Well, Ive been keeping fish for over 20 years and never seen this before...Last night when I got home one of my Male Flower Horns was nose up in the tank, sitting with his tail on the gravel, head poked straight up. He swims with his front fins (pectoral) only and cant (or wont) move his body or tail. His fins are clamped, and occasionaly he shudders. I have no idea what could be wrong with him, he will lay flat on the bottom at a slight lean, but when he starts moving around he noses up and will not move his tail, fins remain clamped. he did eat, with difficulty due to his immobility, but this morning he is still in this paralyzed appearing state. Has anyone ever seen anything like this before?? I am wondering if he may have some kind of spine injury, his outter apperance is fine.
Partialy Paralyzed Fish
- Thread starter Mattyou
- Start date
I had the same problem with a blue acara. Her balance became worse until she could not stay upright any longer. I never did find out what was wrong (I suspect now that it may have been age, they were full grown when I got them a couple of years ago)
It took her a few months to finally die, She just lay at the bottom of the tank not moving. I tried all sorts of medications but nothing worked.
My male acara appears he may be going the same way now, He does not move much any more from his corner so is hard to tell (sulking from the loss of his mate still), but his fins do look a bit clamped.
Good luck with your fish, I hope you have better luck than I did. From memory I tried melafix, pimafix, salt & heat, tetracycline, triple sulfa and malachite green all to no avail.
It took her a few months to finally die, She just lay at the bottom of the tank not moving. I tried all sorts of medications but nothing worked.
My male acara appears he may be going the same way now, He does not move much any more from his corner so is hard to tell (sulking from the loss of his mate still), but his fins do look a bit clamped.
Good luck with your fish, I hope you have better luck than I did. From memory I tried melafix, pimafix, salt & heat, tetracycline, triple sulfa and malachite green all to no avail.
wow that sounds horrible! could it be a problem with his swim bladder? does he have any scrapes or wounds (maybe he was attacked?) are your water parameters ok? i dont know what to tell you, but i wish you luck-i've only been fishkeeping for 14 years and am still learning..
Thanks for the replies. Water is fine, he lives alone in a 60 Gal tank and is only about 14 months old, not a full grown fish yet. He can swim around some using his pectoral fins and will eat off the top, but then he just drifts back down to the bottom. It is the weirdest dang thing I have ever had happen to one of my fish. I think when I get home I am going to pick him up with my hands and flex his body a little, like a chiropractor, and see if he is truly paralyzed. I am thinking if there is no resistance when I grab him, and he does not tail slap, he may well be a paraplegic, and I'm not sure what I am going to do then. I hate to put him down as long as he eats and isn't withering away in a slow death spiral. I just don't know.....
maybe in trying to ram the lid or glass he hurt his spine. I know it happens to aros and gars
Looks like you can rule out age. I asked 3 LFS for their opinions, the only suggestion they could come up with was swim bladder - but the paralysis is not right. Like you water conditions were fine, no obvious signs of physical damage. One thing I noted is that it does not appear to be contagious. My fish was in a tank with other cichlids and they were all normal. She was removed after about a week to a hospital tank as she started getting picked on by the others every time the male left her side.
At the end I was force feeding her as she would not move off the bottom where she lay on her side (she seemed to be in no pain, looked like she had just given up) She managed to get out of my hand once (I only supported her, did not actually hold) she managed to flip her midsection (not her tail) and just drifted back to the bottom of the tank. There was no resistance when I picked her up, she was just limp (whether that was weakness or a problem I don't know)
I tried so long with her as she did not appear to be in pain and she was part of a mated pair. In hindsight I should have put her down, but I was hoping I could find some medication that would do something.
At the end I was force feeding her as she would not move off the bottom where she lay on her side (she seemed to be in no pain, looked like she had just given up) She managed to get out of my hand once (I only supported her, did not actually hold) she managed to flip her midsection (not her tail) and just drifted back to the bottom of the tank. There was no resistance when I picked her up, she was just limp (whether that was weakness or a problem I don't know)
I tried so long with her as she did not appear to be in pain and she was part of a mated pair. In hindsight I should have put her down, but I was hoping I could find some medication that would do something.
did you take him out of the tank yet? and did he try to fight and flip around? if he didnt move at all then i bet he is paralyzed (like someone else stated, he could have rammed himself against something and it jammed him up). as long as he is eating he should be ok, but if it gets to the point where he is just listless and not eating i would euthanize him with clove oil..
i hope he gets better- let us know what happens! mel
i hope he gets better- let us know what happens! mel
OK,
I took him in a net and flexed his body, he is limp as can be. resistance from the gills forward pretty much is all he could offer. No tail slap / wiggle and when I moved his tail around, he was totaly plyable. He has taken to standing on his tail, head up, tail down in a corner behind a peice of driftwood. I think he is gonna be a loss, as he still eats but I dont think he will last to long in the shape he is in. Seems to be getting less and less active. He is propably depresed and just going to give up and die. Really is a bummer, he is a very pretty fish.
I took him in a net and flexed his body, he is limp as can be. resistance from the gills forward pretty much is all he could offer. No tail slap / wiggle and when I moved his tail around, he was totaly plyable. He has taken to standing on his tail, head up, tail down in a corner behind a peice of driftwood. I think he is gonna be a loss, as he still eats but I dont think he will last to long in the shape he is in. Seems to be getting less and less active. He is propably depresed and just going to give up and die. Really is a bummer, he is a very pretty fish.