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I saw a convict cichlid in a unnamed chain store's tank a few days ago and he looked awful, curious to know if anyone could tell me what was wrong with him. His eyes were clouded over, one was almost completely opaque, the other was just a little white. He had serious equilibrium problems. He would start swimming and sink gradually, then once he hit the bottom he would violently flick in another direction, then slowly allow himself to sink again. He was staggering through the water and bumping into things, looked for all the world like a drunk man. Wasn't going upside down though. No visible signs of ich, his color was a bit filmy looking. He looked like he was going down for the count but he was still there several days later when I checked up on him. Such a shame, he is a beautifully marked/colored fish compared to some convicts I have seen. You'd think they'd at least have the decency to let him die in a back tank but no, he's in full view of the public eye, still for sale.

I'm guessing it is a whole host of problems caused by very poor water quality. Most chain stores aren't known for keeping up on good water chemistry because they tend to turnover stock very quickly. It sounds like some kind of systemic bacterial infection. At this point, I'm not sure that there's much that can be done.

Thanks for the reply. I did a bit of hunting around and it seems the recommended first course of action would be clean, appropriate water and Maracyn II.

I want to save this fish! I'm so frustrated... I don't want to just go buy him because that would be supporting their poor treatment of their animals and besides he might not even make it back to my house. I doubt a big chain would just give me a fish. I'd be out like $5, no big deal, but can you understand the dilemma? Another thought, I've been planning a Convict tank, so he'd be a bit premature but I would still have a place for him if he made it.

Mostly I just hate seeing such a beautiful fish in obvious suffering when I can't do much about it. Despite the constant excess of convicts I still want to save 'this' one... I'm a sucker for animals in need.

lioness ... Just buy the fish ... he's gotta better chance of survival with you than with people who don't care !!!!

Garry

Well...for better or for worse the little monster now belongs to me. It didn't take much to convince me did it Garry?

He looked a bit better when I picked him up today. His swimming was less erratic though he does still swim with his body tilted 45 degrees to the left about half the time. His stomach was really sunken the first time I saw him but it looks like they've got some food in him now. He still looked very much in distress, I just couldn't leave him.

I tested the water he came in and it was as follows:

71* F
pH 6.6-6.8
Ammonia: trace
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 1.0
kH: 3

Those are all the tests I had. I know Convicts are supposed to be tolerant of a wide range of water conditions but that seems a bit cold and way too soft and acidic. I read a few articles stating that low pH can cause eyes to cloud. It'd be nice if that's the problem and he doesn't have an infection.

As a side, his tank was on the same water as all the rift lake cichlids...Those like hard, basic water, right?

Anyway, he's in nice clean suitable water now with a menu of blood worms, elodea, platy fry, and staple granules. He can't see much, I worry about him finding his food. Supposing he recovers, will his sight return?

I didn't get a med for him yet but started him on Melafix. Should I get something more aggressive? His swimming on the side thing is what worries me most right now. I just want him to pull through. Any advice/comments would be very welcome.

Good on you , you are a champion .
I would suggest a PM to LHG for some advice on meds .

Good Luck , fingers crossed

Garry

Maracyn 2 might help with the eye fogginess, but the rest of his condition could well be down to hexamita or another comperable protozoan. Its very likely he has a number of ailments. Personally id be tempted to start with a course of furan 2 and then go for a course of jungle labs antiparasite formula. A few days in the right water and a decent diet high in sugars and fats will work wonders though, so perhaps it wont hurt to try a week of that, and see how he responds before attemptimg any of the more serious medications. Chances are though sooner or later he will need to be deparasitized, or you might not get any response from the immune system, particularly if he has picked up intestinal protozoa, they often kick the hell out of the immune system.

He's looking better today. His behavior is fairly normal, exploring the tank, and he has better control over himself in the water, not having as much trouble swimming. He still does the sideways thing when he is swimming along the glass but not anywhere else. I wonder if it has something to do with his vision? His color is getting bluer and he has a green sheen on the gill plates. Appetite is awesome too. He's taking blood worms, granules, and dried algae (when he can find them, still can't see). His belly seems pretty swollen, even though I haven't fed him very much. I just gave him the Jungle anti parasite meds. If he isn't improving in a few days I can start the Furan.

Thanks guys!

I meant to ask earlier, hows the stripey fella doing?

Well, he is still among us. He looks pretty healthy. Color is great, swimming fine, appetite good, etc... He still can't see though. It is mostly the pupil which is clouded, not the whole eye anymore. He searches the gravel diligently for his food so he's not going to starve even if his vision doesn't come back but if he can't see he's never going to be able to have a woman, she'd probably kill him. He's been on Melafix for a week now, should I go to the Maracyn 2 or something else? He's looking real nice otherwise, this seems to be his only complaint.

Thanks for asking after him.

Well, mararcyn 2 contains minocycline, which is one of the oxytetracycline groups of medications, and theyve been used in medicine for years and a lot of disease resistance to them is high.

The nitrofurans have fewer reports of resistance occurances though, so you could try them, but generally you want to give a tetracycline drug at least 4 or 5 days to show a result before you give up on it. Some prescribed courses of oxytetracycline drugs can be 9 days to a fortnight, furan is generally just the 4/5 days. Obviously, if you do change meds, do the carbon and water change thing first.