FishChannel Forums / Freshwater Emergencies / Freshwater Forums

HELP!!! My Parrot Cichlid is Sick

DaynaDax — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:47:59 GMT

Hello to all;

I need help and I want to know if there is any information out there for parrot cichlids.

I have 2 parrots in my 55 gallon aquarium (along with an African Leaf fish, 2 blk tetras, an Angel, an Australian Rainbow, a Green severum, and a spotted Raphael catfish).

This morning when I turned on the lights, I noticed that my older parrot fish was on the ground, and he was "bent in half". I have him in a net close to the surface (which seems to help a little bit), away from the others. My pH is 7.4, no NH3/4. no NO2, and my nitrates are at 10 ppm. My fitration systems are the Emperor 200B back filter (which is my primary biological filter with bio beads, and the bio wheel) and an Aquaclear 70 that has just the foam block and carbon pouch.

What can I do to help this "little" guy/gal out?

Thank you for your help.

Dayna Dax

LOW PH

vjpthe2nd — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:34:05 GMT

I HAVE A 125 GAL.THATS UP AND RUNNING OVER A YEAR. EVERY THING IS OK EXCEPT THE PH.I HAVE TRIED THE PH + AND BUFFERS BUT IT HAS NO LASTING EFFECT..I HAVE 4 SEVERUMS 4 PARROTS A BIG PELCO AND A FEW CORIES. I'DE LIKE TO GET THE PH AROUND 6.6. I HAVE HERD THAT ADDING CRUSHED CORAL WILL BRING THE PH UP. BUT HOW MUCH CORAL DO YOU ADD IS THERE A FORMULAR ? YOU CAN EMAIL ME DIRECT AT MAJITHE1ST@COMCAST .NET

THANKS ONE AND ALL

VJP

Water change and dead fish!!

Lutzgator — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:38:55 GMT

I have a 14g biocube that had 3neon, 3 rosy barb and 3 red tetra(dont know the name). Have done small water changes in the past of 3gal and experienced no problems. Yesterday i did the same water change and 2hours latter i noticed all the barbs and red tetras had died and the neons were in distress. I quickly removed the neons to a 5 gal i had set up and they recovered quickly and survived. The water comes from the pet store. What could have possible happened? I dont have the slightest idea what went wrong.

Betta with behavior that indicate he must be sick?

Dragina — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:40:05 GMT

Well I've had a male Betta for about a week and a half now, He was fine, but today he started sitting around wouldn't eat and has clamped fins. So I put some para guard in the water, and he started moving a little more.

I 100% cleaned his fish bowl the day before, so I'm not sure why he's acting this way now, I don't see any signs of disease. Except the behavior is abnormal. I 100% cleaned the water again today to see if it would help and he seemed to start breathing heavily after I put him in and a little jumpy/spazzy. I also added a little bit of Para guard in here too but he still was acting wierd. But he's swimming around alot more now. he's still not eating and has clamped fins.

I also noticed he seems to have a little tear in his one fin under him, but doesn't seem to be rotting away. I use water conditioner, PH adjuster and aqaurium salt in the water, the water is cold-ish sometimes after it cools off from the warm water. I tested the water and it was fine too, He has a plastic plant in his bowl with him too. I clean the water 2 times a week.

One other thing, he has red-ish marks on top of his gill covers on both sides, but they have been there for a long time, since he is a blue bodied betta with some red, im not sure if it is just part of his color.

I'm not sure what to do to make him stop acting this way.

Banjo Catfish

dunkin1334 — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:47:17 GMT

I just picked up a banjo catfish yesterday. I aclimated him into my 75 gallon tank:

Temp: 77.6

pH:7.6

Nitrates: 0

Nitrites: 0

Ammo: 0

This morning he was doing the roll of death then went to the bottom and moved around the tank by drifting with the current. I caught him and moved him into my hosp. tank made up of the same water as the 75. I treated with some salt and stress coat...any suggestions?

