My two year old Copperband is dying I think. Today is day 3 he won't eat. I thought he showed some improved signs. He came to check out my fingers today. The last two days he wouldn't swim up to me at all. He looked at the food and swam in a circle then swam away.
I noticed him hanging out on one end of the tank. He doesn't actively swim anywhere or respond to anything. It's like he goes to sleep then shakes himself awake. I noticed when he swims by his reflection in the glass he responds like normal. But, then starts to swim vertical and almost intentionally swims upside down but rights himself right away. Then swims normal for a few minutes then gets tired and starts to swim weird. I see no visible injuries to his body, no visible signs of infections or anything on his gills.
No other fish are showing signs of issues. PH is 8.1 to 8.33. Tank is a total of 4 years old (350 gallons). Calibrated refrac indicates salinity at what it's been at for a couple years now, 1.025. I'm in need of a water change (phosphates at .11 - .19 this week.) Higher than i'd like, but managed.
There's a lot of cyano growing, probably due to the increased vodka dosing to keep phosphates under control.
No other fish showing signs of any issues. I could probably net him and put him in a QT holding tank with tank water. But, not sure what to do from there. And if he's sick is there really anything that would do to save him. . . He's interested in food more than he has been the last two days. I saw him grab one piece of food out of the water and his beak chomped it. I definitely don't think he's feeling good. It's like he falls asleep then wakes up every few minutes. . .
The only hope is he swims up to me if I come to the glass. So, he still sees ok and controls his swimming 90% of the time. I'm afraid if he doesn't start eating more soon he won't make it. 3 days is a long time for a fish that needs to constantly eat...
I noticed him hanging out on one end of the tank. He doesn't actively swim anywhere or respond to anything. It's like he goes to sleep then shakes himself awake. I noticed when he swims by his reflection in the glass he responds like normal. But, then starts to swim vertical and almost intentionally swims upside down but rights himself right away. Then swims normal for a few minutes then gets tired and starts to swim weird. I see no visible injuries to his body, no visible signs of infections or anything on his gills.
No other fish are showing signs of issues. PH is 8.1 to 8.33. Tank is a total of 4 years old (350 gallons). Calibrated refrac indicates salinity at what it's been at for a couple years now, 1.025. I'm in need of a water change (phosphates at .11 - .19 this week.) Higher than i'd like, but managed.
There's a lot of cyano growing, probably due to the increased vodka dosing to keep phosphates under control.
No other fish showing signs of any issues. I could probably net him and put him in a QT holding tank with tank water. But, not sure what to do from there. And if he's sick is there really anything that would do to save him. . . He's interested in food more than he has been the last two days. I saw him grab one piece of food out of the water and his beak chomped it. I definitely don't think he's feeling good. It's like he falls asleep then wakes up every few minutes. . .
The only hope is he swims up to me if I come to the glass. So, he still sees ok and controls his swimming 90% of the time. I'm afraid if he doesn't start eating more soon he won't make it. 3 days is a long time for a fish that needs to constantly eat...