From: Coleen 9/28/00
Subject: Thank You!!!!!
Thanks so much to Clint and Kitty fish!!! My gold fish is 100% better - just wish I had found this site before I spent so much on antibiotics! Here's another stupid question: How do I REALLY clean under an under-gravel filter? The vacuums I've tried just don't get the gunk out and, if I have to lift it up, it just lets all that garbage loose in the water.
From: ron 9/28/00
Subject: ick????
i dont know if this is a problem or not. i got up this morning to find my mollies have white stuff (only a couple) around thier gills and on thier heads. i have 7 mollies an algea eater and two purple crabs in the tank. one of the mollies is in a isolation tank about to have babies. i had to go to work so i figured i would pick up medicine while i was in town and start treating this evening. when i got home there doesnt seem to be any white on these fish. all the water seems to be in the normal perimeters ( hasnt changed for at least two weeks) the only thing i did different was added salt ( 1 teaspoon per 10 gal water) i dilluted the salt when i did a water change. i turned up the heat its about 80 should i treat for ick any way just in case or see what happens with out. also i was reading about the names for fish i have a black convict that mated with a pink convict so i named them lucy and desi .
From: Kick 9/28/00
Subject: Re: ick????
The salt may have taken care of it. Just keep an eye at this point to watch for the "spots" of ick. I would not treat unless you are sure there is ick present. The ick can become immune to treatment if used too often. Kick
From: Rose Roberts 9/28/00
Subject: Sick Fish
Not too many weeks ago I had a fish die on me. It bloated up slightly and remained like that for two weeks. I didn't do anything because I was uncertain what the problum was and I thought that it could possibly just going to lay eggs. Later though the bloating went away and a few days later it was dead (and partialy eaten by the other fish.) More recently another one of my fish started to suffer the same fate. This time though I spoted it having trouble staying balanced and moved it into a seprate tank. It spent two days lying on it's side and developed tail rot. This morning though I found it swimming a bit in the water. What should I do for this fish, and what should I do to prevent this problum in the future?
From: Kick 9/28/00
Subject: Re: Sick Fish
This sounds like swim bladder disease to me. Usually this is caused by poor water conditions or from a bacteria. If I suspect a swim bladder problem I usually treat with Maracyn II. This will also help with the fin rot. You do not say what species of fish these are and not that it makes any difference, but it may be a fish that is prone to this.
About the only thing you can do to prevent is make sure that your water perimeters are good. Fish become diseased and a lot of times we are not sure why, but 85 percent of the time is it from poor water. Hope this helps. Kick
From: Rose Roberts 9/28/00
Subject: Re: Sick Fish
SOrry I forgot to tell you the type of fish. They are goldfish, the type that are ussually sold as feeder as feeder fish at pet shops. Thanks for the help, I'll get treat the fish as soon as possible.
From: Carissa 9/28/00
Subject: Mr. Fishy finally learned how to build a bubble nest right!
From: CT 9/28/00
Subject: Tetra "Nature's Delica Foods"
* Any one have any comments about this fish food? * I thought it was a bit pricey* Do your fish like it?* Does the gel cloud the water at all?* Also, how do you store the opened pouches? The directions say they can be stored open and unrefrigerated for 24 hours.* Seems like a decent alternative to worm wrangling and brine shrimp ranching.CT
From: Karen E. 9/28/00
Subject: Re: Tetra "Nature's Delica Foods"
Well, haven't used this stuff myself, but whilst perusing the fish at the LFS over the weekend, the owners showed us how much their Oscars loved it. They refer to it as the "brown toothpaste". They squirted it in the tank and the fish devoured it! It took less than a minute to disappear and the cloud of (?) leftover dissapated within 2 minutes.
Wouldn't hurt to try it - in my opinion (be it ever so humble).
Let us know!
From: Kick 9/28/00
Subject: Re: Tetra "Nature's Delica Foods"
This is new to me. I don't think I have ever seen it. I will have to check my catalogs as I know my LPS probably won't carry it. Might get some to see what happens if no one knows. Apparently, you have not tried it either. Hope it is good and not messy. Good alternative for sure. Kick
From: Rose 9/28/00
Subject: gourami poo
My husbands neon dwarf gourami has had funny looking poos this last week. It's almost like it's not poo at all. It's white and it's coming out of the poo area. He's been doing this for about a week now. what is it and what do I do. All the water peramiters are normal. He's in a 30g with swordtails, zebra danios, cory cat. I haven't seen him eat anything in about 3-4 days. Any ideas on what this is and that kind of stuff. Thanks. Rose
From: kitty fish 9/28/00
Subject: Re: gourami poo
More than likely, your gourami has internal parasites; they seem to be VERY prone to it! A medicated food will cure him, in-water meds will assure that other fish do not catch it. Check out http://puregold.aquaria.net/disease/technique/technique.html and find diagnosis by poop; in fact, the whole site is worth a look, and not just for goldfish keepers. Hope this helps!
