Illness/Sickness: Axie sits with the tail up. Unusual behavior.

[Garry Baldy]

Hello everybody.

Just recently I found my axie sitting at the bottom of the tank with the tail up. This is really not the usual behavior for him. So far he's sitting this way about 12 hours. Please see photo.

Variants:

1. The best: that's some pattern in behavior related to the fact that he wants to became a father. But frankly speaking I doubt it.

2. The irrelevant: he just wants to poo but for any reason waits for a good moment for so long time.

3. The worst: some sickness/illness. But no visible trauma anywhere on him. I strongly rule out any kind of bloat. No small pieces of gravel etc in the tank for a long time. So it could be some irritation in cloaca, for example. But why? And what to do? Any other reasons?

The only potential reason is that just recently I pulled out some fish (common guppies) out of tank and some of guppies are missing ))) I'm not surprised and I always supported my axies in fish hunting. I'm not sure if it was exactly him who ate the fish. But - just maybe - if it was him, could the fish in his stomach cause some troubles which made him put the tail up?

Many thanks in advance for any hints and ideas.

Best regards,

Garry Baldy.

 

[ChristineB]

Is it just the picture that makes him look quite thin and a little banged up? I suggest you provide some details on his water quality parameters and feeding schedule so the experts on here can better help you; they'll probably need more info on his care before they can answer your question. Good luck!

 

[Skudo09]

Tails up is commonly a possible sign of constipation. But more details will help. He does look very skinny and not in the best shape. Could you post the parameters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, PH and temperature? What do you feed him normally?