Thanks

Low PH

freeomano — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:42:23 GMT

I cant seem to get my PH up... I tested my water yesterday and everyting is good except for my PH, it is well lets put it this way my ph test kit goes down to 6.0 and it is lower then that. My fish seem ok infact I have had angel fish breed and plants seem ok. Like I said the other tests are ok... What would cause my low ph. BTW the ph out of the tap is 7.0.... Any ideas...

Steve

Odd white spot, kills fish

ocean-size — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:12:17 GMT

I recently bought some fish online from LiveAquaria.com.

I acclimated them EXACTLY according to their instructions.

Within 24 hours, one of the new fish was dead. After I accimated it and removed it from the bag, it seemed to be doing fine. About four hours later when I turned the tank light on, it was sitting on the bottom of the tank, breathing heavily. Not sure what to do, I just left it and decided to keep an eye on it. An hour or so later I noticed a rather large white spot under its skin on the side, underneath the front of the dorsal fin. I removed it to a bucket with some tank water in it, where it shortly died. I highly doubt shock is involved...I have successfully acclimated 24 other fish with no problems, including this species.

I emailed LiveAquaria.com about this on Thursday and have yet to receive a reply. (!!!!) Now I am really upset because earlier today I noticed another one of the fish that I purchased from them is ALSO now sitting on the bottom of the tank breathing heavily, and it has a very tiny white spot on its side just under the front of the dorsal fin. It too appears to be under the skin. And I swear this spot has gotten bigger in the four hours or so since I first noticed it.

Is this the dreaded Ich I hear so much about? If so, what the heck do I do? I have no medicine on hand.

Just rechecked my levels: ammonia and nitrite are zero, nitrate is less than 5ppm, pH is 7.6, KH is 7...all unchanged since my last test a few days ago.

What disease is it?

FattFishy — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:01:56 GMT

I have bought a koi swordtail (male) that has been in my tank for about 5 days now. His symptoms include: rapid gill movements, doesn't eat, sits in the bottom of the tank a lot, gets scared and stressed easily, hides, has a weird coloration of the back stomach area (he's albino), and is a little grayish and more white than usual.

pH: 7.8 hardness: 300 dH (brackish for the mollies) ammonia, nitrite: all zero nitrate: 20 ppm temperature: 82-84 degrees fahrenheit (it's summer in southern california)

I do water changes every week on weekends and add aquarium salt, dechlorinator, and bacteria supplement. I take out 33% of the water out of a 28 gallon bowfront tank.

I don't have a sure idea of the disease and I have Rid-Ich on hand.

Please tell me what disease it has and how to cure it.

sick peacock eel

momtofawn — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:20:26 GMT

I used to post, some years ago, as catfish. Although I have kept fish for a long time I have never had scaleless fish and don't know how to help my daughter with her peacock eel.

She's had these two about a year. They were a rescue attempt, along with about six or seven other fish, from a Wal Mart which was closing down it's fish dept. and was just letting what was left go to you know where.

We bought what we could and had to buy a new tank because we no longer had any. That didn't help but, we did everything one could think of with the help of our local pet store owner, to save them. These two eels are the only fish remaining and finally seemed to be fine. Now one is lethargic and has a swollen belly.

Can anyone help us?

I know we should feel good about all we did to save all we could but, if this eel dies it's going to just crush my daughter. She's put love, money and lots of time and energy into making the tank right and the eels healthy.

Thanks,

Kathy (momtofawn)

Otocinclus HELP FIN MOVEMENTS

FattFishy — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:07:39 GMT

I've had an otocinclus affinis for about a month and it seems just great until now. Before the awkward swimming, it had a nice pointed caudal fin. I've done a water change today and the parameters are:

ammonia, nitrite, nitrate: 0

hardness: 300 (it was fine in this water the whole time)

pH: 7.8

Should I treat it with a tissue healing medicine?

Please respond soon, I don't want to lose another one.

Red Spot on Betta's Chin

BlueOblivion — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:40:32 GMT

1). What are the Ph, Ammonia, NitrIte, NitrAte levels? pH is 6.5. Ammonia is 0. Sorry but I do not have test kits atm for Nitrites and Nitrates.

