Galaxias lifeless and breathing fast

[teddyman5]

I have a 9" Leporacanthicus galaxias, in a 350 litre with two 6-7" uarus. Has been there for 6 months plus, eating well on prawn, mussel and various pellets. Plenty of water movement, lots of air, temp at 28.2, water chemistry very good, uarus fine, and galaxias did feed yesterday.
Galaxias is now breathing very fast, extremely rapid gill movements, no interest in food and I could pick it up with no struggling so definitely unwell.
Any thoughts or previous experiences most welcome as I don't know what to do now.

Thanks

Chris

 

[zeebo]

hi, not an expert on this , but first thing i would do is test for amonia, nitrites, and nitrates, could be cause.What is the ph? Are any other fish showing similar symptoms ? Do you have a q-tank ? can you add an air stone ? Something is not right , test above. When was your last wc and how much ? What size tank , and what other fish are in there ? Answers to these questions could better help members with some ideas on what is up. Could there be a deceased fish in the tank causing an amonia spike ? When last time you cleaned filter ? what is your substrate and decorations ? Live plants ? Sorry for all the questions , but sometimes necessary to get to the bottom of a problem. HTH ,

 

[zeebo]

:wb:sorry , you did post other fish and tank size , duhh, but get those other readings and post them. thanks

 

[Lornek8]

What substrate are you using and when was the last thorough cleaning?

 

[bigbird]

yup agree with the others, could be a buil up of gunk in the substrate and filter. I would clean the filter and do a 20% water change. Then the next day test the water and do a gravel vac or clean and again 20% water change. Also monitor his/her poo could be a gill infection as well. Just wanting to cover all basis. Also check the heater, maybe too hot and not enough oxygen etc. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[teddyman5]

Substrate is sand, stirred and vac weekly. Large ext and int filter, rinsed alternate fortnights. Water change 15% fortnightly. As stated previously, temp and air fine,Water chemistry spot on. Only 3 fish as previously stated so nothing dead.

 

[Lornek8]

Are you able to stir and vac all the sand of are there areas that are inaccessible due to decor? Thought is pockets of "dead" substrate. This is why it only affects the bottom dweller & not the uarus.

 

[Irene0100]

I would do a water change now and every day for a few days, clean water is vital for poorly fish. once a fortnight may not be enough. are there a lot of plants that are taking away oxygen at night? if so thin them out a bit. maybe reduce temp to 26.

 

[teddyman5]

No dead spots, no live plants. 28-31 is the recommended temp for galaxias.
Am doing water changes and keeping fingers crossed.
With so few fish in 350 litres and never any signs of NH3, NO2 or NO3 then once a fortnight seems perfectly fine.

 

[bigbird]

i would then also add the twin fixes to cover your bases. cheers jk :thumbup:

 

[zeebo]

how is he doing now ? please keep us posted , thanks .