kitty fish
From: CT 9/28/00
Subject: Barb has "loads" of info on this subject =) n/m
n/m
From: Barb 9/28/00
Subject: Oh great!! Now everyone's gonna think that I'm the poo Queen or the poo Doctor or something like that :)) I mean :(
Rose,
The two white things that can come out of the "poo area" are:
1. Intestinal Flagellates (protozoa with tails whipping them around)
2. Nematodes (worms, which IMO are yucky and I am struggling at this moment not to delete my entire post!)
So, Rose, I need you to take a really close look at the poo area, no, on second thought, it's your husband's fish, so make him do it!... and see if the white "poo" is indeed poo or *yuck* worms.
Symptoms of fish with intestinal flagellates are that they:
Isolate themselves.
Excrete white and slimy feces (I mean poo).
Darken their coloration.
Often swim backwards (Now, this I want to see!).
Let me know what becomes of your white poo expedition,
Barb
From: Deana Palmisano 9/28/00
Subject: Betta Fish
I have a male Betta fish in a vase/bowl with one of those spathophyllium plants. Everything seems to be going fine, but I saw in the vase something pinkish and kind of round at the bottom of the bowl (a little bit bigger than an eraser at the end of a pencil). It actually looks like an organ or something. I saw something like this earlier this weekend in the bowl of a Betta fish at a pet store. Does anybody know what this is and if my fish is OK?
Thanks
From: Meagan 9/28/00
Subject: Re: WoW..... n/m
n/m
From: Nick 9/28/00
Subject: Re: Betta Fish
Maybe it's part of the betta's fins or tails that has fallen off?
From: Kick 9/28/00
Subject: Re: Betta Fish
I don't have a clue. How long have you had your betta. It's not some kind of fertilizer for the plant, is it? Maybe you need to take it out and inspect it if it is that big. Maybe someone will know what it is and can enlighten us. Kick
From: The Fish Lady 9/28/00
Subject: Re: Betta Fish
I am stumped! You might want to take the plant out and see if another one shows up, it might be from the plant. How much food are you using? it is not old food is it?
the Fish Lady
From: alexis 9/28/00
Subject: diagnosing pleco problem
I have two plecos who have a problem which I may not be diagnosing properly because nothing has worked to clear it up. It looks like they have a light creamish film on half of their bodies, or even more like the lower half of their bodies has gone pale. The scales on the part of the body where the film is don't look raised, but nether do they look entirely smooth.
I don't suspect that it is velvet because it is only on the two plecos, and not on anyone else in the tank. I thought it might be fungus, but I treated for that with no result, whatsoever (except that the aquarium plants almost died). They seem healthy, but they have become quite aggressive. (However agression may be from over-crowding; my mollies had babies and I haven't removed the fry from the tank because I don't have anywhere to put them yet. They seem to irritate the plecos most). Parital water changes are done once a week; the water parameters are all fine, the rest of the community tank looks fine. Any ideas of what this could be?
become aggressive (I suspect because of overcrowding--my mollies had babies and I should probably get the fry out of the tank). look like they have a yellowish film on half of
From: CT 9/28/00
Subject: Re: diagnosing pleco problem
Hi alexis,
I'm kind of a "stickler" when it comes to water quality issues so I hope you understand my approach. When I read that someone is having problems and they say the water "parameters are fine" I still have to ask "what are they"?
Water quality is really the key to success with aquariums. Please pass along the following parameters if possible:
* Size of tank
* How long has the tank been up?
* Bio-load (living creatures in your tank)
* Temp
* Filtration
* Water treatments (dechlorinators, pH UP, etc)
* pH
* Ammonia
* Nitrite
* Nitrate
* Anything else you might want to add or that I may have left off the list
CT
From: Kick 9/28/00
Subject: Re: diagnosing pleco problem
Oh, Boy, I am not really sure about this one. It is not velvet I don't think as this gives a goldish cast to their skin. It sounds more like slime disease to me. Do you add salt to the water for the mollies? If you have done this, the salt can be very irritating to plecos, and you might have even burned them. You say the mollies were like picking on them? Could it be secondary infection from injuries or from salt burns?
