Big healthy fish suddenly swimming vertically

Hi all,

I've a 500L tank with +/- 25 (mostly) Malawi Cichlids and couple of Rusty Pleco's and 2 x Electric Blue Crayfish.

One of the strongest Cichlids about 12cm long suddenly started swimming vertically and getting picked on by the others. He's the only one doing this as previously I was aware that fish hovering vertically at the surface can mean water quality issues but this guy isn't swimming to the top he's generally just drifting in the tank with his mouth pointing straight up.

I put him in an isolation net, fed him for a few days and he looked to be recovering as he had adopted a more traditional horizontal position but as soon as I released him he reverted to the vertical position and getting picked on again.

Is this something I can 'cure' or is he dead meat and I should just let nature take it's course?

Also, I might be getting paranoid but in my efforts to suss this out I spotted that a lot of my fish appear to have a shiny blue/green spot right on the edge of their gills. This might be an optical illusion of some sort as I have a blue/white lighting combo or it might just be me seeing things as they all seem healthy and active but I thought I'd mention it in case it has any bearing on Mr Vertical's behaviour.

Any ideas or suggestions as to what I should do?

Ben

It may well have had a battering. Largish cichlids can often go down-hill very quickly after a good battering from another fish.

Now, it may also have something wrong with it that has left it vulnerable to being battered (fish don’t quite have that Florence Nightingale outlook on life).

Whatever the case, it is very unlikely to survive in the tank for long as it will get battered and it will succumb to stress. The stress can kill more quickly than a physical beating.

I would certainly remove the fish (get a largish breeding net if you don’t have another tank). You must prevent the fish from going upside down or vertical: improvise with the breeding trap to see if you can keep the fish upright (a bit like a cradle).

This is not necessarily the end of the fish….if the stress is removed quickly then fish in this state can pull through.

Once you have looked after this guy/girl, then have a review of the tank set-up to make sure that fish have ample hiding/retreat or own areas.
There may be a single bully in the tank….and it may be looking out for the next victim.

What species and sex is the fish in question, and maybe a list of some the fish in the tank may help.
Some species are big softies when in a tank with a ‘bottom swirling devil’ species.

Ian

Sounds like a case of possible bloat to me.Malawis are prone to this and i have seen this happen to some of mine.I could also be a possible bacteria infection which can cause the swimming with head up also.In my experiance when this happens they do not recvover sorry to say but who knows you may be lucky.
I would for sure take him out of your main tank and away from your other fish.
How much do you feed your fish out of interest?
i feed mine a few times a day and very smal amounts and also make sure that they do not get foods like beef heart ect as this will cause bloat.Protein foods!!!
Also have you checked your levels in the tank it may help to know ? Ammonia N02 N03 ?
Another time fish can go to the surface also is if you dont have enough air in the tank but seen as you said your other fish are ok its seems that it may just be that fish which could be weak.
Malawis will always attack a weak fish also especially if he was a more dominat fish before, they will want to take his place and become the dominant one.Maybe if you took a few pics of your fish we could see if they have something wrong with them as you described.Could be ich or some parasite possibly but impossible to say unless you have some pictures.

Thanks for the response guys.

I'm rubbish at the species names so will take some photo's at the weekend and post them.

The fish seems to be recovering ok in the isolation net (which is within the same tank as I only have one tank) so I'll keep him isolated for another few days and release him on Saturday.

To answer some of the questions:-

• There are plenty of hiding places in the tank. I've got 70kg of rock in there.
• The fish in question was indeed the top dog in the tank since I got him 8 months ago and has killed off a half dozen fish in that time. Maybe it's just nature taking it's course and he's about to get his come uppence
• I feed the fish once every two days (I only feed New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula) and it's always all gone after a few minutes. All of the fish (including this one) are all robust, healthy looking and active.
• I've used Organic Aqua (See www.organicaqua.com) to regulate the tank for the last two years with only positive results and no problems. One of the issues with Organic Aqua is you have to ensure very good aeration which I certainly have and the other thing is water readings are of little value and can be misleading (for reasons I can't recall) when using Organic Aqua. I haven't taken a water reading in two years whereas I used to end up doing water readings several times a week before I started using Organic Aqua

Hope that puts a few things in context.

Ben

BenEadir wrote:

Thanks for the response guys.

I'm rubbish at the species names so will take some photo's at the weekend and post them.

The fish seems to be recovering ok in the isolation net (which is within the same tank as I only have one tank) so I'll keep him isolated for another few days and release him on Saturday.

To answer some of the questions:-

• There are plenty of hiding places in the tank. I've got 70kg of rock in there.
• The fish in question was indeed the top dog in the tank since I got him 8 months ago and has killed off a half dozen fish in that time. Maybe it's just nature taking it's course and he's about to get his come uppence
• I feed the fish once every two days (I only feed New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula) and it's always all gone after a few minutes. All of the fish (including this one) are all robust, healthy looking and active.
• I've used Organic Aqua (See www.organicaqua.com) to regulate the tank for the last two years with only positive results and no problems. One of the issues with Organic Aqua is you have to ensure very good aeration which I certainly have and the other thing is water readings are of little value and can be misleading (for reasons I can't recall) when using Organic Aqua. I haven't taken a water reading in two years whereas I used to end up doing water readings several times a week before I started using Organic Aqua

Hope that puts a few things in context.

Ben

I'll not comment on the Organic Aqua thing as that is a debate in itself.

It is quite common for top-dog cichlid to go downhill quite rapidly if someone turns around and say 'oiy, no'.

As for hiding places, the hiding places should follow the natural hierarchy of malawi social communities.
Refuse area need to be constructed near the surface of the water for the sub-ordinate fish. If a sub-ordinate fish thinks it can compete for a prime low-down cave or territory then it is going to come un-stuck.

Of course, the fish could be an old-un who has had his day.

A few species names would be useful.......as we do not know what feeding type the cichlid is (and the feeding type of a malawi cichlid tells you the best territory for it). Not all are aufwach eaters grazing the stones.

ian