Flowerhorn lying on its side and trying to get up. But its unable to do so.

[VAV]

Hi,

I have a 7 month old flowerhorn that is around 3 to 4 inches in size. It was healthy and fine till last night. I added new pebbles to my 25 gallon tank last night and the flowerhorn fish was still very active and behaved normally till i slept. Today morning when I woke up the flowerhorn was near the heater lying on its side and and its left eye was a bit cloudy. It is trying its best to swim but its not able to do so. It appears to be in a pretty bad condition. Now, I have changed 50% of water and wishing that it recovers. There were no whitespots or any other symptoms of diseases till yesterday night. Is there anything else I can do to save my flowerhorn? Please help

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tahn]

Well if he was fine before you put the pebbles in, it's probably the pebbles. Maybe releasing some kind of harmful chemicals? I don't know I'm not an expert on fish illness, but that looks pretty bad. Don't want to give bad advice, but maybe take the pebbles out and do a large water change.

 

[VAV]

Its not moving much now. Its just breathing and flapping its fins. I did a 25% water change again. Is there any hope that it will recover? The body color is still the same as before. But its breathing and movement have worsened. Its been more than 12 hours since I first saw it sick

 

[tlindsey]

Its not moving much now. Its just breathing and flapping its fins. I did a 25% water change again. Is there any hope that it will recover? The body color is still the same as before. But its breathing and movement have worsened. Its been more than 12 hours since I first saw it sick

Do you have another aquarium to put the FH in. Like Tahn stated the pebbles released a toxins or affected the ph drastically. Get FH out of the tank with the pebbles to try to save it ..

 

[Cosmic_surfer]

Sounds like it probably won't make it... sorry man

 

[flowerhornfishman]

I really think tht its the pebbles. nver seen anything like dis happened bfore. if you have a hospital tank tht would be better.

 

[Freddie T.]

How long have you had your fish and the tank?
I've seen this happen to fish that are newly bought and put into a brand new uncycled tank. Hearty fish can be hearty, but they too have their limitations. But like everyone says above, get the fish out of that pebbled water.

 

[kelman]

I want to see the whole picture of your tank to see what the issue here. If you prewash the rocks before putting them in then shouldn't be the rocks.

 

[VAV]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I did soak the rocks in water and wash it before putting it in the aquarium. I do not have a hospital tank and that's why I didn't want to take it out of the aquarium. I consulted a local pet shop and he suggested me to add paracidol (to get rid of external parasites) and metrogyl (to get rid of internal parasites). I have also kept the place dark to ensure that the fish doesn't get stressed out. Attaching the photo. He is in a very very bad shape and just changes the position occasionally.

 

[kelman]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I did soak the rocks in water and wash it before putting it in the aquarium. I do not have a hospital tank and that's why I didn't want to take it out of the aquarium. I consulted a local pet shop and he suggested me to add paracidol (to get rid of external parasites) and metrogyl (to get rid of internal parasites). I have also kept the place dark to ensure that the fish doesn't get stressed out. Attaching the photo. He is in a very very bad shape and just changes the position occasionally.

View attachment 1265479

Look like ammonia poisoning to me and the tank is probably not cycle. It's due to insufficient filtration.