I am more apt to think it is slime disease, however, and this is caused by parasites or poor nutrition. Are you sure your plecos are getting enough to eat. Do you supply them with lettuce, algae wafers or other vegetation than just the algae in your tank. If it is the parasites that are causing the problem, you will need to treat the whole tank, but I don't know how good this will be for your babies, so you might want to think about moving them. If you feel it is the parasites (you will not be able to see them as they are a different kind than ick) but can conclude this if you rule out the other things I mentioned, you will need to treat with a medication for external parasites. I am not sure what is available in your area so just check with LPS. Tell them this is not ick but a form of protozoan parasite. Hope I have helped. Let us hear how you come out. Kick
From: James 9/27/00
Subject: to rose and kick, for ick problem
Back again!!!! This time with more good news than bad. The good news is that i went and got some Ick-guard II and treated it how you said to and voila' ick is gone. My loaches are back to there old habits again, dancing around the tank like their going insane and eating way more than they were 2 weeks ago,bad news is that one of my loaches(his name was Curly, the other two are larry and moe) couldn't hold on for me to cure them and buried himself in my gravel and didn't make it. All in all the medicine was GREAT and i will recommend it to all who asks. Thanks for your help, be talking at ya soon!!!
From: Kick 9/28/00
Subject: Re: to rose and kick, for ick problem
That is GOOD NEWS and what we like to hear around here. So sorry that Curly (how ironic--mine are named the same which means that great minds think alike!!) didn't make it. Loaches do seem to be victims of ick more so than other fish. You can just replace Curly and all should be okay. Don't be surprised if you do get another one that the other two don't take kindly to him for a little while until they get "used" to him. But overall, you will see them hanging out together before too long.
So glad that we could help you. I like to hear success stories. Kick
From: Rose 9/28/00
Subject: Re: to rose and kick, for ick problem
Congrats on the ol ick prob. I got a question for you. Did you do a very good gravel cleaning after you beat the ick. If not do so now, otherwise you will have the ick problem again. Congrats agian and hope to see you around.
(BTW the 3 stooges are my favorites. You choose names well. Yes even I have the 3 stooges in my tank. Silly isn't it.) Rose
From: Meagan 9/28/00
Subject: Re: I am the odd man out here... 8-)
I am the odd ball here.... my three Clowns names are Hickory, Dickory, and Doc... Lol... Leave it to me to be different...
take care and congrats on the ick battle!
~~~~~~~~~Meagan~~~~~~~~~~
From: Rose 9/28/00
Subject: Re: I am the odd man out here... 8-)
You don't need to feel left out. I'll almost guarantee if there is a weird or strange name that I have heard I have some animal named after it. People like to come to my house to get name ideas for pets. I have unusual manes for all the animals I have. The only almost normal name I have is my bit butt cat Maximum. I think strange names are fun to have. It makes for some fun dinner talk. Rose
From: ron 9/27/00
Subject: why never touch the bio wheel?nm
why not touch the bio wheel
From: James 9/27/00
Subject: Re: why never touch the bio wheel?nm
The Bio-wheel acts as a medium for bacteria and touching it takes whatever is on your hands and puts it on the wheel while taking off "good bacteria" the only thing your ever supposed to do is rinse off the wheel IF it stops turning very lightly with water.
From: Nick 9/27/00
Subject: Re: why never touch the bio wheel?nm
Actually...You shouldn't rinse the bio-wheel at all, especially not in tap water which can kill the good bacteria. If the wheel gets stuck or turns slowly (it supposed to turn slowly as it ages) you're supposed to clean the bearings only by lightly scrubing away minerals or algae that has accumilated on the bearings. The bio-wheel should never dry out.
From: Kick 9/28/00
Subject: I have to agree with Nick
I agree with Nick on this one. Never, ever touch or do anything to the biowheel. It should last for a long, long time and if and when it does start to turn slowly, it is definitely from buildup in the bearings or where the metal ends sit down into the grooves. In my opinion, it is a wonderful invention. Kick
From: ron 9/27/00
Subject: crowding a tank
i have been raising south american cichlids for a while and now im trying africans. ive read several books on africans and they all say the same thing. that is to keep aggression down crowd the tank. now i have learned that you put in 1 inch of adult fish for every one gallon of water. so what is the guide line for africans all the books say to crowd but no one is saying by how much
From: Kick 9/28/00
Subject: Re: crowding a tank
I am not very well versed on cichlids, but www.tomgriffin.com has a message board and busy chat room, and they all love cichlids there. It is a good place for cichlid person to be.
