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My african cichlid is swimming weird, I don't know what is going on.

She is swimming as if she is dragging her back end, it is hard to explain. Like she's paralized. There isn't a mark on her, she appears healthy but is not using her tail to swim with. She is staying on the bottom most of the time because it seems like an effort for her to get to the top. When she does swim she has head at top and tail down like she has a ton of weight in her tail. And everything stays closed except her pectoral fins that she flaps to get where she is going.

She is eating.

Does anyone have a clue what might be wrong?

I did water test, everything is good.

This is how she looks when she is swimming

And another

Originally posted by Diane
My african cichlid is swimming weird, I don't know what is going on.

She is swimming as if she is dragging her back end, it is hard to explain. Like she's paralized. There isn't a mark on her, she appears healthy but is not using her tail to swim with. She is staying on the bottom most of the time because it seems like an effort for her to get to the top. When she does swim she has head at top and tail down like she has a ton of weight in her tail. And everything stays closed except her pectoral fins that she flaps to get where she is going.

She is eating.

Does anyone have a clue what might be wrong?

I did water test, everything is good.

This is how she looks when she is swimming

It's hard to say exactly what's causing this, but here's what to do to start off: Head over to the LFS and get a general medication. I use "Clout" in situations like this -- it treats a large number of ailments. It will most likely treat whatever is causing this problem, and it will also guard against other diseases attacking your pet while he is under stress. With Clout, the directions on the package are very clear and need to be followed exactly to be effective.

Possibilities as to what is causing this are numerous -- swim bladder infection, parasite(s), a simple injury to a fin, simple stress (if this species is moody, like Oscars or Dempseys) --

Good luck -- keep updates posted!

--Mark:cool:

She died.

I removed her from the tank and put her in a tank to medicate, I have no idea what was wrong, but she died this morning.