5 gallons of water is not enough to remove any toxins. This is only diluting the problem. You need to be changing 50% every two weeks. You need to start by probably doing a 20% water change, and then each time you change your water increase it 10% until you get up to 50%. I think you will notice a big difference.

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