About the only thing I can tell you is the norm for capacity of "adult" fish is l inch per "2" gallons. We say that so when a newbie goes to LPS they don't buy say 20 inches for a 20 gallon tank as these fish are juveniles and will grow and then the tank is overcrowded. So my thinking on this is if you are supposed to crowd them, go by the l inch per l gallon of adults and that should work.
If you happen along Tom's chat room and see "Joker", tell her Kick said Hi. Kick
From: J 9/27/00
Subject: ICK
I've been readiing about ICK on this message board.I don't want to be ignorant. I have looked very closely at my Betta for any signs of ick. I see these like shiny blue/gray spots on his body, but aren't those his scales? How would I know ick? There is nothing in his environment(just beads at the bottom)for him to even try to scratch himself on so that wouldn't be a clue for me. How do these parasites even get in there with the fish? Also I use a water conditioner, can I still use some to prevent ick from ever bothering my Betta. What if some of these parasites were to get on me as I change the water? Once I thought water may have gotten ionto my eye (My eye is fine) As you probably know by now I am a newbie.
From: Mel 9/27/00
Subject: Re: ICK
I was told by a worker at the lps that there is always bacteria on the surface of a fish's body. When they become stressed, they are prone to infection by this bacteria.
From: Nick 9/27/00
Subject: Re: ICK
I don't think you have to worry about ick and parasites getting on your skin. Our skin is very different from fish, and we always have soap and hot water to wash ourselves. Ick looks like white grains of sugar on the body and fins. Velvet looks like pale orange grains.
From: Kick 9/28/00
Subject: Re: ICK
Fish all have some type of parasites in their system. When they become stressed or ill, then the parasite takes over because his immune system is down. You can plainly see the ick parasite so you will know if your bettas has become infected with them. You will see white "things" on his fins or scales and as mentioned previously, they do look like white grains of salt or sand.
All things contain bacteria of some kind. It is very hard to live in a world without them. And some of them are "good" bacteria and needed for health. However, in dealing with fish and aquariums, caution needs to be taken as with handling any animal or in this case the water of fish. Just wash your hands after changing the water to get rid of the bacteria. Fish parasites will not infest humans as far as I know so you really don't need to worry too much about that.
BTW, you really should have a plant in your betta bowl/vase/tank so that he has something to swim around and to rest on. A fake one does nicely for this, however, make sure that it is soft so that the betta's fins will not be torn or tangled up in it.
Newbie, you have found a great place to be. Stick around, read the messages, ask questions and we will make an "expert" out of you yet. Kick
From: IT 9/27/00
Subject: Oranda Goldfish
HELP!!!! My oranda goldfish has a huge clear bubble over one of his eyes. It looks like I
I can almost take a needle and pop it. What is it? I've looked all over the internet to
find out what this is but I'm not finding any disease with a description like mine. What
can I do???
From: kitty fish 9/27/00
Subject: Re: Oranda Goldfish
You know, I've been hearing a lot of this lately and I haven't yet heard what it is. I will automatically suspect it is bacterial and I advise you to get your fish some medicated food. MediGold can be ordered from www.goldfishconnection.com and is the very best medicated goldfish food money can buy. I've used it myself and I'm sure it is what saved my fish's lives. Do not pop the bubble, and try to prevent it from popping. If it does burst, it could infect the other tank mates, if any, or it could heal improperly and get infected. Good luck healing the fish!
kitty fish
P.S.-I would NOT recommend adding salt to the water!!
From: IT 9/28/00
Subject: Re: Oranda Goldfish
Thank you for all your advise, kitty fish. This "baterial
infection" has happened to one other of my oranda
gold. (May he rest in peace) But this current oranda
gold is still swimming and eating. Infact, he looks
healthy other than the eye. I will order the
medication today!!!
From: Allison 9/27/00
Subject: Any information on betta fish?
I'm worried about the betta in my dorm room. I've gotten all the information off the internet, and believe i'm caring for him properly, but he almost always floats at the top of the bowl(right side up). His color also seems to be fadeing. Is he just lazy, or actually sick?
From: Carissa 9/27/00
Subject: Re: Any information on betta fish?
I would say most definitely sick. How long has he been floating like that for? Is he eating? If so, how much do you feed him? I know there is a swim bladder sickness that fish get that makes them unable to swim right, but aside from that I don't know a lot about it, so if that's the case someone else can pick up from there.