2). How long has the tank been running? Originally I kept him in a bowl at the store. There he recieved weekly water changes and aquarium salt. The only thing in the tank with him were those lucky bamboo plants that aren't really bamboo. I have these plants in all my betta bowls btw. Currently he is in a quarantine tank at my home. It's only been running for a week now but was started with the water from his original bowl.

3). How many gallons/liters is the tank? Gallon

4). What are the dimensions of the tank?.eh...uh..I have no idea.

5). What is the frequency of the water changes, and how much water is changed each time?Once a week. Usually on a Sunday. I change out about 80% of the old water and leave about 20%

6). Do you use well water or city water, and do you treat for chlorine/chloramines? Yes I treat the water.

7). What products, chemicals, and/or medicines have been used or added to the tank? None other than the water treatment and aquarium salt. I'm not sure WHAT is wrong with him so I'm nervous about adding anything unneccesarily.

8). What are the other occupants of the tank? None.

9). If this is a possible aggression problem, what sort of cover is available for the fish? Doubtful. He lived alone in his bowl. He normally though would enjoy hiding in the roots of the plant.

10). Give a detailed description of any behavior/or color changes. He's more lethargic and stays at the bottom of the tank. He's still very excited about feeding time but I think whatever is on his mouth may be making difficult or even painful to eat large bites.

11). Give a detailed description of the problem. He has a red spot on his "chin". The scales around that area are raised and it's very swollen.

12). If possible, please attach a photo of the problem area. Currently do not have one available for now but if it's needed I can attach one later.

Keeping Tank Temps Down in Summer

David Lass — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:11:03 GMT

Every summer the problems of keeping tank temperatures in the range that is comfortable for fish always rear their ugly heads. This is especially important with reef tanks and corals in general, but it is also relevant for any tank and any fish. When water temperature rises, you get a sort of "double whammy". As the water temperature rises, the metabolism of the fish also rises, and they require more oxygen in the water. However, as water temperature rises, water actually holds much less dissolved oxygen. As you can see -- higher tank temps are a real problem.
The most obvious remedies for a tank that is overheating include mechanical solutions. Air condition the room the tank is in. Put a chiller on the tank (usually pretty much a must for marine reef tanks), or simply blow a fan over the surface of the tank. The first two options are fairly expensive, not only for the equipment but also for the electricity to run them. The fan is OK, but it really doesn't do a great deal in terms of lowering tank temps. The best solution -- involves plastic soda bottles.
A low-tech, low-cost, but effective solution is to freeze soda bottles with water in them. Depending on the size of the tank and how much cooling you have to do, you need to experiment to see if the smaller bottles will do the trick, or if you need to go upsize to the two liter bottles. In any case, freeze at least three bottles of whichever size you decide the tank needs. When you fill the bottle with water and put it in the freezer, be sure to leave the top off, or you run the risk of cracking the bottle. A frozen bottle of water is perfect for cooling down a tank. Experimenting with the size and number of bottles you need, and how often you need to change them, is something that each hobbyist has to do on their own. The plastic bottle puts something between the ice and the fish, and you are not messing around with the tank water in any way. To be even safer, some folks may want to wrap the plastic ice bottle with a plastic fish bag.
Credit for this method goes to Maurino Viveiros, fish room manager and assistant store manager for Rumford Pet Center, in East Providence, RI.

Half Dark Half Light Fish

Superfly — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:20:49 GMT

I have a turquoise rainbowfish that is very dark on the back half of its body and very light on the front half. The two other fish of mine that have had this died within a couple of days. I can't find any information on the web about this and don't want to loose another fish to this disease. Does anybody know what this is and how to treat it. My filter was down for a little bit due to my cat chewing on air line so water quality may have been the cause, but I've since fixed that and the water is fine know.
Thanks

ick and baby fish

pufferrocks — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:45:58 GMT

I just got a couple of platys and a mollie a few days ago and put them in my tank. Now all the fish in my tank have ick (I only had two other fish). One of the platys I bought had 12 babys yesterday. They are in a small tank inside of the big tank. Will the ick kill them? A day before the platy had the babys I treated the tank to get rid of the ick. The fish are looking better but I think I am going to need to treat the tank again tomorrow. I hope that my little fish will be okay.

