Ronnie

@Whitecloud09 I have given 3 doses (one course) of medication so far!

His fin has improved quite a bit over the last couple of days! It looks little red on top now—but the bottom looks much much better. Would you continue with the Kanaplex since I’m now seeing improvement, or just go with the salt? He would be due for another dose this evening.

Here are a couple of pictures! He moves like crazy so it’s hard to get anything super clear.

I’m just getting ready to dose Kanaplex for the 3rd time. His fin looks less ragged to me—but he still has the red streaks on the edge of his fin. Where should I go from here? Does the red take a while to go away (like a bruise), or is this still a sign of active infection?

Thanks again everyone! Last question (I think 😂). Should I re-dose the salt to the level it is at currently when I do water changes, or just leave things alone in that regard?

I wound up using Kanaplex! I just dispensed it. I put aquarium salt (1.5 tsp)/gallon in the tank while I was waiting on the medicine to come in the mail. Which leads me to my next question—will mixing them cause issues? I can do a water change and re-dispense medication if needed. @Whitecloud09 This is actually kind of validating. I keep the tank pristine and I have done everything I can for this poor fish. He has kind of been sickly from day one—but I love him and I want to give him the best shot I can. It’s good to hear that slow healing is sometimes how it goes and I’m not necessarily doing anything wrong. 🙃 I never thought I could get so attached to a fish!

@Whitecloud09 @JosiahBass Thank you so much! Medication has been dispensed. When can I hope to see an improvement? How will I know if I need to adjust anything? He still has some discoloration on the end of his fin. Will the tip of his fin rot off before I see any improvement? I caught it a lot sooner this time (he came with it when I got him before, and I didn’t know what I was looking at right away.) So I’m not sure what to look for from here…it was severe enough last time that any improvement was very very obvious. He's still active, eating, and behaving normally. Thanks again!

@Whitecloud09 @JosiahBass No change in the red spot. I am seeing him drag his fin in that spot across the gravel a lot. His tail has gotten huge since he healed from fin rot the first time! Could that cause the red spot? Should I add aquarium salt as a precaution, or just continue to watch him? His water parameters are the same as above. Thanks again!

@Whitecloud09 Thank you!

Thank you so much!

We had a pretty bad round of fin rot with this guy several months back so I’m a little neurotic. 🙃 Water parameters are all good! ammonia: 0ppm nitrite: 0ppm nitrate: <5ppm He has a little red spot on the edge of his fin. He’s acting normal, eating well, and swimming around happily as I type this out I’m hoping it’s just a little injury? 😅 Thanks in advance for your help!

Gave it a try and the filter is flowing well! Over 24 hours later and everything looks great. Thanks again!

@Pepere Thanks again for the help! I have been running both filters simultaneously since you posted this, fed lightly, and tested very very often. The transition has gone well—and our fish seems to be thriving!! We are getting ready to go out of town, and I want to get down to 1 filter canister before we leave (for simplicity sake for the guy watching our pets.) Would it hurt the fish to put the old filter cartridge in the new filter canister behind the newer (but already cycled) filter cartridge? Thanks again!!

Hey there! Has anyone used Bio-Chem Zorb to remove tannins from their water? I have used it for over a month and it did its job! After redoing some of my aqua-scape I don’t think I need it in the tank anymore. Can I just remove it, or is there some sort of process I need to go through to safely take it out? Thanks for your help!!

@Pepere That is good to know! In this case it was definitely dirt (one more water change really cleared it up!)—but I have heard of bacterial blooms like that happening. I transferred him about 24 hours ago. So far he seems to be tolerating the change well! How long would you leave his old filter in for?

Well, when I tested this morning ammonia was 0, nitrite was 0, and nitrates were somewhere between 5-10. I did a good water change early this AM, (and actually had to do another late in the afternoon because the driftwood I added the other day made the water super cloudy. 🤦🏻‍♀️) I think everything is finally on track?! If at all possible, I would love to do another water change to get the water crystal clear before I switch him over. Can I do that now or should I give it a day or 2? Honestly, I planned to still add the filter from his tank now when I switch him over. I figured why not. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Just as a precaution. @Pepere The tank is 10 gallons, and this is for a goldfish. (I know that’s not nearly big enough! He will actually be in our pond at our new house once we move in a couple of months. Just bridging the gap.) I love your explanation on the filter needing to handle the fish output, not the tank. That makes a ton of sense. Thanks again to all of you! I feel like I am learning so much from these forums. I don’t know how people start in this hobby without it!