From: Kick 9/27/00
Subject: Re: Any information on betta fish?
When he is "floating" is there a chance that he is maybe resting at the top of the water on a piece of plant or something. Do you add salt to his water? And what are you feeding him? Does this "fading" resemble any goldish coloring? Let me know and maybe I can help a little more. Usually with swim bladder, they cannot stay erect while swimming, turning upside down and in circles or sink or float in one direction or the other while trying to get to the opposite direction. Another question: How long has he been like this? Kick
From: Allison 9/27/00
Subject: Re: Any information on betta fish?
He's been acting like this for over 2 weeks. He has no trouble swimming when he does swim, but sometimes when he stops he just floats back up to the top, like he can't help it. today while he was floating I tried the mirror trick and he swam just fine for about 15 minutes afterward. I feed him 3 betta bites a day, and don't have any plants in the water. I was planning on getting some fake ones soon. He is normally red and blue, but when he fades turns more brownish-red. the blue usually stays bright, but does star turning a little greyish sometimes. also, he used to be in a "betta garden" but the plant died so I threw it away. Could that have something to do with it? He started the floating when the plant was still in there. Thanks for all of your help. I really appreciate it.
From: Kick 9/27/00
Subject: Re: Any information on betta fish?
You do realize that bettas do not swim constantly. Sometimes they do "float" and really like to have something to rest on and swim around when they do. I would say from what you are telling me it is probably bored. Get a fake plant for the container and see if that doesn't help things. Sometimes betta will change colors depending on their moods (females moreso than males) and maybe he is telling you that he needs something to do. Try it and see what happens. I do not think there is anything really radically wrong with your betta because he "can" swim normally and is eating. Let us hear after you add the plant. Kick
From: Brad 9/27/00
Subject: Hypoxia / popeye
Thanks for the tips, everybody! I will let you know what becomes of my bala. I can see hypoxia being a possibility...I aerate using my powerhead to spray tiny bubbles, and I had it quite high lately to help the medication I had added. Also, after the medicating, I did far more water change than usual, so the water didn't get a chance to sit around for a week before use as usual. I tried the finger thing, Kick, and did indeed get bubbles. I have reduced aeration to see what happens.
One more question about popeye...does it normally affect both eyes at once, or just one? My guy has both eyes affected. He's still happy as a clam, just a little nearsighted.
From: Brad 9/27/00
Subject: Oops...not hypoxia, gas saturation. :-)
Sorry....early in the morning for typing.
From: Kick 9/27/00
Subject: Re: Oops...not hypoxia, gas saturation. :-)
I understood what you were saying. I don't like mornings either...hehe...okay I checked my book again just to be sure of what I wanted to tell you. The most common cause of "nitrogen" gas saturation is from bringing water from the tap that No. l has not had a chance for the nitrogen to dissipate by setting for a period of time and No. 2 is caused by cooler tap water being warmed too fast. Have you raised the temp of your tank for medicating?
What you want to do is "add" more aeration and oxygenation. What is happening here is that the "nitrogen" is suffocating the fish. With the massive water changes you have done, the water maybe was cooler than that of the tank and nitrogen saturated to begin with. Lowering the temp of the tank somewhat and "adding" aeration will dissipate the gas.
Yes, both eyes can be affected. And I suspect popeye as the problem. Maracyn II is a very good drug for this. It is a little expensive if you have to treat a very large tank, but I have had a good success rate with it. Hope I have helped. Let me hear from you. Kick
From: CT 9/28/00
Subject: Why are we medicating?
Didn't we determine that the problem might be related to gas saturation? This might have been a double-whammy of built up gases in the tap water and too much aeration from the power head. If that does not resolve the issue prepare some sort of hospital tank or bucket to medicate the fish. That said, things to bear in mind if it does indeed turn out to be something else:
* Popeye is not highly contagious.
* Popeye is seldom fatal.
* Don't stress the entire tank because of one sick fish -- treat in a hospital tank.
* Fish in a smallish hospital tank or bucket will be cheaper to medicate than your big tank.
* You will be less likely to overdose because you'll make it a point to know how many gallons your hospital tank holds.
* Gas saturation, popeye, dropsy, fish TB or parasitic eye flukes can all cause bulging eyes. For best results you need to determine which of these problems you're dealing with. Otherwise, you're more or less shooting in the dark.
Resources:
- Idiot's Guide by Mike Wickham
- Manual of fish Health, Dr. Chris Andrews (and others)
- Complete Aquarium Problem Solver, Tetra Press
Hope that helps!
CT