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Hi everyone,
I noticed 2 of my 3 paros in a 5 gallon tank are staying at the top of the tank almost in a verticle position. Taking breaths of air from the surface. Is this something i should medicate for? Water parameters are fine and visibly they have cery nice coloration. I do not know if they gave been eating or not. The food dissappears though.
Thank you,
RyanDo you use a filter? When my paro’s did that it appeared the oak leaves on the bottom had started to rot because of lack of oxygen. Sulfates in the leaves then will be converted into H2S, which is toxic and smells really bad. Quickly refresh and structurally add more oxygen.
No filter… I have a few indian almond leaves for about two weeks and two large driftwood pieces. Thanks for the tip. It did look like they are not getting O2.
I had put two large pieces of driftwood in the tank about 1 month ago which started to smell a lot I noticed today. So I pulled them out of the tank also today. So there is at least 4 days of the paros acting/swimming funny (2 of the 3 paros). Is it possible that the leaves and the wood affected the O2 level which then could affect the swim bladder of the fish? The fish uses every bit of energy it has to move around, tail dragging practically or swimming almost in a vertical position. Still eating, but I see no sign of improvement yet, it just sits on the bottom of the tank halfway on its side. No visible sign of illness, though the fish is much darker than the one which is acting normal.
Ryan, first, driftwood from the trade is of no use for a blackwater aquarium. It is very well probable that this wood had a very negative effect in the oxygen-content. But I have never heared before that the need for frequent air-catching had a negative effect on the swim-bladder of the fish.
But second, how are the water values? I think you have measured them from the beginning. How did they develop?
Third, has a temperature chock happened?
Fourth, how couldn’t you say whether your food has been eaten? One sees the fish eating or one does not see them eating. And what sort of food did you feed?
The strange behaviour that you describe points to a serious illness of your fish. Lack of oxygen could be the right track but is not enough to clear this case up. Driftwood from the trade could consume high percentages of the free oxgen, and then even Paros go to the surface an catch for air. Normally they don’t do this with the exception of some bubble nest building.
I suspect a multiple cause. Mostly a severe coldness was part of it when the fish swim the way you decsribe it. And mostly – I am afraid – there is no healing whatsoever.
Write something more about the water you use and the overall conditions. And were the fish completely healthy when you got them or was there some strange behaviour right from the beginning?Hi Peter,
When I first got the fish a month ago there was no problem, although probably 20% died at the store from that batch.
I have 3 small sp. ampah in the tank of 12 liters. I give them twice a day 10 adult brine shrimp. A throw in a little daphnia too. The food is being consumed, but i don’t know if it is by the two healthier ones. When i first throw the food in i wait and they don’t always eat right away.
This particular tank has Reverse Osmosis water in it, nothing else.
I did leave the tank for a week with the two driftwoods and leaves without water changes due to two deaths of friends over the holidays. But i didn’t think a week would this. Of course i continued feeding and the water was a nice tea color.
I checked this morning, day 5, fish are still alive so i can only assume they are eating. I do remember noticing very heavy breathing in the beginning. I am going to feed baby artemia today, even if my paros are sick they eat that.
I did test water values after that week and all was fine. There was no temperature shock i am aware of. I keep it at 78F.
Of the 3 fish 2 have it, one worse than the other. I did observe 2 of them eating yesterday. I will continue to observe. As long as this is not bacterial because i am not medicating.
We had this strange behaviour with quite a few of the newly imported spec. Ampah too. Most certainly it is a special weakness of this population, maybe a special reaction to stress. There are populations that react much more intensely to stress than others.
We were unable to cure it by medicine, and some fish did not recover at all. Some others did, however, given best conditions (changing food, water with pH about 5, at least not more than 6, often partly changed, quietness, no disturbance, slightly elevated temperature). So I should try the same. I think you can do nothing else. It is for sure that some of our fish recovered from the same symptoms you have described, but – as I said – not all.Apart from odinium this is the only type of illness which I have observed also with paros. I have observed it mainly in females (and at least on one occasion) it was following a time of spawning.
I have been thinking also in terms of swimbladder problems without being able to say much more about it than that. I have seen fish live long time with it, – but I do not think the prognosis is all that good.
I might have raised the temperature a little, – 27,28 C for a time.Other times I have experienced it when I have received a bigger import (25) fishes, – and took it as strain, stress
I have had this with males also, but these are females as you said. I picked up 2 more yesterday and they look to be somewhat different than the ampah. I’ll send pictures when they color up. I too think it is stress related, or perhaps O2 related initially. I don’t believe these females are ready for spawning as they are quite small.
Ryan, couldn’t you indicate where you got these fish from? Obviously they offer different species (or forms). I guess the fish are wildcaught and have been imported. Do you know the import company? How many Paros are there in the trader’s tanks? And don’t you see any of those problems you have described in your postings in the trader’s tank already? What is the conditions they have been kept in? I think some informations could be interesting to other readers, even to us in Europe.
I have asked before and I can’t get any imformation of where the imports are from. I know that only several were sent when the dealer ordered much more. One had already died when I got to the store. There are a few left, I will see if I could get them. I do know it was the same importer that I got the sp. Ampah from, and the importer sold it as “filamentosus” now known as the sp. Ampah. When I cam home today, one was dead and the other is close to it. I wonder if they are simply not eating? The color is much different than what I saw yesterday. The whole body is red. There is light blue all along the edge of the fins. Quite a pretty fish! I have included a picture of the one still alive, he is on his side.
This latter shown fish is most likely a young ornaticauda-male in plain colours caused by that light conditions without any structure or cave. The white edges in the anal and dorsal and the type of marking in the caudal make this very probable. But this means that the names that are offered by this dealer are very accidentally and wrongly used (which is quite normal with Parosphromenus in trade). The females don’t have these markings. In display the fish has a completely different colouring that looks rather striking. There is a unique heads-up display dance.
Which was the name you were given? But your so-called “spec. Ampah” should look differently. And they have a completely different body-structure, I hope?
The sp. Ampah do look different, I have posted pictures in the past. The filament caudal is developing quite nicely on them now. I believe I have two females and I hope to spawn them.
The sp. Ampah, as well as the latest one in the picture were both sold as “filamentosus”
The second fish also died, the body was almost black and the caudal was a thick, vibrant red color with some black in it.
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