Krib acting weird....

[Jaded_Pulse]

hey everyone. if u think i'm just freaking out unneccessarily please delete or move or ignore this or whatever.

well i've had my tank set up for about 7 weeks, made every mistake possible but i think it's cycled now & everything seems to be fine. i have an approx 13g tank (59 x 36 x 33cm) with a baby marble angelfish, neon tetra, black skirt tetra, colombian tetra, scissortail rassbora, 2 male guppies & a kribensis (fairly sure female). i'm aware it's really badly set up, i'm working on fixing that but in the meantime i think i've got a problem.

my krib's been acting really weird today. usually she's really territorial & an absolute pig when it comes to food. but when i put a pellet in this morning, she stayed right at the back seemingly looking at herself in the glass, didn't chase anybody off from "her" food, and generally seemed unwell. upon closer inspection i saw she was opening & closing her mouth almost continually & this afternoon she looks like she has a slightly rounder tummy area, though she seems to be a little more active so maybe i'm just imagining that. she's probably 1 1/2 inches long & all her fins r up & looking normal, no scales sticking out or anything & everyone else seems to be fine.....actually better than fine - my usually inactive angel who i've had some troubles trying to make eat scoffed himself this morning & he & the others r swimming around happily. ph is fine & even tho i haven't been able to get my hands on an ammonia/nitrite/nitrate test kit, i should imagine that kind of problem would affect all the fish, not just my krib?

so is she pining for a mate (thought the looking at self in glass she might have thought was a mate for her?), or do u think she's sick or is it nothing to worry myself about? please tell me i don't have dropsy in my tank?!

thank u so much if u've stuck with reading this thru, i know it's really long. hope it makes sense & i've put this in the right section. thanx heaps & heaps!!

 

[LoveMyOscar]

 

[Jaded_Pulse]

LoveMyOscar, i accidently went to a really bad STUPID lfs who didn't sell me a vaccuum or testkit despite me asking for EVERYTHING I NEED TO SET UP A TANK!!! anyways, apparently my area's got some really dodgy lfs's coz i've had a hard time getting this stuff (still). i've been recommended by the only semi-competent lfs guy i've met to do 25-30% water changes weekly but "don't worry about the gravel - that's where the good bacteria grows"

she still isn't feeding this morning and just keeps hiding. definitely not herself, not chasing the others or anything much. she doesn't seem to have any physical symptoms like sticking out scales or clamped fins but she's so not herself i've just done a fairly big water change (about 40% or so), but that was about an hour ago & she doesn't seem any happier at all. everyone else is still fine, it's just her. she still opening & closing her mouth almost continually - is this rapid breathing or what? i don't have a hospital tank ("won't need one, love" grrr) but should i put her into....i don't know a big bucket with some gravel from my tank?? i don't have a spare filter but i do have an aerator (dragon thing that bubbles n stuff) - would that aerate the water enough? ugh hope this makes sense. please please please help me someone i don't want her to die thanx heaps

 

[Jaded_Pulse]

i think she's getting worse.....she's hardly moved from being next to the filter for a couple of hours now & she really isn't herself. somebody please please please help me!!!

 

[LoveMyOscar]

 

[Jaded_Pulse]

thanx heaps. i am going to a new shop tomorrow even though i did go to a small family run place originally but we all know how that turned out . i will get a test kit, a gravel vac, and (hopefully) some good advice. u may very well wish to kill me for this but i can't raise the temp either because "heaters r overrated, we live in a hot enough climate as it is - u wouldn't want to be heated any more would u?" GAH!! ok so i do live in the sunshine state (queensland) in australia but i'm thinking that might not be good enough. she actually seems a little better tonight, swimming around a bit but she's still definitely not herself. maybe the big water change today helped, will do another, smaller (20%?) one in the morning. she's still continually opening & closing her mouth but not gasping for air near the top or anything so is that just to do with maybe her breathing fast or something? there doesn't seem to be any fungus or spots on her or anything but then again she is pearly white so it's kinda hard to tell. anyways, thank u so much lovemyoscar - if i ever get the chance i will kick the guy in the rump 3 times for me & once for u too

 

[phoenix]

Well do you have a theremoitor sp what is your current water temp?

 

[Jamnog]

swolen belly eh? is it a kind of pinkish red im thinking that perhaps the temp is high like pheonix said also notice any swiming near the surface that could mean low oxigen levals. if your fish seems to be not eating its not allways the end of the line they eat plants and alge as well as the food you give them it might be full. tho if the behavior has changed it might be getting into fights with the angel im not an angel expert by any means so i cant say about compatability anyways if the colour of the stomach has changed or the eyes look cloudy then it could be a few things if you could take a picture of try and draw it on a paint packeage it might help to determin whats wrong try not to panic tho.

 

[Mamaschild]

I have kept a female Krib in a community tank. They don't pine for a mate, however she will release eggs and guard territory. If she's staring at the glass, she's looking through it, not at her reflection The glass doesn't produce a reflection from the inside (look through your tank from the side, you can see out the other end). Unless she's up against the back, looking into a background....that would reflect.

I would think that with the swelling tummy and redness, she's getting ready to release a batch of eggs. Leave her be, but keep a close eye on her. Does she have a cave? She would appreciate one, even if it's just to hide in.

HTH

 

[Jaded_Pulse]

ok so i got me a really good lfs now got me an ammonia test kit but it's reading as zero. she's way worse this morning, actually i think she's gonna die she's just lying on the bottom behind a plant, breathing real heavy & she's lost almost all her pink around her tummy (only colour she had - is albino). i got a gravel cleaner yesterday too and cleaned the gravel which was shameful ) everyone else is still fine but i don't know how much longer she's going to last just been back upto my new GOOD lfs who said it could be some kind of parasite, possibly gill flukes even though the gills don't look inflamed and everyone else is fine. so i got some stuff for parasites that i've just put in. he said if it's not that it could be worms but he doesn't think so. or else he said she might just be a lot weaker coz she's albino and maybe nothing will help her......so everyone cross ur fingers and toes and eyes for my lil girl please, hope this stuff helps her. thanx heaps for all ur advice.

 

[Angry_Platy]

I wish I could help.

Good luck....let us know how she gets on!!!

As far as I am aware dropsy doesn't get in the water....I lost a fish to dropsy (but only cause I over fed it ).....it isn't contagious.

I always panic when my fish don't eat...all of my fish that have passed on usually stop eating a week before they die....even when I squirt bloodworms at their face!!

Good Luck

Angela

 

[Jaded_Pulse]

she died sometime late last night woke up to find my snail eating her thanx for all ur help everyone. one last q - do u think i should put my snail in like an icecream bucket or something with water for a day or 2? he hardly moved all day so do u think he could have whatever she had? thanx heaps everyone.