Guppy about to have babies, what do I do???

bobbya123868 — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 11:06:29 GMT

I have guppys that are about to have babies. what do i do?

My fish is floating like a cork!

GlitterGuppy2008 — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:31:16 GMT

Hi. I'm new to fancy goldfish ownership, and I read the book 'Goldfish: a complete introduction' by Robert Mertlich, which I really enjoyed. It said that you can feed adult goldfish ants. We have small ants that build nests near our house, and they don't get sprayed. I fed my goldfish two, and now he is floating like a cork, upside down! If he swallowed air I read that it should be self-correcting in a day or two, but at a youngish age it's usually genetic, and that it's not curable. Is this true? My fish has given up fighting to stay upright, and is upside down, just sitting there. I am not sure this is an emergency, but I'm worried. Will he die? Please help me with this.

My fish are dying....

kommander15 — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 09:45:44 GMT

over the last 3 months i have depleted my fish population in my 20 long. I have killed off 3 swords, 2 black mollies, 2 platies, and 2 guppies. there are still 3 zebra danios, 3 baby platies, and one dwarf pleco. the readings that i took pre-water change are: nitrate 20ppm(the label says this is safe but i don't know),nitrite 0ppm, hardness 300ppm(from the tap), Alkalinity/bufferingcapactiy(?) 270ppm, and ph 8.3.

I will change about 10 gallons then get back to you guys....

Treating delicate fish and ich

sharonM — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:46:00 GMT

Hi My Key Hole cichlid has some very noticeable with spots, like salt, forming on his back fins and a couple on his sides. I would love to isolate him from the other fish, however, I would have to break down my 55 and plants just to catch him. I would like to start treament before the other fish get the ich. I have glass catfish, debauwi catfish, kuhli loaches, sand loaches, and a yo yo loach I would really worry about with the treatment. I have coppersafe as well as quick cure. What would you recommend?

Hole-in-the-Head

AncestorsTale — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:44:05 GMT

Hey--

I have done my research on this disease, and it sounds as if it could be due a deficiency in calcium, phosphorous, and Vitamins A, C, and D. What I am interested in knowing is whether the claim that you can soak food in human multivitamins to treat hole-in-the-head is true...?

I have read this on multiple websites...Also, it seems as if vitamin supplements for fish are rather difficult and expensive to find--so to treat an afflicted fish (in addition to H20 changes, etc.), would soaking food in human multivitamins help correct the vitamin deficiency?

http://www.worldcichlids.com/diseases/Adamhith.html
http://www.flippersandfins.net/HITHarticle2.htm

(These are the two articles that referenced using human multi-vitamins...if anyone here knows that it is okay to use them, how much do you add to the food--too many vitamins are as bad as too little...)

Possible Cases of Dropsy

MtnFishBoy — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:28:19 GMT

I just checked up on a few of my betta girls, and I noticed that two of them had extremely swollen stomachs. I put them in quarantine, and when I looked over the top of them, one looked like she had some raised scales. Is this definetly dropsy? I may be looking for stuff to worry about, but I would rather be safe than sorry. If anyone knows what causes dropsy or what I should do with my tank, please respond ASAP. I had dopsy infest my tank a while back, and my entire betta collection (12) died within two weeks. PLEASE HELP

Nitrites STILL won't go down!!!

ocean-size — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:50:18 GMT

Still trying to cycle my 92-gallon tank. Ammonia is zero, but nitrites remain between 1.0 and 2.0 ppm. I am now doing daily 25% water changes (which is getting VERY tiresome considering the size of the tank), and what is really dumbfounding is that I have identical nitrite readings both before and after each water change. I am using API's reagent & test tube kits. Shoudn't I expect to see a decrease after a water change? I've tested the tap water and nitrites are zero there.

I first began getting nitrite readings 2 to 3 weeks ago, ammonia has been at zero for almost the same amount of time. NitrAtes have not changed at all that I can detect...still less than 5.0ppm, but I am assuming that is due to all the water changes.