@Pepere @JettsPapa @xXInkedPhoenixX Thank you all so much for your input here! I have a lot to consider I guess. I know he’s getting bored in his quarantine tank but he has been through the wringer health wise. Decisions decisions. If his health takes a dive after I move him I’ll never forgive myself—but I’m so ready to see him in his big tank and happy. No one ever tells you about this stuff when you start your first aquarium! 😂🙃

Thankfully we already keep the food up high! My goodness this little girl gives me a run for my money. 😂🙃 I NEVER would have imagined she could figure out the syphon—but I wrong. So so wrong. No, he’s not in there yet! I will add some cycled material and food ASAP. Thank you!!

Okay—new problem. 🙃 I will spare you the details, but my sweet little toddler emptied the tank about halfway this morning. After cleaning up the HUGE mess, I retested the water and obviously my nitrite level has gone down slightly (about 1 PPM) is there anything I should do about it at this point? Should I add or change anything? I was almost a little impressed that she grabbed the aquarium vacuum and got it to work so fast. I was taking a little water off the top because I added some new hard scape. I was only gone for about 30 seconds. Toddlers man. They’re crazy. 🤣

@Colu I just used an old water bottle to redirect the flow until my kids go to bed and I can take the filter out and fuss with it. Literally 5 minutes later he is already acting more like himself. I don’t want to get my hopes too high—but he seems so much happier!! Already swimming around, flitting his fins, picking at the gravel, and begging me for more food, even when I’m hiding around the corner and he can’t see me. 😆 Here’s hoping that was the issue. THANK YOU! You have saved the day, yet again!

@Colu It’s a tetra whisper filter. Usually I see him “playing” in the flow but maybe he doesn’t like it anymore? We have only had him just over a month. He’s been hiding in that little “cave” and seems to be doing slightly better. Like he’s not having to fight so hard to stay off the ground. And actually, now that you mention it, he’s been ducking and hiding under and behind the filter too. I thought maybe he was struggling to breathe or something initially, but he’s not gasping or anything, and seems fine besides the laying down. Maybe he’s trying to get away from the current. I hadn’t even thought of that. Is there any way to fix that without changing out the filter completely?

@Colu It’s difficult to tell because he’s so active when I get in front of the tank, but if he’s not swishing his fins he seems to very slowly sink towards the bottom of the tank. He almost looks tired to me. Like he needs to rest his fins or something. Does that even make sense?

My little goldfish has had a rough go of things. I got him from a grocery store where he was poorly taken care of. After treating fin rot and ammonia burns (which took a long time and a lot of fussing to heal from)—things were looking up! He was happy, active, and his fins are looking lovely from all the regrowth. Then, suddenly he has started laying around on the bottom of the tank these last few days. When I walk up to the tank he swims up to greet me, and he still has his normal appetite. I’m googling a little and seeing that this can be a sign of swim bladder issues. He had always acted a little odd while eating. His tail seems to float above his head and he almost seems in a trance while he’s grinding up his pellet. Is that odd? He has always been a little twitchy and hyperactive in general as well. I feel like this poor fish has just been facing issue after issue. I’m doing my best to get him all healed up and transfer him back to his nice planted tank—but it feels like it’s just problem after problem. Poor guy. I’m sure this little hospital tank is pretty boring for him. Can this be a sign of boredom? His planted tank was having some water parameter issues so I am just waiting until those are all straightened out to move him back at this point. Unless of course he needs more treatment. Water parameters in his hospital tank are stable. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate—nothing else has changed. This morning I did add a little “cave” for him hoping that if he wants to lay down, maybe he can be slightly more comfortable and feel safer. Thanks in advance for any advice or encouragement. I feel like sickly animals must sense that I have a soft heart and will give them a chance. They always seem to find me! 🙃

@xXInkedPhoenixX@AllFishNoBrakes Thank you both so much for responding! I have 4 small plants in the tank, and hope to add more with some time. They look good and healthy so far! I was really hoping this is the advice I would get! I have a tendency to fuss over things wayyy too much. I’m glad to hear this is a situation where I don’t need to. My plan now is to wait for nitrites to drop to zero then do a 50% water change. At that point as long as nitrates are roughly 20 ppm am I set to put him in his new tank? Thanks again!!

Hi there! I’m a major newbie and I’m trying to properly cycle a tank for the first time. I used already established media with the single fish I have now. He’s currently in a small hospital tank since he recently recovered from fin rot (I got him from a local grocery store and he had a lot of problems. He finally seems to be doing well now though!!) —I’m so ready to move him into his own big tank! I started cycling by putting in 2 ppm of ammonia, and dosed stability as the bottle instructs about 3 weeks ago. A week ago I added some tank water that I swished my established filter in to try to kickstart everything. It seemed to help! The ammonia is now down to 0ppm, nitrite is somewhere between 2-5 ppm (I lean closer to 2) and nitrates are around 160 ppm. My real question is should I re-dose ammonia? I see so much conflicting info on the internet and I’m not sure what to do next. 🙃 Thank you!!