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Ed Paasch
July 27th 05, 06:07 AM
I have a sick Jack Dempsey on my hands. The fish has been ill for almost a
month. To be honest, I would have written sooner, but I've been expecting
it to die and it hasn't.

The fish can't seem to straighten up, it's back is constantly crooked to one
side and it just floats at the bottom of the tank most of the time. It can
swim around in loops for short periods and tear up the tank, but it always
settles back down at the bottom of the tank after a short while.

The fish exhibits no external signs of disease, injury, or infection other
than being bent into a constant left turn. It can't or won't straighten
out, and it hasn't eaten in a very long time.

It is the largest of my Jack Dempseys, and there is no sign that the other
fish have ganged up on it. The other fish in the tank are all perfectly
healthy, active, and eating normally. The water condition is excellent as
usual.

Any ideas on what is wrong with my largest Jack Dempsey and how to treat it
would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Elaine T
July 28th 05, 10:25 AM
Ed Paasch wrote:
> I have a sick Jack Dempsey on my hands. The fish has been ill for almost a
> month. To be honest, I would have written sooner, but I've been expecting
> it to die and it hasn't.
>
> The fish can't seem to straighten up, it's back is constantly crooked to one
> side and it just floats at the bottom of the tank most of the time. It can
> swim around in loops for short periods and tear up the tank, but it always
> settles back down at the bottom of the tank after a short while.
>
> The fish exhibits no external signs of disease, injury, or infection other
> than being bent into a constant left turn. It can't or won't straighten
> out, and it hasn't eaten in a very long time.
>
> It is the largest of my Jack Dempseys, and there is no sign that the other
> fish have ganged up on it. The other fish in the tank are all perfectly
> healthy, active, and eating normally. The water condition is excellent as
> usual.
>
> Any ideas on what is wrong with my largest Jack Dempsey and how to treat it
> would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
>
>
Likely vitamin C deficiency or tuburculosis encysted in the muscle
tissue. There are some sporidian diseases that also encyst in muscles
and cause fish to bend. None is easy to treat in a large, non-eating
fish unless you want to try injecting it. Boyd's Vita-Chem added to the
water may be worth a shot.

--
Elaine T __
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