Male Krib Suddenly Acting Very Odd, I'm Worried

[LindaMC]

I've had him for few months now and he would always come out with the other fish to eat. He lives in a 29 gallon planted community tank, along with 3female kribs and pair of apisto's (orange flash), two small blue rams and a pair of very young ottos.

For the past three days, he hasn't come out to eat with the rest of the fish, he hides and if I try to look at him, he darts off. He was showing great color, red from his chin to his belly. He had paired up with the largest of the female kribs and I thought they were going to breed, they teamed up together to chase the other two females off and they hung out in a coconut hut.

I'm really concerned about him, he seems depressed and I can't get a good look at him to see if anything is wrong. Any ideas why this could be happening?

As I said, it's a planted tank, pretty dense, CO2 injected and 2 x 65 watts of light overhead, but he's been fine for the past couple of months in this tank. Could the females have anything to do with it, them fighting over him?

 

[brad]

Sure he's not guarding a batch of eggs or fry?

I have to say the community you've chosen isn't the most compatible

 

[fishgeek]

larger fish that hide away often occurs with water quality and oxygen levels

have you checked these
even if they come out normal i wuld be inclined to do a large water change

any other signs , as most reported are non speciifc

andrew

 

[LindaMC]

Are males the ones that usually guard the eggs with Kribs? The female has been out and about, not going into the hut as she was in the past, which makes me think there are no eggs in there.

I am actually scheduled to do my 50% water change tomorrow but I will do it tonight when I get home. I change 50% of the water once a week and this week, I did two water changes because I added more plants.

I did not choose this community of fish, this is just how it has ended up, I planned on moving my apistos over to the 10 gallon tank but have been having problems trying to catch them.

 

[tjudy]

Hi Linda,

It is the females who guard eggs. I agree Andrew that the male is stressed for some reason. If he perks ups after the water change you will know. As to the community, though I do not generally mix apistos and kribs, their behaviors are not all that incompatible so long as the tank is large enough. I think that you tank is a bit small for the mix of territorial fish, but it sounds like you are working to remedy that. The footprint of a 29 is that same a 20L, which is what I use for mature krib pairs or young trios or groups of 6 growing up into spawning pairs.

Ted

 

[LindaMC]

Well I've done a couple of huge water changes and the male seems to be getting worse. As of yesterday, he hasn't come out to eat in days and then last night he finally made an appearance and seemed very disoriented, he couldn't swim right, as if his equilibrium was off. I removed him from the larger tank and put him in my 10 gallon and dosed some Melafix, which is like herbal tea and has helped some of my fish in the past. I've very concerned. I have a pair of Rams in this tank and the male Ram thinks he's king of this tank, so I'm worried for him here too but at least he has hiding places and doesn't have to put up with the 3 females constantly trying to court him.

Yes, I am working to remedy the housing situation for all my fish, I've been trying to catch the smaller of the two female kribs and bring them to my LFS where I know they'll have a nice home. Then I would like to move my apistos to the smaller tank and keep the male (providing he makes it) and the female together in the larger tank. I will also move the Rams into the larger tank too.

Any ideas on what's going on with my male Krib? It took me so long to find one and he was doing wonderful for the first couple of months, now I'm not sure what is going on with him.

Any other ideas on his having a hard time swimming? He will try to swim and then bump into the glass or fall to the subtrate but he keeps trying, which gives me a little hope.

Thank you in advance for all your help!

 

[tjudy]

Bacterial/parasite infections that attack the fish's swim bladder or nervous system can cause a fish to be disoriented. I just lost a male sp. 'blue fin' that was fine one day, listless the next and unable to sit upright in the water the morning of the day he died. Unfortunately, the diseases that cause these symptoms are usually rapid and can be hard to treat. Melafix, IME, is a good treatement for external wounds. If the problem is internal I would suggest a wide spectrum antibiotic, but if the fish is already to the point of not eating it may be too late. The best treatment would be to use a antibiotic infused food, but since he is not eating that will probably not work.

 

[LindaMC]

Thank you Ted, I sure hope he pulls through but I am prepared if he does not. I only hope he's not suffering.

 

[LindaMC]

Update

Well I finally moved my fish around, putting my apisto orange flash in the 10 gallon tank with three small glo-lite tetras and then removing the male krib from that tank and adding him back into the 29 gallon tank but not until after I removed the 2 female kribs and one small male blue ram.

So now the only fish in that tank are, the male and female kribs, one male ram and two small females. Also there are a pair of ottos. The male seems to be holding his own, although he doesn't come out to eat, I try to drop food near where he is and I'm pretty sure he's eating a little bit of it. He also came out to swim last night and appeared a little less disoriented then he did before, I sure hope this is a good sign. I also did another huge water change on that tank after I removed the females, they kicked up a lot of dust making me chase them.

Is there anything else I can do to help this male along, any ideas?