I've read that the nitrite-eating bacteria take longer to get established than the ammonia-eating bacteria, but this seems excessive to me.

I guess I thought it would not take this long because I used two doses of Biospira, the second dose I added as soon as I began getting nitrite readings in case the nitrite-eating bacteria from the first dose had already died by then. I kept both doses of Biospira refrigerated, and they arrived in a cold-pack as well. I know the first dose worked because ammonia started dropping almost immediately.

Is it normal for it to take this long for nitrites to begin receding? Am I just paranoid? Why don't the water changes appear to be doing anything? (I guess they are working in the sense that my nitrites are not getting up to 2.0ppm, but I sure wish I could get them below 1.0)

White Moliie on Steroids?

deere_for_chase — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:27:55 GMT

Hi - I have three white mollies - just the regular kind, if that makes sense. I've had them for about 2 months now. I came home today and one of the white mollies now looks like a Balloon Mollie - like she suddenly gained lots of "weight". It seems to be swimming correctly, active and interested in eating.

Do mollies have babies easily? Could this fish be pregnant or is there something medically wrong with it? Like constipation - do fish get bloated when they are constipated? What is the cure for fish constipation if that is the issue?

I've feed them some pea meat this evening with a bit of normal flake food. It seems interested in both - it just looks like a totally different fish all of a sudden - really weird!

If it is pregnant and give birth in the tank - I doubt the fry would survive with all the other fish in my tank - what is the normal procedure for trying to salvage fry?

Thoughts and comments greatly appreciated.

Kim

Big Tank Concerns!

hiddenrunes — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:31:59 GMT

Okay. I previously post about a mollie with popeye. I had a graduation to attend this weekend so I did 25% water changes on both my 10 gallon and 15 gallons and checked the levels. Nitrite 0 and ammonia 0 and nitrate less than 10. I was gone for a night and a day and when I got back I had some serious trouble. Everybody in the 10 gallon was slow moving and really pale and my guppies were laying on the bottom(still alive). In the fifteen gallon I had 3 fish with popeye symptoms including a large tetra with both eyes bugging out and looking bruised. All the fish in that tank had drastically lost their color and not looking very active. The temps. in both tanks were about 88F. I live in MD and don't have airconditioning. What is going on with my fish? Was it just the temps being too high? Did the popeye result from the infection being present and the tank temp being to high? I added cold water and some stress coat stuff. If anybody else has any thoughts or suggestions it would be much appreciated!!!

Glass Fish Dieing!

bobbya123868 — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:32:09 GMT

everytime i bye new glass fish they get sick and die. what kind of water do i give them? what kinda food? Gravel? conditioner? plese reply!!!!

the results

kommander15 — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:35:01 GMT

nitrate 10ppm, nitrite0, hardness 200ppm,total alkalinity/buffering capacity, 220ppm, ph 8.0,

Any stocking suggestions????????

Sick mollie?

hiddenrunes — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:54:10 GMT

One of my balloon mollies has one eye that is cloudy. Her right eye seems slightly bigger than the other but only slightly and the eye appears to be covered in a layer of whitish/see -through goop. I did a general search but there wasn't any specifics as to what I should treat her with. My ammonia is 0 as is my nitrite level. I do weekly 25% water changes. Help please!

Pike cichlid neads new home

Moroto-Ray — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:55:34 GMT

Hello everybody new to this forum, i like it very much!!

ok so i have a pike Cichlid approx. 5 inch in a 70 gallon. he is housed with a large assortment of african chiclids prodomintly malawi i believe but there are some others in there. Now yes they have gotten along unexpectedly well with very little aggression and only a few of the very smallest became food. My issue is though every week more and more money is dumped into this tank and i now it will be only a matter of time before hell breaks loose and they become dinner. He loves his bloodworms he beats everyone to the cube. and rosy reds and feeders are done for.

