sick A. Agassizii

[Ron]

I have a female Agassizii that I found today breathing, but standing on her head at the bottom of the tank. I can hold her and she will move a bit, but not enough to swim and not really struggling. Sometimes she curls in a C shape, but that is about it.
I am not familiar with fish disease, the only experience I have is with ich years ago.
The ammonia and nitite levels are at 0. I have left her in the tank for now, and am taking a wait and see attitiude until the morning.
Any ideas? I have had her for about 7 months, and she appears to be full size (1 1/2")

 

[Neil]

Ron,
How big was she when you got her? I doubt that she is eating in that condition. At that point, I don't think that there would be much point in treating her. I think, I would do the same as you and wait and see. Maybe someone else know more about this. Neil

 

[Eva32181]

Fish curling in a C shape sounds like swimbladder disease to me. That may or may not be contagious - it could be a bacterial or parasitic infection of the swimbladder, *or* her swim bladder could have been damaged by some kind of physical injury. Try http://www.thekrib.com for disease information.

HTH

 

[Ron]

well,
She was dead this morning, as I thought she might have been. The rest of the fish appear healthy and eating well. She was about 1" when I got her.
The reason why I mentioned her size is that I bought a pair from a chain lfs, and I recently picked up a pair of Cauc's from an independent who gets his stock from Germany that are a lot smaller than the Agassiziis were. ....another thread on this board regarding age got me thinking that perhaps this pair were older than I thought and age was a factor. .

 

[Neil]

Ron,
Sorry to hear about that, but I kind of expected as much!

...stock from Germany that are a lot smaller than the Agassiziis were. ....another thread on this board regarding age got me thinking that perhaps this pair were older than I thought and age was a factor. .

Some species are bred for size as well as color, but if your fish was 1" not too long ago, I doubt that it was age. Unless it had been stunted. That is why I asked that question. Sometimes it is just time for them to go. And that is the way they do go when they are old sometimes. Apistos have this weird habit of dying for no apparent reason more than they do from something that is detectable. Anyone who has kept them for a while knows that they can die when everyone else in the tank is perfect and there are no physical signs of disease or damage. I guess that is just one of the modifying factors to balance having such cool little fish.
Neil