Convict Dying

[snake007]

Just got my convict back from a friend, we just had a big row about fishkeeping.
I gave my con to him in good nick, full of color, active, healthy.
He called me telling me its sick
Ive got it back now and its very dull in color sits at the bottom of the tank and does nothing, I pushed him with the net and he does nothing.

Any ideas what could be wrong with him?

His fins are wide apart when he sits at the bottom.

 

[onidrase]

sounds like it's in shock

Why did you give it to your friend in the first place?

We'll need to know more about what happened at your friends house to come to a conclusion. Did he acclimatize it properly? What are the water conditions? tank mates? anything?

 

[snake007]

Basically I had a breeding pair of cons which I have know then my other 2 cons decided to pair, it wasnt working with 2 pairs of breeding cons.I gave my friend the pair to put in his 15 gallon, ever since the pink con has hated the black con and picks on him, she stopped after a while, but the male started to lose color now he just sits at the bottom of the tank, the only tank mate was a pleco.
Also as soon As I added the con back, my other black convict (who is also the brother to this one) started brushing past him and hitting him with his fin and kind of stroking him like he remembered him, is this possible?

Any idea whats wrong with the convict?
Tried to get a pic but it was awful.

 

[snake007]

He does not eat either
Please help, I dont want him to die

 

[onidrase]

Basically I had a breeding pair of cons which I have know then my other 2 cons decided to pair, it wasnt working with 2 pairs of breeding cons.I gave my friend the pair to put in his 15 gallon, ever since the pink con has hated the black con and picks on him, she stopped after a while, but the male started to lose color now he just sits at the bottom of the tank, the only tank mate was a pleco.
Also as soon As I added the con back, my other black convict (who is also the brother to this one) started brushing past him and hitting him with his fin and kind of stroking him like he remembered him, is this possible?

Any idea whats wrong with the convict?
Tried to get a pic but it was awful.

no idea. A lot of things cause the symptoms you describe. Bullying, bad water conditions, disease, lack of proper acclimatization.... The list goes on...

Lemme get this right. So you got a con that you gave to a friend back from the friend because it was sick and put it with your breeding pair? Of course your other black con is gonna pick on him! it has nothing to do with memory, it has to do with you sticking another convict cichlid in his territory. it would happen with any convict, regardless of whether or not they are brothers or had pass disputes. That's his tank, and even if it's a sickly dying convict cichlid, it's still gonna be viewed as a threat.

I don't know if the sickly convict is gonna make it at this point if it won't even react to being pushed at by the net. But having it in a tank with other aggressive fish is just going to cause more problems. move it somewhere where it won't get picked on if you think it can handle it.

 

[snake007]

The other convicts leave it alone, i moved it into quarantine anyway.
cant be acclimatization cos hes been like that for a long while
Hasn't got bullied at all.

 

[onidrase]

The other convicts leave it alone, i moved it into quarantine anyway.
cant be acclimatization cos hes been like that for a long while
Hasn't got bullied at all.

Can you ask your friend about what may have happened before it started acting like this? Maybe using too hot/cold of water during a water change? Even something as innocent sounding as scrubbing the tank with a sponge from the kitchen or spraying air freshener around the general area of the aquarium. I'd love to help, especially since I'm a huge softy for convicts, but with the lack of info, I'm at a loss.

 

[snake007]

I havent got much info either, he said it last ate 2 fridays ago and has been acting like this about 3 weeks ago
he said hes been getting paler and paler by the day and just sits on the bottom, breathes heavily and does nothing.
Thats all I know and all he knows, he does regular water changes 25% once a week with warm dechlorinated water, doesnt use air freshener.
Thats All I know.

 

[snake007]

Convicts the exact same today, would not touch any peas.