My EBA may be sick or nesting

[FishyGirl]

I have three EBAs. One large female and 2 smaller ones a male and a female. My larger one ate her breakfast like she always does but since then has been laying on her stomach at the bottom  of the tank sometimes she will swish around. I put my net in to see if she would swim normally and she does but then she just rushed back to that spot and lays there i really hope she’s nesting and doesn’t have a disease.tested my water paremeters and temp and everything’s fine for a EBA. Please help! Thank you. When she swims willingly without me putting a net in the tank she stays really close to the spot and opens and clothes her mout a lot 

[Fish Folk]

Have you noticed her change colors recently? Darker face, paler / platinum white scales? Mine would do that when spawning. Stress can also affect it.

Can you share some photos? Or take a video, post to YouTube, and link here?

[FishyGirl]

She seems darker on her forehead and paler scales with a couple white spots. Cannot give any pictures becuser she’s out now and acting quite normal I sprinkled some food in the tank to see if she’d eat and she did she seems to be back to her happy self with update if she’s acting strange again thank you for your help!!! Ok so scratch all of that I went back I post this and she’s back into hiding! Here’s some pictures. She’s moved to another new spot. Ok swimming again here’s a link of the video 

 

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/25/2023 at 6:21 PM, FishyGirl said:

She seems darker on her forehead and paler scales with a couple white spots.

I tried to see the white spots. Unfortunately, it's difficult to tell what they look like.

For the sake of clarity, can you test your water and post all the details including temperature.

[Fish Folk]

Several thoughts...

-- It's possible that your fish may have Ich --  or stress Ich. Watch for that on the fins of other fish. -- 

(1) That EBA may be a male. The dorsal and anal fin extensions look long. Are you sure that's a female?

(2) Keep up on your water changes. I recommend 30% weekly. Always use water treatment.

(3) Try cutting back on your feeding: Feed twice on Monday, once on Tuesday, once Wednesday, once Thursday, Twice on Friday, once on Saturday, and nothing on Sunday. Your system may need to cleanse its bio load for a few weeks like that. Your fish will not die.

(4) Add more live plants. Now, after you've done that, add more. Then, once you've finished, add MORE!!!    😎 🪴🌱🌿

Edited August 27, 2023 by Fish Folk

[FishyGirl]

Thank you for all you help. I thought it was a female it may not be. I have tested my water.

Nitrate 5

Nitrite 0

amonia 0

hardness 6 

ph 6.8

clorine 0

temp 76.4

My nitrate was at 30 so I did a water change. My large acara is sadly dead though found it with my smaller acara also dead 😞. Positing this info so I can hopefully save the last one. When I started fish keeping I never knew it would be so sad and stressful. I clean my tank I change the water. I make sure they’re healthy. I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Help would be appreciated. Love this forum I normally always find an answer 

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/29/2023 at 10:07 AM, FishyGirl said:

When I started fish keeping I never knew it would be so sad and stressful. I clean my tank I change the water. I make sure they’re healthy. I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Help would be appreciated. Love this forum I normally always find an answer

I'm very sorry for your struggles.  I hope that this is something that can be resolved and that last EBA starts to pull through.

One thing I did notice when looking at the video again is just the very erratic nature of the fish.  It's really, really stands out to me as a stressed fish.  Why it is stressed, I am really not sure.  ( @Odd Duck and @Colu any ideas here on this situation? )

I think a great place to start is aquarium salt and something like Ich-X or paracleanse.  There is some darker discoloration on the outside of the fish and maybe it's a sign of an external irritant.  For the salt dose, if you don't have any plants in the tank I would start at 1 tbsp per 2 gallons.  You can increase this up to 1 tbsp per gallon over time as you see the fish doing well with that first salt dose.

Follow the directions on the box for ich-X or paracleanse.  If you have any questions please feel free to ask.  Something like Catappa leaves (indian almond leaves), alder cones, or other botanicals may help here as well.

One final thing to note is that if you're using salt it's generally a good idea to add more aeration if possible.  Just something to keep in mind that would not hurt the situation here.
 

[FishyGirl]

Ok thank you. One more thing do you think I’m over stocked? 
I have 12 Odessa barbs 

10 silver tip tetras 

5 bronze corys 

6 mystery snails 

5 hatchet fish 

3 acaras now one 

And for aquatic plant 

and one air pump that’s pumping air into three decorations 

it’s a 75 gallon could it be a lack of oxygen 

Four not for 

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/29/2023 at 10:31 AM, FishyGirl said:

it’s a 75 gallon could it be a lack of oxygen 

I use the tetra AP150 airpump. You could likely add anywhere from 3-6 air stones if you want.  Adding at least 2 would be very helpful for oxygenation and for circulation.  I did notice the surface movement as well as the stream of bubbles coming up from near one of the decor items.

This is from aqadvisor, generally seems ok, but adding oxygenation is always good if you're concerned.

[Colu]

You mentioned whites spots did the fish that died have these whites spots any rapid breathing hanging out near the surface lethargy flashing erratic swimming loss of appetite in any of the fish that died how long have you had the fish before they died and did you quarantine them before adding them to the tank any other fish loss in last month @FishyGirl

[FishyGirl]

They were quarantined all of my fish have been not rapid breathing. It did lose its appetite and didn’t eat it rarely ever swam it just sat at the bottom of the tank. The other one that died had been normal all day and I walked in to my room and it was just dead laying with the bigger one. I had them for about a month 

[Colu]

On 8/29/2023 at 10:16 PM, FishyGirl said:

They were quarantined all of my fish have been not rapid breathing. It did lose its appetite and didn’t eat it rarely ever swam it just sat at the bottom of the tank. The other one that died had been normal all day and I walked in to my room and it was just dead laying with the bigger one. I had them for about a month 

Random deaths can be caused by a number of things with loss of appetite and being lethargic possible parasitic infection have any of the fish had a sunken belly or have any been spitting food out

Edited August 29, 2023 by Colu

[FishyGirl]

 No, I think I have found the  culprit. One of my decorations had been chipping, I removed it but paint in the water could have been what killed them. I’m going to deep clean my filter and gravel and do a 50 percent water change along with adding bacteria killer that’s what the co op said to do. Thank u for your help