So yesterday around 5pm, I noticed the top fin of one of my Endlers was looking pretty ragged- I thought it might be some fin-nipping going on. By midnight though (3rd picture) it seemed like it was looking a little worse, and I wasn't sure if there was white fuzz or if that was his regular coloration, but def was concerned. I set up an isolation box but didn't put him in it yet, because he was still swimming around fairly okay, and I didn't want to stress him out more.
This morning I didn't see him, but I asked my partner to look while I was at work, and he did see him around 5pm! I bought some medicine on my way home, only to unfortunately find him dead on the bottom of the tank at 9pm. 😥 (Gross details ahead)
The fin was gone, and the scales around it too, like a bare patch on his back. His eyes were also bulged out, but I'm not sure if that was just decomposition starting.
What do you guys think is the culprit? Should I medicate the tank just in case? I got the API Fin and Body Cure. I did around a 40% water change after I removed him, and am adding some beneficial bacteria (aquavitro seed) as part of that. I'm just pretty concerned, since I've had these guys for a couple months, so losing 2 fish in a week is not a great sign. 🙁
Basic tank info: I have a 15 gallon tank with male endlers, 5 pygmy corydoras, and lots of plants. I had 5 endlers, and added 4 more about 2 weeks ago, because I was worried about aggression within the smaller group. One of the new guys died about a week in, suddenly, so I've been on alert to any weirdness. I did a big water change after that. My water parameters seem to be ok whenever I test, no ammonia or nitrites, but my nitrates tend to get high despite having plants, and I've been trying to get faster growing ones to help with that, alongside weekly water changes. The PH is around 7.6, and the temp around 80° F (my heater only has one setting; overall temp was lower during a cold spell as it struggled to keep up, but the weather has gotten warmer lately.)
Posted by whampwomp
2 Comments
I had a similar issue with my Endlers! Here is what I found out and what I did.
1. I had all make Endlers. This was a huge problem for me because the strongest group together and take out the weakest to assert dominance. On top of these, they are breeding fish. They constantly want to breed and with me originally having no female Endlers, they just went at each other. Lost three males due to their sparring and fin nipping.
2. For every male Endler, I added one to two female Endlers. This gave all the males multiple females to chase after and attempt to mate, and they stopped picking on each other. Ended up having every single Endler after that for over a year, and whenever the bread, I simply took the babies to the fish store and traded them in for credit/donated them.
It’s late, apologies for the misspelling and bad grammar!