Aww man...about to lose my prized Peacock Gudgeon. :'(

[rsanz]

**** it. This guy has been with me through thick and thin. He is nicely matured with a lovely nuchal hump. He stuck with me through my house move, when nearly all of my other fish died off, including his mate. He's the one in my avatar, and is really the reason that I've kept interest in this hobby for so long. Everytime I see him flare and show for his females, I remember why I love this hobby so much.

*sigh* I am seriously bummed. He's been hiding a lot recently, which is unusual. So, I thought that maybe he's guarding some eggs somewhere in the tank. I searched, no eggs. I found his hovering on the bottom of the back corner of the tank. He is normally a voracious eater. Spot fed him, and he is absolutely not interested. I also noticed that he seems to be breathing rapidly.

Is there anything that I can do? Tank params are normal. 0, 0, 10.

Should I take him out of the tank? I do have an empty 10g tank with just gravel in it. It's full of water to keep it cycled for potential gudgeon babies, but is currently not holding any fry. I don't want to move him, though, if it will just stress him out and make his recovery even less likely.

Man...this is just terrible. Really, the worst part of this stupid hobby.

Grrrr.

 

[BioHazard]

NOOOOO! Not you too!!!

I would dose some Prime or StressCoat in if you have some, maybe throw in another aerator to try to increase 02. I would also turn off your c02.

Unfortunately, when I had a gudgeon do this, it died shortly after. Same thing. Tank was fine, she suddenly stopped eating, was hiding in the back. I put her in a fry net and tried spot feeding her, but no dice.
Hopefully he pulls though.

 

[pinkertd]

On no! Hope you don't lose him! Good luck rsanz!

 

[fishorama]

Oh I'm so sorry he's not doing well, fingers crossed for you both.

 

[rsanz]

Should I move him to the other tank? Will this stress him too much?

 

[BioHazard]

Hrrrmmmmm, I dunno. It's a hard call. Probably would be best. Other fish LOVE to pick on a fish who is sick. I would try to use some of the water from the regular tank, and put something in for him to hide in to stress him less. Maybe a couple plants.

 

[BettaFishMommy]

i think moving him to the other tank could stress him, but as bio said, the other fish could pick on him if left in the main tank.

the other tank, it has water but no life in it? so it isn't cycled, right? you mention "It's full of water to keep it cycled", but without a food source (ammonia) then it won't stay cycled. sick fish in an uncycled tank, that definitely would be a stress to him.

maybe fashion a divider in the current tank that gives the gudgeon a portion of the tank that lets you see him easily, say the far left or right quarter of the tank. that way you can check up on him and the other fish won't bug him and he won't have a huge change in environment to deal with.

 

[Turbosaurus]

Don't move him. There is no reason to stress him.
Your water quality is fine, there is no identifyable disease, so no reason to medicate, and no reason to think what's happening to him is some contageon your other fish can catch. Let him stay comfortable in his home. I hate to say it, but have some clove oil on hand just in case he gets worse. If he's been your buddy for this long and you have to euthanize him, it will be better for you and him if the time comes.

Anything that might be going on that we can ID and potentially treat? Any new additions? any other fish added in the last 2 months? Did you check all your gear? (filter and heater, CO2 solenoid and ph controller if applicable, etc) Anybody else showing any weird behavior?

 

[rsanz]

Turbo,

No, nothing new, nothing of note that would tip me off that something is wrong. I did go on vacation two weeks ago, but I came back and everyone was fine. He ate fine when I got back, like he never missed a beat.

Now all of a sudden, he's gotten sick.

I think it's just his time...

 

[irishspy]

Now all of a sudden, he's gotten sick.

I think it's just his time...

That's sad to read; I remember when you first posted about him and how excited you were.

Could it possibly be old age rather than disease? My most recent betta went into a sudden decline after seeming to be in perfect health, and I never saw any visible sign of disease and all the parameters were fine. Maybe gudgeons are short-lived fish?

Regardless, my sympathies.