FishMama814
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Posts posted by FishMama814
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Tank/water info:
29g with 1tblsp/5gal aquarium salt; established 1 year; swordtails, 1 SAE, and platys
pH: 7.6
ammonia and nitrite: 0
nitrate: 10
KH: 150
GH: 150
carbonate: 120
water temp: 80F
i have a female platy that looks like a humpback. Her belly looks flat on the bottom but normal curvature at the top. Her back fin sort of looks likes it’s drooping. Like she can’t quite swim upright, if that makes sense. Her back fin isn’t clamped even though in the pics it might look that way. Her back fin has never really “fanned” out. She sometimes looks like she is shimmying and other times looks like she swimming normal but her back end drooping is making it look like a shimmy. Any ideas? Pics attached.
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On 9/10/2023 at 6:27 PM, Colu said:
Could be saprolegniasis it's a water mould what I would do is quarantine and treat with a combination of ick X and aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 1 gallon active ingredient in ick X malachite green and aquarium salt are an effective treatment for saprolegniasis @FishMama814
What if I don’t have a pre-cycled ready to go quarantine tank? I know, I feel irresponsible but I don’t really have a place for it to be honest. I have a 10 g tank and the same cycled water I used in resetting up the 29 gallon, but no filter media except what’s in the 29 gallon which I don’t really want to mess with right now considering it’s recent trauma. Is there another fast way to get the ten gallon tank setup to quarantine her? Or should’ve I go a different direction?
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I have a Platy in my 29 gallon tank that had some minor fin rot. It WAS extremely minor. However, the tank had a bad seal and I woke up Thursday morning and the tank was only 1/4 of the way full. So I remediated and had all 15 fish in a new tank by about 7pm that night. The gravel, plants, filter media, and decor didn’t get washed or anything. I used fully cycled water to refill the new tank and added a dose of stability and stress guard. I came back today from being out of town overnight and it looks like the minor fin rot has turned into a growth.
the tank was about 9 months old. And has a mix of platys and swordtails and I recently added a Siamese algae eater cause I was starting to get a hair algae problem. 6 of the platys are babies ranging from 1-6 months.
The water isn’t testing with its old numbers yet but it still doing good in my opinion considering it’s recent trauma:ph: 7.0 (typical was 7.5)
gh: 250
ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate: 0
alkalinity: 100ish (typical was 180ish)
I have crushed coral mixed in the substrate and I keep a 1tbl:5G salt ratio in this tank.
she was stressed before the accident but now is laying at the bottom or swims to the top. Seems to have a hard time moving the injured back fin and her gills are working harder. The growth doesn’t seem fuzzy in texture but almost seems gel like. Almost looks like slime attached to her back fin. Pics attached
should I go with a fungal treatment? Or could this be just part of her fin healing? (I doubt it but my fingers are secretly crossed that her fin is just healing 😬🤦🏻♀️🤣)
thanjs for your help in advance.
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On 8/2/2023 at 9:08 AM, nabokovfan87 said:
Unfortunately the GH and KH kits aren't included in the base test kits in the US. I highly recommend picking up the liquid test kit though. It's very easy to use and not expensive at all.
Not required, but it helps to set a schedule. Say, every Saturday to clean all the prefilters, then every other Saturday to clean the tank and do your water change. (Just an example)
I'll have to check into these. I haven't seen them in use, but I have seen them before. They look similar to something normally made by another company. One of the weird issues with kitsmos that the filter is often or usually not what is normally recommended. It just means that it might work well for a lightly stocked tank, but most often it is recommended to "size up" to the next one.
With filters having adjustable flow and adjustable features this is becoming less of an issue and the hobbyist has a lot more freedom to adjust things to their own desired settings.
I'll check it out and see what I see. The changes you have done to the media sound perfect! When it comes to the output of the filter on the water surface, does it seem to be very strong or very slow?
I can adjust the flow (it says “open” and “close” on the knob). The 29 gallon I have set in the middle between open and close and the 10 gallon with the babies I have set to close just because their babies so I don’t want the intake to be too strong. I’m attaching pictures for a better reference of setup and such.
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Thank you all so much. To answer questions:
Lets start with the 29 gallon:
14 total fish: 1 swordtail, 3 guppies, 10 platys however, 4 of those platys are still babies (they were good hiders and never got moved to the baby tank. I would say 3 are about 2 months old and one is about 4 months old.)
KH tested by tetra easy strips (my master kit doesn’t test for KH) and usually measures somewhere between 0 and 30.
