IronDogg

Hello all, I have a Jack Dempsey Cichlid that I have had for about 9-10 years now, and it recently and suddenly has a bent spine and is now laying on an angle at the tank bottom (see attached photos). When I first noticed the condition about a week and a half ago or so I did a 70 percent (2/3rds) water change, then a day later, did a 90 percent change thinking ammonia/nitrate issues. I am against adding any chemicals to tank water other than dechlorinator, so no other additives have ever been or are currently in tank. The last large water change before these changes were about a week previous. The Jack Dempsey still has very vibrant colors, it still responds with eagerness when I approach the tank thinking it is going to be fed. When I do feed it, it manages to swim good and energetically to get its fill of food; then after eating it goes back to lay on the bottom as shown in photos. For tank information, this Jack is the sole inhabitant in a short 55 gallon (3 feet long instead of 4 feet and extra width front to back), and has been the sole inhabitant for about 8 years. Layout of the tank was changed once in 2006 when we moved. The layout is a tiered rock ledge setup in the middle with no caves or tight spots which allows me to python all around the edges during cleaning. Substrate is small 1mm-3mm river gravel and is only about 1/2 - 3/4 inch deep averaged over the whole tank. Temperature in the tank is room temperature which is always 23 degrees (about 73-74 degrees F?) summer and winter. There is no heater in the tank. There are no other "appliances" in the tank (i.e. pumps, filters, etc). An AquaClear 500 HOB is the filter, which gets cleaned about every 6-8 weeks or so, and most of the time didn't even need to be cleaned anyway. I do not know what the parameters of the water are, as my test kits are long expired. I do large water changes (90%) every 2 weeks, so I would expect ammonia/nitrate to be ok, but I can't confirm. ph of water in my area varies from about 8.0-8.5 or so. Hardness is always "high" as well. I don't expect that the fish injured itself in any way, as this fish does not experience stress from other fish and is not effected by outside tank movements such as the cat pawing at the glass or somebody suddenly walking past the tank; there are no areas in the tank where it could have gotten pinched or caught that I can tell anyway. I don't think electric shock would have caused this as mentioned above the only thing in the tank is a HOB filter, so unless there is stray current coming from within the filter somehow, I'm not sure on that. I have had my arm in the tank and didn't feel any electricity... I have seen a similar condition to this in big momma guppies a few years back where they would seem paralyzed on their tail and a white vertical band would appear in their skin color on their tail at this paralyzed spot. I never knew what caused that; I always thought it was either a water condition issue or old age, so I would do a water change and some would die anyway, which then made me wonder if they died because of ph shock of the large water change (or other water parameter acute change) or was just timing coincidence. Disease or parasite could be a potential as the python is shared between other tanks during tank cleaning day. A disease or parasite could have caught a ride on the hose or vacuum from one tank into this tank during water change operations. Please take a look at the Jack's butt-hole and advise if it looks normal or maybe is abnormal which could indicate internal concerns. Has anyone here experienced this condition with their fish and may have some advice for me to try? Thanks for taking a look and any advice you can provide.

Two plants work very well with my 7 inch Comet Goldfish, so they may be "compatible" with some Koi too. Try Anubias nana (either tied to a rock, or stapled to some driftwood), or Valisneria species. I have these plants with my Comet, some convicts and Jack Dempsey, with some Firemouths too, so I think they might survive the Koi... Worth a try anyway...

Well, since you don't say where you are from and are forcing me to assume, I'll assume you live in Red Deer. Check out Petland at Southpointe Common. They periodically get different shrimps in. The last time they had Amano's, they were like $5 each though... A little expensive, but as long as you are vigilante about keeping clean water, they will live a long time and will be worth it...

