hey all

one of my cichlids has grown a bit too big to fit through a hole in a castle he lives by and so my plecos decided he would make a nice meal, unfortunately for them i went to feed my fish and found him thinking he is dead, low and behold he is a fighter and when i moved him out of the hole tried to swim away upside down only using his side fins

so symptoms are currently upside down tho attempting to make it right sometimes, body is rigid, anal fins are flat to body, missing a number of scales (about 35-40%), redness around dorsal fin, fraying of all fins

on the plus side seems very alert, trying to right himself, all injury's i see are superficial to body and fins

i have quarantined him in a tank with tonic to protect him from any infection but Ive never had a fish survive once he is upside down so any help?

Tonic should control most secondary problems. Good conditions and patience I guess.

I think we have finally found a case were a life jacket Would be useful.

I think we have finally found a case were a life jacket Would be useful.

oh my goodness if i had one of those or the parts for it i would so be doing that

"Update" he survived the night upside down, he is resting next to the sponge filter and some (very little) of his boy-ency problem is solved still tending to be upside down tho, due to it being a sideways tendency to flip now (rather than tail over head) i managed to rest him next to the filter with the filter assisting in keeping him upright

the damaged scales are standing upright and whiteish bubbles have formed over injury's (I'm assuming its like a fish scab?)

he is still aware tho not moving anything other than side fins and gills, mouth, eyes so i think he is just a bit worn out from a hard night

Swim bladder problems are often terminal. I would be making a hole in the compost heap I think.

it is possible that he has some major nerve trauma, that is why his tail is not working properly (or its just too damn sore to move), good luck on the recovery but don't get your hopes up

yea I'm thinking the same thing but i would like to give him the chance, tho I'm hoping he does survive but not expecting him too if he shows signs of getting worse that compost heap hole will get a fish shaped hole filled in :ske:

fishie ironically has gone to sleep with the fishies :ske: :fshi:

oh well, worth a shot. hope the plecos enjoyed him while they could