I do water changes purely based on the nitrate level getting above 20/30. Typically every two weeks and they are usually about 10 gallon water changes. (I use a 5 gallon bucket to keep track.)
it’s heavily planted but no active substrate. I started salting this tank (1tbl aquarium salt:5 gallons) because it went through hell with some sickness but I have kept it salted with water changes only adding the amount of salt based on water change amount. I also put in a large wondershell with every other water change. Typically once a month.
The filter is a Top Fin Silenstream. It came in a 29 gallon kit. All of my tanks are Top Fin kits. I use the fluval sponge and bio media filters in it though. I like them better than the filters that are made for it. And then have the 2 cups of crushed coral in the media bag in the filter as well.The 10 gallon tank of babies probably has about 15 babies in it.
KH is testing at 0 with the same strips.
The same substrate as the 29 gallon and has a few Java ferns and bacopa in it but not heavily planted like the 29.Same water change schedule based on nitrates above 20/30 and about 3-5 gallons of water when changed. I do an xsmall wondershell as needed - typically every other water change. No salt or crushed coral in this one but it does have the holey rock piece.
Filter is the Top Fin silenstream from the kit as well.If I forgot to answer anything, please let me know. Happy to answer.
thank you so much for all the responses. That’s a good analogy for “money in the bank.” I just get nervous about the stability of the ph. And I can never get a good answer in research for what it should be. All the research I’ve done makes me think my KH and GH should be the same for the species I have in here. But that doesn’t seem right. I keep my GH pretty high in both these tanks because of the recommendation for the species. Usually around 300.
thank you so much for all the help!!!
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I need help. My KH is consistently and frustratingly low. I have a 29 gallon tank of platys, guppies, and swordtails and a 10 gallon tank of Platy, guppy, and swordtail babies. The 29 gallon has a media bag of 2 cups of crushed coral in the filter and a decent size chunk of Texas holey rock buried in the substrate (it’s got sharp edges so I was afraid it would scratch the fish if I didn’t cover it). The 10 gallon baby tank has a the same Texas holey rock situation but no crushed coral.
I feel like I did have a decent KH reading for awhile in both tanks but the last 6ish months I can NOT get it to raise up. Any suggestions?
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@Colu My response never posted for some reason but it said “perfect! Will do! Thanks!”
however, I lost that fish yesterday. Today, another female guppy with the same symptoms. See attached pictures. It SEEMS to only be the female guppies. Or at least they’re the only ones showing visible symptoms and passing. I’m starting to get discouraged. I feel frustrated that I’m not doing something right. Will this tank ever get back to normal?
😔😩🥺
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On 6/19/2023 at 2:32 PM, FishMama814 said:
There was the previous potential case of dropsy in this tank which is what started all of this. It looks similar to this (pictures attached) on the fish that I thought had dropsy and ended up passing. It could be pine coning. She could also very likely be in labor. She is hiding a lot too.
@Colu Meant to send this as a reply but it included the whole previous post. Sorry about that. Reattached pictures for convenience. Read quoted portion above.
it doesn’t look fuzzy to me. More like a couple bleached scales.
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UPDATE:
I completed the treatment - 10% water change before every ichx addition + ichx everyday + kanaplex every other day + metroplex in food
treatment was continued for 3 days after all spots and symptoms disappeared.
on day 3 (last Friday), started to see flicking again but had just added the “last dose” of ichx and was going out of town the next day (Saturday). Decided to leave it and see how they looked when I returned today (Monday).
I have seen a couple flicks but could be due to stress cause they’re all pregnant. I have one guppy that has a suspicious couple of cloudy (potentially fluffy) white-ish scales on her back. She’s also much more stationary than usual. Especially for a guppy. Swimming in the same spot, mid area of aquarium.
Should I go ahead and start a round of fungal treatment? I was thinking of following your columnaris or fungal infection treatment. Which one would you recommend or would you do something else completely.
tank is still salted (1tblspn:5gallons) and I am doing the water change today from the last dose of ichx.
it looks like it could potentially be fuzzy. It’s just the two little scales but I know it’s definitely not normally that color and hasn’t looked that way in the past.
There was the previous potential case of dropsy in this tank which is what started all of this. It looks similar to this (pictures attached) on the fish that I thought had dropsy and ended up passing. It could be pine coning. She could also very likely be in labor. She is hiding a lot too.
