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Hi
Dustin.
Judging with the other tank inhabitants, the male may
not be to blame for the broods demise. My best guess would be the mollies. I've
got these in my "things shouldn't breed in this" community tank (but the
occupants do not always obey my tenancy rules) and they are the chief
major-domo fry predators in the tank, out ranking those good old blame figure
cardinal tetras.
I've
noticed that after failed spawnings some pairs may take the loss out on their
partner, but a more likely cause for his dishevelled state is the strain of
parenthood; all that guarding, courting, etc.. This burns up a lot of energy and
this in turn takes its toll especially if the fish have only been fed on an
occasional basis.
The lack of energy reserves in the male might now be a problem, in that he might not be able to fight off the usual infections which inhabit all aquariums, particularly things like internal bacterial infections. However, I would not treat the fish as the medication might knock him out a bit further than he is at the moment. I would however go for a feeding regime of newly hatched baby brine shrimp, or the decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, as these are stuffed full of what he probably needs. Scot
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