# Help Charybdis!! (very lethargic algae eater)



## PrettyKitty187 (Nov 29, 2007)

He was fine literally a couple of hours ago...going about his crotchety algae eater business...is a chinese algae eater i believe or oto(?) but a couple of hours ago he was chasing the other guys away like he normally does and hovering in his little crypt being himself and I get out of the shower and he's in a completely different part of the tank laying on his back...got the net to fish him out and put him in a tupperware or something to keep a better eye on him and he jerked away and started swimming/flopping sideways...did a water change...got normal readings for everything and sort of propped him up against the driftwood and hes breathing a little better but he wont move...wont swim...lays on his back or side...but nothing wrong with the others in there (cherry barbs and black kuhli loach)...so...advise? Is he done for?

update: he's still propped up and now breathing very very heavily and the inside of his gills are going from pink to white...almost like he is suffocating...but I can't see how he'd be suffocating...the tank is heavily planted and no problem with filter so I know it's pretty oxygenated...


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## PrettyKitty187 (Nov 29, 2007)

he swam a little bit just now...then fell on his side...then swam a bit more and fell on his tummy...and is still lethargic but moving a little bit more and slowly getting closer and closer to his lair...and seems to be doing much much better...is it possible he got bonked on the head so to speak by one of the other fish while he was trying to chase them off??  would that cause that kind of reaction?


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

PrettyKitty187 said:


> He was fine literally a couple of hours ago...going about his crotchety algae eater business...is a chinese algae eater i believe or oto(?) but a couple of hours ago he was chasing the other guys away like he normally does and hovering in his little crypt being himself and I get out of the shower and he's in a completely different part of the tank laying on his back...got the net to fish him out and put him in a tupperware or something to keep a better eye on him and he jerked away and started swimming/flopping sideways...did a water change...got normal readings for everything and sort of propped him up against the driftwood and hes breathing a little better but he wont move...wont swim...lays on his back or side...but nothing wrong with the others in there (cherry barbs and black kuhli loach)...so...advise? Is he done for?
> 
> update: he's still propped up and now breathing very very heavily and the inside of his gills are going from pink to white...almost like he is suffocating...but I can't see how he'd be suffocating...the tank is heavily planted and no problem with filter so I know it's pretty oxygenated...


 
What are normal readings? for your tank with regards to ammonia,nitrites,and nitrates?. Water tests will always yield better results AFTER a water change. 
It is results BEFORE water changes that will tell you if something is wrong within the tank.
How long has the tank been running with fsh?What size tank? How many fish total?
How often do you perform water changes and how much water do you change? 
What chemicals if any, are being used in the tank? what foods are offered? how many times a day are fish fed? 
Answers to these questions can help those who might be able to help you.


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## PrettyKitty187 (Nov 29, 2007)

yeah, I panicked...was thinking change. water. now. lol but it's a 10g with four fish...I don't know how long it's been running with the fish because I acquired it with three of the fish already in it...and water is changed once a week, 25% at a time...I'm wondering if something may have somehow someway gotten into the water that he was more sensitive to...perfume or hair **** or something...because he started getting better after I changed it and about two hours later was back to his crotchety old self hanging out under his driftwood and chasing the other fish away because the wood and everything near it belongs to him and has been fine since then...just scared me half to death getting out of the shower and seeing him belly up...

or maybe the other three finally ganged up on him and put him in his place to claim the driftwood as their own :-?

edit: and when I changed it last night I did about 60% change because I was more or less blindly scooping water out as quick as I could to get some fresh in there


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