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UPDATE:
I completed the treatment - 10% water change before every ichx addition + ichx everyday + kanaplex every other day + metroplex in food
treatment was continued for 3 days after all spots and symptoms disappeared.
on day 3 (last Friday), started to see flicking again but had just added the “last dose” of ichx and was going out of town the next day (Saturday). Decided to leave it and see how they looked when I returned today (Monday).
I have seen a couple flicks but could be due to stress cause they’re all pregnant. I have one guppy that has a suspicious couple of cloudy (potentially fluffy) white-ish scales on her back. She’s also much more stationary than usual. Especially for a guppy. Swimming in the same spot, mid area of aquarium.
Should I go ahead and start a round of fungal treatment? I was thinking of following your columnaris or fungal infection treatment. Which one would you recommend or would you do something else completely.
tank is still salted (1tblspn:5gallons) and I am doing the water change today from the last dose of ichx.
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On 9/3/2021 at 10:50 AM, Colu said: most cases of fin rot are caused by gram negative bacterial the most common causes of Fin rot are poor water quality your tanks overstocked fin nipping keeping your fish at to low of a temperature stress poor diet leading to nutritional deficiencies making your fish more susceptible to a bacterial infection and injury to the fins were the flesh is exposed in mild case of fin rot daily water changes and more frequent gravel vacc and add some indian almond leaves as they have antibacterial and antifungal properties for a couple of week will be enough in most case to reverse mild fin rot in major cases of fin rot I would recommend treating with aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons the salt will help with gill function and add essential electrolytes to help your fish fight of the infection and a broad spectrum antibiotic such as maracyn2 in food or API fin and body cure active ingredient is Doxycycline is highly effective against external bacterial infections of the skin if you can't get maracyn2 or fin and body cure then I would treat with seachems neoplex aqua-cipro jungal fungus clear fizz tabs containing nitrofurazone if you in the UK Sera baktopur direct and aquarium salt is what I would treat with if your using furan2 or maracyn2 they are less effective at a higher pH extreme cases of fin rot where it spreading to the body I would recommend a combined of aquarium salt 1 table spoon for 2 gallons kanaplex and jungal fungas clear fizz tabs containing nitrofurazone to treat the water column if using this treatment plan your in the uk I would use Sera baktopur direct active ingredient is nifurpirinol a broad spectrum antibiotic and up the level of aquarium salt to 1table spoon for 1 gallon
How long should you leave the salt in the water? Or how long should you keep the salinity up to 1table per 2 gallons with water changes?
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I found the cause. I swear I know every single fish that has ever been in any of my tanks. I have been known to count my fish daily.
However, I went to do a water change to add ich x treatment today and a dead fish covered in a cotton ball (fungus) fell from one of the hiding decor pieces. 🤦🏻♀️🫣
I seriously, even now, can not account for this fish. No recollection of what it looked, don’t recall ever buying it…so strange. But there was definitely a very dead very fungus infested fish in my tank.
Any change in course of treatment? (*metroplex in food, 6tbls of salt added, ich x every 24 hours until 3 days after the last spots disappear)
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I really really appreciate it! I will follow these directions exactly! Will give updates with progress! I can’t thank you enough!
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Perfect! I will do exactly that.
Do need to anything for the dropsy? Or will the metroplex food work for that?
sorry for all the questions. Thank you for your patience.
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To clarify:
already treated the whole tank with seachem metroplex and seachem kanaplex. One dose per package directions.
made Seachem Focus food mixture with garlic guard and a few drops of water. 1 feeding so far.
can I do the ich x treatment alongside the kanaplex and metroplex treatment?
Is the 1table to 5 gal (6tables for my tank) safe for the plants? (This is a HEAVILY planted tank) should I change ratio?
Should I stick with the Seachem Focus food mixture or switch to the metroplex you suggested?
Thank you so so much!!!
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UPDATE: Treating dropsy AND ich now!! I just now noticed the first white spots. They’ve had one round of metro & kanaplex with focus mixed food. I have your recommended ich treatment saved as a photo, however, can I do it at the same time as I treat the dropsy? And, I have A LOT of live plants in my tank, should I still do the 1 table : 5 gallons (6 tables : 29 gallons-I rounded) of aquarium salt? I’m also moving the temp up 2 degrees every hour till I reach 82. According to package directions, I was planning on doing the second round of metro & kanaplex on Thursday and the third and last dose on Saturday. Best options for adding ich to the treatment plan? Thank you in advance!
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Amazing! I actually have a few pieces of Texas holy rock I can add! I just gave my first dose of kanaplex and metroplex and am mixing up some focus with their food for tonight’s feed.