Now i also have a 40 long white super fine sand bottom tank for my moroto stingray which is about 6-8 inches round and am wondering if the pike and him could get along.

im anxious to get this pike HUGE he needs some gold fish to eat, im just scared to feed him live in with the Cichlid in fear he might see them all as food.

thank u and let me know ur opinion!! very appreciated

light brown algae growing on bottom of driftwood???

lilsaltyfresh — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:07:05 GMT

I have a large piece of driftwood in my tank and it's been in there for about 3 weeks now and i have noticed that there is a white'ish light brown algae growing in various spots on it. i was just wondering if it was anything to worry about and if there is a common way to treat it.?

Fish having trouble swimming

octopuslover — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 07:52:48 GMT

I got a new pike cichlid about a week ago. I'm thinking he's the one who brought ich into the tank. Now he's having trouble swimming. I saw him at the top of the tank spinning in circles and his eyes are a little cloudy. What does this mean ?

Help not sure what to do(Fish acting strange, and one with injury or problem?)

Dra-Sama — Mon, 26 May 2008 07:44:31 GMT

I have 2 goldfish, one a Ryukin, and the other I beleive is a Vieltail(not sure) because of the long tail.

I was on vacation for a few days and my parents were supposed to be taking care of my fish. When I got back, I noticed they seemed to be sitting around alot in the bottom of the tank mainly all the time now, normally they don't that. And later on I noticed my Ryukin had some red-ish like blood on the bottom of him with some white pieces in it, (possibly his scale or skin since he is white with some orange) next to his front swimming fins, but not touching his fins there or joints. theres another one on the otherside too exactly the same as this side. The fish do swim around a little when im near the tank, they mostly keep sucking the gravel into an out of their mouths looking for food I guess, because they're on the bottom, the Ryukin I can tell is having his swimming problems again because he will swim really fast up to the top of the tank and sink back down. So I've been feeding them some peas again.the other fish seems to swim okay when it goes up, but when it does it kinda spazzes out and starts wiggling and swimming fast, for some reason, and sometimes rams into the ryukin because it happens to be sitting on the bottom in it's way. I've put a little bit of medicine in the water yesterday incase it was from a parasite or something, I don't think it helped at all. I'm not sure what the red stuff is, it may be a scrap, or a possible disease. and I'm not really sure why they are acting strange either nor what to really do.

ICH !

octopuslover — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:40:37 GMT

I have ich again. I'm going to put some salt in and put the heat up. Does that sound good r should I do something else ?

One eye bulging

ocean-size — Mon, 26 May 2008 12:01:41 GMT

Hi all:

I was out of town for the weekend, and when I came back I noticed two of my dalmation mollies had one eye that was bulging out considerably. Left eye on one, right eye onthe other. One of them seems acutely lethargic...if I didn't know any better I might think he's at death's door, he swims a little tilted to the side.

Any ideas?

lost eye

ruda_saga — Mon, 26 May 2008 09:12:54 GMT

I have a 90 gallon planted tank with about 7 swordtails, 2 black mollies, 3 ottos, 10 zebra danios, 5 Pristella tetras, and 3 Yo-Yo Loachs.

For some reasons about five fish is without one eye. Recently I added one black molly and I see this fish has also lost its eye.

What could be happening? Could that be Yo-Yo Loaches or is this bacteria.

Adam from Sayreville

Changed water and fish died

jacobhartz — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:05:58 GMT

I performed a water change of 15 gallons on a 55 gallon tank and then woke up to find that my fish hadn't eaten overnight. I then proceeded to lose 8 of my angels and 2 polka dot loaches. My tank and tap water had always been 6.4 on PH and it turns out that the tap water I used for the change was 7.2, I now wished I had tested it prior. I believe that the way that the fish died with mucus and swimming upside was the unscientific ph shock. My tap water has returned to 6.4 but the tank still goes back to 7.2 even when I do daily water changes of 20%. I'm about to lose my red tail shark though my bristlenose pleco and striped raphael cats seems fine, just not eating as much. Any thoughts on how to get the tank back matching the tap water so i can restock my tank again? I do not have live plants and use Tetra Aqua safe on each water change. The nitrates are low and there is no ammonia or nitrite. Any thoughts would be appreciated. The tank has a fluval 305 filter.

