|
|
Post by Darren Willis on May 23, 2006 20:50:45 GMT
Can anyone give any advice please.
End of last week we had a problem with params going out of whack , we've managed to get the params back to normal after several days of big water changes ... we think the culprit was an articial plant we purchased off ebay last year that we put into the tank a couple of weeks ago ... had a very strange base on it.
(Said plant has now been cobbed out , £15 down the drain lol)
On top of this our sailfin started to attack our big mokey so he's had go into a 4ft spare tank until we decide what to do with him.
All remaiing 5 fish seem to be struggling , although 1 or 2 do seem to be rallying around. None have any marks accept for Mokey , he has red/purple blotches on his sides , belly and a few in his tail ... he had some at the base of his dorsal fin but those have faded away now and that part is more or less back to normal.
I can't see any paraistes.
Now I'm wondering what the blotches are , has the sailfin caused it or has Mokey maybe done it himself with vigorous flashing ... he is still doing this on occassions but nothing like he was.
4 out 5 fish are spending 75% of the time laying low on the bottom and 25% swimming.
I have done bacterial medication yesterday.
I have done parasitic and general tonic medication today.
I have added Tonic Salts also today.
I think there has been a smidgen of improvement but I'm not sure.
Can it take fish a while to get back up and going after something like this?
Is there anything else I can do for them?
I can usually sort these things myself but this one has me worried.
Hope to hear from someone soon.
Kind Regards
Daz
|
|
|
|
Post by luvfishies on May 23, 2006 22:18:10 GMT
Just waterchanges, and no meds until we can try and determine what's wrong.
What kind of fish? Sailfin Molly, or Sailfin Pleco? What is Mokey? What are the parameters, and how were they out of whack? Are we talking pH, nitrite, nitrate? or some other parameter?
|
|
|
|
Post by Darren Willis on May 23, 2006 22:37:02 GMT
Hi Caroline
A sailfin Pleco!!
Mokey is a huge commet goldfish , we have 4 other fancy goldfish.
The only param that seemed whacked was Nitrate .. it was not far off the end of the scale.
260L tank , did 50% saturday , 60% sunday , 40% yesterday and 20% today ... got the params back to normal after the 40% change yesterday.
I have no idea what has caused this.
Daz
|
|
|
|
Post by luvfishies on May 24, 2006 5:15:54 GMT
Do you happen to use an undergravel filter on this tank? NitrATE spikes "out of the blue" are usually due to rotton stuff trapped in the filtration somewhere. The filter's working fine, as there's no ammonia or nitrITE, but the end product, nitrATE goes thru the roof.
If it was a nitrATE spike, the plant didn't cause this.
Oh, and plecs are known to suck on slow moving fish as they get larger. They seem to like something in the slime coat of the other fish. Discus and goldies are prone to "suck spots" if they're in with large-ish plecos.
|
|
|
|
Post by Darren Willis on May 24, 2006 7:44:40 GMT
No we don't use an under gravel filter , so I don't know how this Nitrate spike has come about then ..... very strange. The other four seem to be coming around now , before bed last night I did an half dosage of Melafix .... dunno if that has helped those 4 or the previous meds but I couldn't just leave Mokey thrashing himself. Mokey is still not well but today he has been doing something that we haven't seen him do for a few days and thats 'gravel spitting' ..... we're on countdown here as we go on holiday saturday and the people looking after the house will have no clue about meds etc etc ... so I've got my fingers crossed here. Cheers Daz PS - It says to double the salt dosage on the second day .. shall I do that? Also after today do I do another big water change to start getting rid of the salt or will it go on it's own lol  |
|
LisaLQ
Teenage Snail
Posts: 135
|
Post by LisaLQ on May 24, 2006 8:39:08 GMT
Sorry Daz, no idea - but just as a word of warning, I've heard of folks using Melafix having unexplained deaths in their tank. We used Pimafix once, and within 24 hours, the fish we were treating was dead. Thinking it to be the illness that killed him, we used it again on another fish, and all those in the tank became lethargic, and we lost a couple of tetras. Salt works a treat though but I dont think we added any more when we did that? Unless they've got obvious signs of a specific illness, I'd steer clear of medication and stick with the water changes, and the salt. Hope it sorts out soon  |
|
|
|
Post by *Sian* on May 24, 2006 9:17:32 GMT
That's strange. We've used it before and it's been fine. Used it with our sensitive fire eel. It sorted him out really quick. It's meant to be a more "safe" one that's why we could use it with the eel.