The two pictured fish have been LTR and am hoping if the others have it, they aren’t as far along so the medication will help. Thank you so much for your help.
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Thank you so much. I have 2 cups of your crushed coral in a media bag in the filter. Should I do something different?
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I have a 29 gallon tank with:
2 swordtails: 1F/1M
6 platys: 5F/1M
6 guppies: 4F/2M
Water parameters: (tested using 8-in-one test strips, not sure of the brand)
pH: 7.0
hardness: 250mg/L
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0
chlorine: 0
carbonate root: ~10mg/L
alkalinity: 140mg/L
Tank history and other things to note:
The tank was a 20 gallon but I moved it to a 29 2 weeks ago and at that time, added 3F and 1M guppy and 3F platys. However, 1 Platy and 2F guppies passed. I normally do not add that many fish at once and the guppies normally have a better F/M ratio than they do right now because of the 2 Fs passing. I got excited at the fish store and completely forgot the 3 at a time rule until I was on my way home. 🤦🏻♀️ The 29 gallon was cycled for 1 week prior to adding fish using the media from the 20 gallon and I buy precycled water from the (reputable) fish store I frequent.
This tank has babies CONSTANTLY! There was a breeder box in the tank with upwards of 30 babies in it until this weekend. I put the filter for a 6.5 gallon I already had into the 29 gallon filter box for a week, then moved it into the 6 gallon filter with the same precycled water from the fish store. I let that sit for 48 hours, then moved the babies into that tank. I typically “donate” the babies to my fish store, I just haven’t had a chance to get over there recently.
I bought some vegetables at the grocery store this weekend and remembered I had read something about veggies being good for fish, so I looked more into it. I read raw carrots are fine to give in small chunks so I cut off a few small chunks and threw them in the tank. I also read blanched zucchini was great for livebearers so I gave them a couple pieces of blanched zucchini as well. I’ve noticed a couple of them flicking the past couple days but their water parameters were perfect so I figured they were fine and it was a fluke.
This morning, I noticed the two F guppies, that most recently gave birth to at least 7ish+ babies each, were not looking too good. Now they are at the top of the water shimmying, their bellies are HUGE (bloated) with bright red at the back of their body and anus areas. One of them looks like she has a scar/reddish scales (could be pine cone scales) on the top of her back, too. From what I’m reading, it looks like dropsy. If this is the case:
proper euthanizing methods?
Will all the fish end up with dropsy? The babies? Are both tanks doomed and I’m just waiting for them to all get it and pass away?
I know the sooner I get them out the better chance I have at saving the rest so confirmation of dropsy / a fatal outcome asap would be super helpful!! Thank you in advance for any help!
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I added the co-ops crushed coral and wonder shell to my cart but it won’t get here till april 11. Is that too long to wait? I’m thinking “yes.” So in the meantime, will this work? Picture attached.
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You.are.my.hero! Thank you. So so much. Adding crushed coral and wonder shell today! How long should I give it before I decide to try the maracyn?
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Awesome! I will add the crushed coral and wonder shell asap.
so since I followed the preventative directions, should I water change and start over with one medication at a time? Or start now with one medication but only add the difference between what I already added (per preventative directions) and what a “normal” recommended dose is?
the stressed Platy is starting to get aggressive and nipping at the others. Should I remove her? I don’t have a QT tank but I can try and set one up asap with an established tank filter to cycle it quickly. I know the tank is most likely carrying whatever she has and I will still treat it but I don’t want her aggression to stress out the others and bring their immune systems down.
😪thank you for your help. @Colu-
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ok thank you!!! Where do I get crushed coral? Can I get it from ACo-op? How fast would it get to me? I’m assuming I need this asap….
Aside from adding the coral should I just continue observing and let the medicine do it’s thing for now?
Can/should I test the water each day or will it be pointless because the medication will mess up the reading?
Should I continue NOT feeding them? (Per the “trio” administration directions: do not feed for 7 days)seriously thank you so much! I really appreciate you responding ♥️
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@Colu So sorry! Forgot to input the rest of my water parameters 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10
pH - 7.2
GH - 300+
KH - 40/50 (low)Also, one of my guppies is currently in labor and just had one baby and is in the process of another one. 🤦🏻♀️
Hump back fish?
in Diseases
Posted
I just noticed it when I got back in town from Thanksgiving. She’s still eating good. I’m pretty sure one of the babies is hers but it’s probably about a month to two months old. She does hang out at the surface quite a bit but not 24/7. Doesn’t seem to be breathing rapidly. No flashing lethargy or any other symptoms.