Finfern honest freshwater care

🩺 Your free vet-prep sheet

Your Keyhole Cichlid Vet-Prep Sheet

Fish vets are rare, and it is easy to freeze in a crisis. This is the one page to have ready — how to find a vet, what to bring, what to tell them, and the questions to ask. Print it and keep it by the tank.

Black & white saves ink and prints cleanly on any printer.

Not sure it's a vet trip yet? Run the symptom checker or the water-parameter interpreter first — many worries turn out to be a water or husbandry fix.

Finfern honest freshwater care · finfern.com
Keyhole Cichlid — Vet-Prep Sheet

🔍 Find an aquatic / fish vet — before you need one

  • Search the WAVMA aquatic-vet finder (the World Aquatic Veterinary Medical Association) — or search "aquatic / fish / exotics vet near me".
  • Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you treat fish?" Few vets do — and ask the exam fee while you're on the phone.
  • Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of a crisis.

📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis

Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it by the tank.

My fish vet
My keyhole cichlid
What I'm seeing

🚨 Is this an emergency now?

Act promptly — starting with a water test — if you notice any of these:

  • Colours washed out, keyhole/eye markings gone dark and the fish hiding constantly and refusing food - stress or water-quality problem: test the water (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, pH, temperature) and do a partial water change first.
  • Any detectable ammonia or nitrite, or nitrate climbing high - the tank isn't keeping up or wasn't fully cycled; do water changes and check filtration/feeding before it harms this water-sensitive fish.
  • Rapid or laboured gilling, gasping at the surface, or clamped fins - check temperature, aeration/flow and water parameters immediately; act on the water, don't wait.
  • White spots, fuzzy patches, film over the eyes, red or ulcerated skin, bloating or stringy white faeces - possible illness; isolate/observe, correct water quality, and seek a fish-savvy vet or experienced-keeper help rather than guessing at medications.
  • A breeding pair suddenly attacking tankmates - this is normal territorial guarding; give the tank more cover and space, and be ready to rehome fry or move fish if the tank is too small to absorb it.

When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.

🚗 On the way / while you wait

✅ Do

  • Test your water NOW — ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and temperature — and correct the obvious (a big source of trouble is ammonia / nitrite).
  • Keep the fish in its own stable, dechlorinated tank water.
  • Move it to a hospital / quarantine tank if you already have one set up.
  • Keep the tank calm and dimly lit — stress makes almost everything worse.

⛔ Don’t

  • Don’t tip in OTC, aquarium-shop or forum “cures” blindly — many are harmful or just mask the real problem.
  • Don’t make a big sudden water change or swing the parameters.
  • Don’t add salt or medication without knowing the cause.

🎒 What to bring

  • A recent water-test result — ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and temperature. Water quality is the root of most fish illness and the first thing a fish vet asks about.
  • Clear photos and a short video — it may not show the behaviour or symptom in the clinic.
  • A note of your setup and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
  • Only if the vet advises transporting the fish: the fish in a bag or tub of its OWN tank water.

🗣️ What to tell the vet

A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:

Temperature
21-28 C (70-82 F); most keepers settle around 24-26 C (75-79 F).
pH
Adaptable 6.0-7.5 in the aquarium; wild blackwater fish tolerate pH as low as 4.0. Avoid hard, alkaline water above ~7.5 - this is a soft-water South American, not a Rift-lake cichlid.
Hardness
Soft to moderately hard, roughly 2-15 dGH (SeriouslyFish). For breeding, softer water under ~8 dGH helps.
Minimum tank
Keeper-facing minimum for a bonded pair: about 150 L / 40 US gal (a real 90 cm / 3 ft tank). SeriouslyFish gives a base footprint of 90 x 30 cm (~81 L / ~21 US gal), but that is a floor for the species, not a comfortable pair-plus-community home. Bigger-is-better reality: for a small group grown out together, or a pair in a planted community, aim for a 75 US gal / ~280 L tank. Footprint (floor length x width) matters far more than raw litres for a territorial fish.
Filtration & flow
Gentle to moderate flow - these are slow-water/blackwater fish and dislike strong current. Use efficient biological filtration (a mature, well-cycled filter) but diffuse or baffle the outflow so the water surface is calm. Sensitive to poor water quality, so filtration + regular water changes matter more than turnover rate.
Diet
Omnivore (foraging omnivore in the wild) with a lean toward meaty foods. Takes most prepared foods readily.
Tankmates / temperament
Genuinely peaceful and shy - the exception to the "cichlids are aggressive" rule. Not aggressive unless actively breeding, when a pair will defend a territory a couple of feet across. Timid enough that it hides if it feels exposed.

⚕️ Most fish illness starts with water quality, not infection — bring a recent water test; it's the first thing a good fish vet will ask about. Fish medicine is specialised and few vets treat fish, so call ahead. Many aquarium-shop and OTC 'cures' are harmful or simply mask the real problem, so tell the vet exactly what (if anything) you’ve already added, and treat a sick fish in a separate hospital tank rather than dosing the whole display.

Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.

❓ Questions to ask

  • Do you treat fish? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
  • What are the likely causes — and could my water or setup be the cause?
  • What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
  • How do I prevent this from happening again?