But then I've used some meds that haven't worked for other people.
Daz, had you done a waterchange before you noticed the nitrate go up? It could be the water company. They sometimes do something different and it makes something go higher. Our nitrate is high 'cause of our tap water.
The salt will go with waterchanges and it should slowly evaporate but it takes a while.
Did the meds you have not say not to do more than one at a time? Normally they do and then you have to do a waterchange after a week or whatever the course is to get rid of the old one. Although I think there are some that you can use together, I can't remember. Haven't used any in a while lol
One you could try though is stress coat, it is another med but it's meant to be a natural one, aloe vera etc. It helps replace the slime coat of the fish so it might help your patchy one.
It might be better to use it once all the others have been taken out though.
|
|
|
|
Post by luvfishies on May 24, 2006 14:03:04 GMT
Don't double the salt dose, as the salt doesn't evaporate out. Only waterchanges will lower the salt level. I'd keep on the waterchanges, maintaining the dose of salt you have in there now (IE replacing only as much salt as you took out with the change).
Depending on how long you're on holidays, the salt should be fine in the water for a couple of weeks. If your fish-sitter will be doing waterchanges, don't have him/her add any salt, just nice clean, dechlored water.
|
|
|
|
Post by *Sian* on May 24, 2006 14:27:08 GMT
Typical  I can never get a solid answer when I search for one. It was ages ago I looked salt stuff up though lol. |
|
|
|
Post by Darren Willis on May 25, 2006 21:38:22 GMT
Well things don't seem to be getting any better , Mokey's rubbed raw patches have paled but he is still schitzing out but not as much ... thing is that all 5 now seem to be very dosile and doing an awful lot of lying on the bottom. Chumpy who seemed the most lively is now having occassions of lying upisde down on the bottom .... now and again he'll right himself and have a swim round.
I'm running out of time now , saturday is getting nearer and I was hoping to be able to leave the fish looking at least half normal ..... I've done a 50% change today and haven't added the salt ..... Mokey's wounds are better from it but I am seriously wondering if it is what is making the fish dosile.
I don't know what more I can do , I feel if I do not get these fish heading in the right direction before I go away for a week then they'll all be dead by the time i get back.
I'm desperate , dunno what else to do now.
Daz
|
|
|
|
Post by luvfishies on May 26, 2006 2:59:15 GMT
Darren, just keep up with daily waterchanges. The best thing you can do right now is to leave the water as clean as possible for the sitter. Also, cut down on feeding. Leave 2 portions of food, and have the sitter only feed the fish twice while you're gone. Also, keep the tank lights off. Keep dosing 1/2 doses of melafix, and have the sitter add another dose when they feed the fish, NO MORE than that.
In this case, the less that is done while you're away, the better.
Less food in = less waste out = less chance of something going wrong while you're gone. Lower the water level enough to increase the surface agitation, too, so that the water is well aerated.
|
|
|
|
Post by Darren Willis on May 26, 2006 8:48:48 GMT
Hi Caroline We are beginning to think that is is Hemorrhagic Septicemia .... I think if it is this we are in trouble  Daz |
|
LisaLQ
Teenage Snail
Posts: 135
|
Post by LisaLQ on May 26, 2006 12:30:39 GMT
Just in case you have plants in there, if you do - dont leave your lights off as they will leach the oxygen from the water, and your fish will suffocate.
|
|
|
|
Post by pheonixx on May 26, 2006 19:13:08 GMT
Lisa we have just one live plant in there the buggers have scoffef the rest..do you think that one will be ok to leave..the tank is situated next to the glass vestubule door so the tank does get some natural light..Linda
|
|
|
|
Post by luvfishies on May 27, 2006 4:11:57 GMT
The lights being off won't cause the plants to "eat up" the O2. Even indirect lighting from the room will be more than enough to keep the plants going.
I've done TOTAL blackouts on heavily planted tanks for 5 days, and not a single fish loss. Don't worry about the plant(s), Daz. Totally not an issue.
|
|
I can never get a solid answer when I search for one. It was ages ago I looked salt stuff up though lol.
