Help Sick Fish, WC from Atlantis

[gmoses]

I noticed one of my Cynotilapia afra red top likoma females was sluggish today and i came home to her lying on the floor barely moving...Is there anything i can do? Should i remover her? I dont really have another running tank... Is she basically dead?
I am so sad

[emartin]

Well I've had a few of my fish recently be out of the water for extended periods of time... It's really just luck whether or not she pulls through.

Whatever tank she's in I'd immediately add 1 cup of salt per 20 gallons and add extra aeration, and if she pulls through I would keep the salt in the water until she makes a full recovery. If she develops fungus or bacterial infection or still appears that she is struggling from something, I would treat with a product containing Furan like API's Furan-2, Jungle Binox. Triple Sulfa could work too.

A few of my fish when out of water made full recoveries, except one developed bad mouth fungus a few days later.

Anyway your fish would obviously do best if you had it in a separate tank, even one as small as a 10gallon.

Hope yours pulls through...

~Ed

[bovsbaitboxes]

did you just dump the fish in the tank or slowly get it use to your water sounds like you didnt aclimate it enough

[gmoses]

i floated for 20 then added tank water every 15-20 for over an hour...
could a water change have affected her. i did one yesterday.

[AlishanAS]

How are the other fish in the tank?

This may be a dumb question Gil, but when you mention the floor, do you mean the bottom of the tank or the floor of your home?
Ed thinks you mean the floor of your home. But you used the terminology "barely moving" so I assume that it's the bottom of the tank.

[fischfan13]

I spoke with Gil on the phone a little earlier. The female was laying on the bottom (floor) of the tank.
Didn't sound good.

[bovsbaitboxes]

thats what I do over an hour of interducing my water I wish I could help more but some of my fish in the past have done the same thing and it was from dumping them in to soon (my water is not the greatest sometimes) some make it some dont good luck John

[nick a]

Man that's a bummer! Get a plastic breeder box (if you don't have one already) and put her in there with a couple of bits of plastic plants for her to hide in. At least you can protect her from the other fish that way.

[phillyofish]

Gil,
you could put her in one of these

http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j248/phillyofish/035-1.jpg

[CJC]

Phillyofish,
Is that a bought box which you added the PVC to? I've seen the small grid stuff at craft stores but, where did you get the larger holed plastic from? That's a great set up.

[phillyofish]

I have to give credit where it is due. Joe Jaskot introduced it at an auction. You can get the larger box at walmart or maybe at dollar stores.

[joe_jaskot]

Even easier, go to a garden center and get a plastic plant basket. It has fine mesh. Just put the pvc piping around it.

[Afreakin]

Always improving JJ. Probably cheeper too :bandit:

[gmoses]

Thank you guys fo rthe advice unfortunately she died last night..and its even worse my male is dying as well... I am so disappointed. I was so excited to finally get my dream fish and they are dying so quick... I dont what to do...I think i am done for a while cant afford it financially and mentally..
I know you guys probably know better than most you get attached to a fish.
Thanks again guys.

[Artie]

My one male red top afra I picked up also died today !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :grhair:

The others I got seem fine so far !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[gmoses]

lots of dead fish... what a shame. they seemed fine then less than a day they were done. maybe we should leave them in the wild so they can live long lives...

[fischfan13]

We all go thru deaths in this hobby, and we all go thru many births...more fry survive in our tanks than would in the wild.

[AlishanAS]

Wild fish can be touchy. If you have a quarantine tank I might keep them there for a bit and hit them with a broad spectrum antibiotic and/or anti- protazoan. I know somebody who does this with a lot of the wild plecos he brings in.

Luckily I have had no problems with the wild Aulonocara from Atlantis.

[nick a]

Gil, check out if anyone near you is getting anything shipped from Dave's.

I just sent him a S-load of F1 afra Likoma. Mention I told him to include a 1/2 dozen of these guys in the order for you free.

I hate to hear when folks lose their new fish!

The two-edged sword of TRUE wilds is that they are often much more difficult to aclimate to the tank environment/but that difficulty also gives you some confidence that you got what you paid for!

[joe_jaskot]

It's a shame that one of the only ways to tell if a fish is wild is that it is very difficult to acclimate to your water conditions. Reminds me of the old days when african cichlids first arrived in the US.

[gmoses]

Just want to say thank you Nick, It really is above the call...Its nice the way people look out for each other on this sight. And i do believe there is an order coming in from Daves at the end of the month. Interesting enough as i spent hours trying to pick my fish Bill had mentioned to me a couple of times that the Red Top Likoma was one of your top choices and that you are a big fan of the fish. In fact that was one of the deciders for me at the end of the day to go with this group over the others...He was such a beauty..I tried i medicated him and separated him..I didnt have an extra heater so i put the tank in the bathroom with a heater in it to keep him warm but unfortunately he didnt survive the night...
Thank you again and i will definitely take you (or Daves) up on the offer as i really love this fish...

[Larry Johnson]

Hi Guys here's some reading that I have posted so many times on receiving new wild fish!
Hope this helps.

http://africancichlidforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2799

Cheers,Larry

[nick a]

Should be no prob Gil. Give Dave a call and let him know your intentions so he's sure to hold some until the end of the month for you.