dying baby guppies

leofest — Fri, 23 May 2008 21:07:56 GMT

I have been losing fries for a while now. they were born about 12 weeks ago; I had bought a female guppy that I did not know was pregnant. initially i lost just like one at a time after 6 weeks of their birth. then I started losing multiples (2, 3, or 4 at a time) after 8 weeks in short periods of time. I just realized that I should have bought a bigger tank when they were born and not kept all 25 in a 1.5 gallon tank. But now I'm down to 14 left and I am going to buy a bigger tank ASAP. but my fishes are acting funny, some of them are swimming up and down really fast (swim down really fast then back up really fast). I have been doing some research and I started feeding them brine shrimp and yoke earlier this week. I have been using warm water from the tap treated with the start right chemical. I changed the flakes that I feed them. Also I used to do 100% water change every week but I started doing that every 2 days. Is there something I'm doing wrong...their mother is still living and I've had her for 7 months now. Please help, I'm tired of waking up in the morning to the sight of lifeless fishes either floating or in the bottom of the tank with their eyes accusing me.

dwarf guaramie sick help

Fishchop — Sun, 25 May 2008 13:22:11 GMT

well dwarf guaramie is laying down and seems to to gasping for air

I check the ph this moring it read normal

oh yeah and its not eating as much as it use too

so please help a noobie here

baby guppies care

leofest — Sat, 24 May 2008 13:06:47 GMT

hi I had an emergency but I accidentally posted my thread in the saltwater emergency forum but someone helped but now I have another question. I just got a new 10 gallon tank and I have set it up with a filter and a heater, how long do I wait before I put my 12 weeks hold guppies and also how long should I wait to add the mother? How do I know if my heater is working (how long does it take for it to heat up water)? If anyone want to look at my original post, it's under "dying baby guppies" in the saltwater emergency forum.

diatom filters

cory dawg — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:14:51 GMT

just recently got 2 Vortex diatom filters from a friend who is moving. I just wanted to know if anyone can tell me or point out somewhere to go to learn to use this type of filter properly. I know they clog quickly so just for maitenance it's great..... Need help?????!!!!!!!!

oscar panting/puffing..phosphates high

maryanninsc — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:51:18 GMT

we are treating a sick oscar right now. sunk to the bottom, "panting" and puffing and flapping gills. not eating for a week now.

we started medicating him with Maracyn-Two and were starting to see results, as in he was starting to "levitate" up about 4 to 6 inches and starting to respond to our presence again.

then went to the local fish store and they tested the water and FREAKED about the water....especially the phosphate levels at 10.0 or greater

they declared it to be a water problem

so...we have done water change after water (about 20-25%)change daily this past week and all the improvements in him seemed to be lost and the phosphate level remained between 5 and 10 the whole time.

so....yesterday i didnt do a water change but started re-medicating him. by the end of the day he was swimming around the top of the tank and interacting with us...HE WAS MOVING AROUND!! YAYAY!!

then to take care of the phosphates my husband bought this phosphate filter pad and put it in the filter.

within an hour of that, Oscar sunk back to the bottom ...no more swimming.

i cant find out ANYWHERE that the phosphate remover is also removing the medication

i know that there is another filter pad the fish store gave us that would take out minerals, metals and medications...we did that on their advice and stopped the Maracyn-two treatments...but like i said...that produced a loss in any perceived improvement in his condition...he sunk back down and stayed there...still panting and puffing.

i took out the phosphate remover pad and am testing.

with the pad in overnight it reduced the phosphate level from 10+ to a color shade that is between 5 and 10

any help? does the phosphate remover also remove the medication?

current levels

ph 6.6 to 7.6
nitites 0
nitrates 5.0
Ammonia 0
phosphates between 5 and 10

grave fish concern... cat attack

flamefish — Fri, 16 May 2008 13:27:57 GMT

hi the cat brought in a 7cm carp still alive but with a loop of intestine approx 1cm external. this was 2 days ago. i was advised to take it out of the water and leave it to die. is this what i should do? surely there is a better way to euthanase a creature? it might be overly optimistic but is there some kind of first aid i could do so it can survive instead. it is passing faeces and swimming upright ..

it is in a bowl with oxygen tablets and water conditioner.