Topic: Jack my convict

[cichlidlover]

about 41/2 days ago in my 135 gallon fish tank my thermometer broke i was able to get all the glass and stuff out of the tank (not sure how long it had been broken maybe hour or two) it was located at the end of the tank where my Jack has made is home. Since then my poor Jack does not seem to have the strength to swim he can do it but you can tell it takes way more effort then it should none of my other convicts, Oscars, or redtail shark are having any problem in anyway....but Jack will also no longer eat from my hand he can not get off of the bottom of the tank with out alot of hard work...can somebody please tell me what might be wrong with him...and can i help him....if i need to put him i down i will but if i don't have to i would rather not....he is the very first convict i ever bought and he is now 9 inches long has a beautiful cap on his head and the sweetest eyes and is 3 years old....its breaking my heart as dumb as it sounds.

[Gerry]

Sounds like a swim bladder issue. these can be hard to heal and very slow if it does.

May I as how the thermometer got broken?

Reason I ask is most are tank safe now and unlikely to cause this issue.

How big/old is your Oscar, they can get grump at maturity and I think it may be you Oscar broke it and it is also possible your Oscar has injured your convict jack.

Jack will live OK with a swim bladder issue and just eat of the bottom and not swim much as it takes more effort.

Welcome to the site and I hope this info is of assistance

[cichlidlover]

oh my gosh thank you so much you don't know what a relief that is. Now what caused this problem because i have been one of the lucky few who have never had a sick fish of any type before now so i have to figure this out and nip it in the fin. and could you tell me if there are books that i can get that tell more info on my convicts such as what size of an area do they claim as their territory i am trying to completley set all their tanks up as natural as possible ...again thank you so much

[Gerry]

possible your Oscar has injured your convict jack

This is the most likely cause.

[cichlidlover]

OK i found an article on swim bladder it says its basically constipation and offers advice on feeding peas....but also an Epsom Salt Bath for like 12 minutes? Now i am all for trying the peas thing out and trying it first, but this Epsom salt bath does not sound right to me being as he is a gill breather what is your opinion please.

[Gerry]

http://www.worldcichlids.com/forum/index.php/topic,15675.0.html

At the bottom of the above article is how to treat with Epsom salts, I would go with the treatment in the tank rather than the baths as it is less stressful

[Katt]

http://www.worldcichlids.com/forum/index.php/topic,15675.0.html

At the bottom of the above article is how to treat with Epsom salts, I would go with the treatment in the tank rather than the baths as it is less stressful

Agree, and dont worry it wont hurt the other fish.

Welcome. 

[fnesr]

The salt is absorbed into the fish through osmosis. Epsom salt does work but the salt dipping outside of the tank at a high concentration is only really for when the issue is severe. Some people say it's fine and do it but I reckon it's more of a last resort thing if the fish is in a really, really bad way. Dosing in the tank is a lot safer in my opinion like the other guys said so probably best to try that first.

Peas are hit and miss as to whether they will eat them, some cichlids will munch them strait down and others ignore them completely in my experience. By that I mean the individual cichlids themselves not differing species, one convict might eat them and the next one not. It's best to shell the peas as the skin part of the pea can be hard for the fish to pass. You can shell them just using the prong of a fork or toothpick or something similar.

[cichlidlover]

  well thank you all for the input it is so much appreciated and i have news....it was my lovley Oscar Albie  (1 year old 12inch long)who broke the thermometer and yes i am buying the kind that goes on the outside of the tank....and after her spaz out yesterday morning i am now convinced that it was indeed her(my oscar) who  hurt my Jack probably by smacking him with her fins or slamming into him during her frenzy .....Jack has a designated area behind this large rock that is just big enough for him to turn around in and i think she caught him behind it .....next question....do we think he will be ok...because i have noticed since he doesn't get around so well he has rubbed the scales off of a portion of his bellie...good news is other then that he is not going down hill so to speak...but i am now concerned with the scale situation and it causeing an infection or something nasty (ich )from stress starting.....i have never had problems with any of my tanks before...and don't want them now...new advice always welcome....i have  other tanks a

and empty 10 gallon
a 55 gal with (2 angels, 2 balas, and four male platies)
a 55 gal with( a red oscar and one convict)
my 135 that jack is in houses 1 Oscar, 4 convicts, and 1 red tail shark
now i have seen comments about size of convicts all of mine are from mouth to fin 8-9inches long two of them have beautiful caps

[Gerry]

Can you post a picture, cons usually max out at 6" male and 4" female.

I would move Jack to the spare 10gal until his scales heal. Good clean water is first thing to try.

As for the swim bladder, it's a wait and see I'm afraid.

[cichlidlover]

ok i am not the best at picture taking but here is what i have and your right my jack is not 8 inches i beleave the ruler shows 7...wich is the norm for all my cichlids . ok i have tried to post my pictures twice now evedentley they are to big at 615KB so i don't know how to get you the pictures. if you have an idea i have the pic's

[fnesr]

If you don't have a program on your computer to resize photos there's a good free one you can get at http://www.irfanview.com/  It's not a big download or anything, it's just a pretty basic and easy to use image editor. It gets recommended a lot on here when people are having trouble with pictures being too large. Alternately you could upload photos to a imaging hosting site like http://photobucket.com/ then link to the picture when replying here and it will show up in your post.

[cichlidlover]

i think i will try the download im not to computer smart ya know.......just enough to be dangerous thank you

[cichlidlover]

http://s1154.photobucket.com/albums/p538/cichlidlover2/

[cichlidlover]

ok here is the link it turns out it was easier to do