Strange fish illness? What happened?

E

eel

New member
I don't know whats happened! I have 5 in total, 1 male and 4 females. Only, a few weeks ago one of the females acted unwell and it looked as the the bottom half of her had been squished! I didn't know what caused it but seen as she was eating well decided not to look into it.

But now, another female has done the same; the bottom part of her looks flattened, she looks starved! I don't know what happened? This all happened over a day or two, no slow change, from plump and healthy to flat and dying

The first finds it harder to swim and doesn't look well but at least if going for food, the second is basicly dead, going with the current of the water, barly swimming. I don't know what happened! They eat a good amount of a varied diet, the water is pristine, and there is plently of plants and plant cover. All my other fish seem happy.

What do you think has happened?
I have more fish than platy:
Cardinal tetra.
Rummy nose tetra
Betta
Zebra danio

And they are all fine. I'm puzzled.
 
What is the size of your tank? Tetras and danios need to be in groups of at least six as they seek refuge and protection in large groups.

You should have a minimum of 42 fish, granted that you have only one betta. For this amount of fish, especially because half of them are schooling fish, you should have a large tank, something like 70g with lots of hiding places to provide the best home for them.

It might be a parasite that is getting to your fish. By "pristine", do you mean that your tank water levels are right? For instance, do you do a weekly check and monitor your pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?

How are your water changes, you should be performing 25% water changes every week.

Keep an eye on your fish and make sure that no other fish are experiencing the same thing and showing the same behaviour. I'd do a 25% water change right now and see if that makes any difference if you know that your water is "pristine."

Good luck!
 
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