Hi!

Although I have never posted, I have been reading this board for over a year. I have seen and read all of the help everyone offers, so I hope you can help me with my beloved fishy. I have a very large fantail and a shubunkin living with a rubberlip pleco in a 72 gallon tank. I have had the fantail for 1 1/2 years. The tank has been running for about a month. It is bare bottom and was started with a 2 year old fluval 404. I also put some of the old gravel in stockings to help keep the bacteria alive. The fish were previously housed in a 30 gallon and were transfered when we moved at the end of August. We change the water about every 2 weeks and do about 35-40%.

I came home from the store tonight and she was laying at the bottom of the tank and is bent over, sort of like a crescent moon. She (I think it's a girl) is breathing and will eat peas if hand fed but cannot swim. There are no other signs of illness that are visible. She was fine and eating when I left for work this morning.

Tank Params are:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate less than 20
pH @7.2
GH 26

Please let me know if there is anything I can do. I have some aquarium salt, but am afraid to use it with my pleco as I have nowhere else to put it. There are no stores open now. I do have a water softening pillow, should I add it to the filter? I love this fish, she is my pride and joy and will hate to lose her...

Thanks everybody!

This is going to sound wacky but bear with me - is there any way that there is any elecrtical current in the water? (Bending like that can be a sign of electrocution)

I don't think so. The other fish and the plec seem fine. There are no plugs other than what is needed for the tank anywhere near it.

Do you see any red streaks in her or blood or what looks like soft bruises internaly? And what colour is her poop? Is she pooping? Did you put her in the hospital tank? How about salting the tank yet?

Unfortunately, my fishy did not make it more than 1 hour after my original post. I have no idea what happened, and my other fish seem fine. Could the GH have caused this sudden change? Can I salt the tank with the pleco in it? Should I do that anyway as a precautionary measure for my other fish?

Sorry there are so many questions, I am just afraid of losing my other fish...

I'm so sorry about your fish!