I am from Red Deer Jay, if you want to add me to the red deer group... Who else here is from the Red Deer area?

lol! Stinky and they are alot of work too, that's for sure... For you, with a 110 gallon tank, I'd suggest you don't bother as well. You would need 4 or 5 DIY CO2 kits going to make a real good difference to that much water... If you are willing to spontaneously spend to get the lights fixed up, why not try a DIY commercial CO2 system too... Btw, do you have any pictures of your setup you could post?

I can't see for sure exactly what plants those are but some of the cryptocoryne's and Echinodorus species will shed all (or mostly all) of their leaves when transplanted or moved about. Good luck with them... To avoid that glare back, take the photo on an angle. Another trick is to take the photo with all the lights in the room off (except the tank lights themselves of course ), and don't use the flash...

Hmm... I just reread your first post and realized that you have a 110 gallon aquarium... Your 2 litre DIY CO2 system won't do squat for you. Actually, it might make a very small difference in CO2 levels for you, but I doubt it... For 110 gallons, you should either go to a commercial CO2 system, or add about 4 more DIY kits... If you have any test kits to test your kH (Carbonate Hardness), and your pH, you can enter those values into a CO2 Calculator to monitor your tank CO2 levels... I'm kinda curious to see if you get any changes at all with one kit and 110 gallons of water...

Sticking your CO2 line into the bottom of the AC filter intake tube is probably the cheapest way to go for CO2 diffusion (you may have to cut out the cross piece in the bottom of the intake tube. The only problem with it, is that it is noisy method(once you get used to it, you will not notice anymore). The filter makes a big gurgle/burp every time the CO2 runs into the impeller. It works good though. If you use the DIY method, don't use a 2 litre pop bottle, they could possibly break. Use a 1.89 litre juice jug instead i.e. Cranberry juice jug, etc...

I am no plant expert by any means, but for CO2 diffusion into the water, one of these work great. This is a Hagen product I got for about $20 I think. The CO2 bubbles from my DIY canister go into the bottom of this device, and by the time the bubbles get to the top of the diffuser, they are so minute, that they won't actually break the surface of the water. They will collect into a pile of bubbles until they reach critical and then pop all at once... Not perfect absorbtion, but probably at least 80 percent efficient anyway... Pressure has to do a little bit with diffusion too I think. The deeper your diffuser is, the better it should work... Aqualine makes an even better diffuser, but it is alot more money, and you need to hook up a pump to it. But it is VERY efficient, with little to no waste. ... If you happen to be running an AquaClear filter, you can plug your CO2 line right into the bottom of the pickup tube. The CO2 bubbles get sucked into the impeller and get smashed into tiny, tiny bubbles and get absorbed really quickly. Remember, if the bubbles are merely going to the surface and dissipating into the air, that CO2 is doing you very little or no good at all... Also remember that surface agitation will drive off CO2, so the less amount of surface disruption you have, the better...

Try some of the Anubias species... They are very tolerant of a wide variety of water conditions, are very hardy, and will continue to grow even with a minimal amount of light... You won't find an easier plant to grow than the Anubias'...

All plants are very good at absorbing nitrates. They are part of the "nutritional requirements" of growth for plants, aquatic and non aquatic. Just out of curiousity, what non aquatic plants do you have living in your tank?

Thanks for the welcome guys! Glad to hear you like my forum too! I looked through the memberlist here and didn't recognize any names, but it's good to hear that you have been there for awhile...

Hello all! I am so glad that I found this site. I had no idea there was an "Alberta" site set up. Cool! Way to take the initiative, J-ROC! Anyway, I am from Red Deer, I have 12 tanks set up at the moment ranging from 5-90 gallons. I have fish of all sorts; Cichlids, loaches, guppies, minnows, barbs, bettas, a Spotted Climbing Perch, Siamese Tiger Fish, and lotsa others too... I have been keeping fish for about 4 years now, and am still learning new stuff every day... I have been apart of the online aquatic community for 4 years now, and am the co-owner of my own aquatic forum. It's good to meet you all, I look forward to learning from you all, and to meeting nearby breeders, so that I can stop supporting our horrible lfs's...