KittenFishMom

@Colu @GisheryGoodness @quikv6 I ordered the Jungle tabs for pick up tomorrow at the local Walmart, and the kanaplex from Amazon for Friday delivery. My husband thinks we may be able to manage a daily treatment between the 2 of us. We will get more bottled spring water for the water changes. (I still don't trust the well, haven't had a chance to get it fixed yet) Any recommendations on food to help with the healing process? I could hatch some baby brine shrimp. Thanks for your support and encouragement! Wish us luck !!!

@GisheryGoodness Thanks. It been a long day.

@GisheryGoodness My Mom got sick in February and is now on hospice care at home, and my disabled son who lives with us has a cat which dying from a baseball sized mass in his abdomen. Mom and the cat are his only companions. I haven't been able to care for my fish well for months, so I am starting off pretty overwhelmed to start with. I will call local Walmart in the morning. I never notice much fish stuff there, but you never know.

@ColuThis sounds very bad. I can get the kanaplex from Amazon on Friday. I can't find the jungle fungus clear fizz tabs on Amazon. Do you know where I can buy them quickly on line? I can't see how I can get to the fish for 5 consecutive days, once I get my hands on the 2 Rx-s. Trying to drain and move the tank 30 minutes away will really stress the fish out, even if I bring the water that is in the tank with me. Can the flag fish grow new lips? Is Columnaris something that will wipe out my all guppies and tetras in that tank as well? Will it live in the plants and my 4 sponge filters? or, if I treat the tank in the future, will the plant and filters become safe again? This was the tank I had not put anything in that had touched anything from the lake. I was going to use these plants and fish to start my 55 gallon tank in the fall. I guess I am feeling rather overwhelmed. I'll post this and take some deep breaths and try to find a way to fit this in too.

My husband had to leave to come home, so I had him add a third packet of Maracyn. He says the neon tetras and the guppies seem to be doing fine. I will try to get over there tomorrow or Friday. All advice is still very welcome. Thanks

@Colu and @Fish Folk My husband went to the cottage and got some clearer photos of my poor flag fish. I think she looks worse. I can not tell for sure, but I think her upper lip is gone. My husband isn't a fish person, but his photos are much better than mine. I first treated the tank Monday night with a packet of Maracyn Monday evening and another before I left Tuesday morning, as well as adding 2 tablespoon of dissolved aquarium salt to the ten gallon tank after a 40% water change Monday before adding the Maracyn. It is now Wednesday evening. Do you think I should add another packet, or is it time for clove oil for this poor fish?

I did about a 40% water change. I dissolved 2 tablespoon of aquarium salt in the last gallon of bottled spring water I added (I waited until it was all dissolved). I added one packet of Maracyn (The amount they want you to add for 1 day for a 10 gallon tank) and 4 almond leaves. I am spending the night at the cottage, so I will add more leaves in the morning. (Still using bottled spring water because I don't trust the well.) Crossing my fins and hoping for the best.

I'm in Centrally isolated central NY number 5 blue. @Fish Folk Which option is the good option? Putting the flag fish in the pond or treating the whole tank? either way, Thanks.

Water parms Temp 78f Nirates 25 ppm Nitrites 0 ppm Hardness very soft buffer (KH) 0 pH very low (yellow, below peach at 6.4pH) cats have hidden my ammonia strips. My Mom has been very ill and I have not been able to care for my fish much since the end of February. We try to get one of us here every 2 to 3 days. This 10 gallon tank is heavily planted with my best plants and has 4 medium sponge filters going a heater and lights on timers. 12 hours on 12 hours off. I add a wonder shell when I notice they are gone. the other fish in the tank are neons tetras and guppies. all very much smaller than the flag fish. I have been feeding lightly and hoping for the best. Several days ago I noticed a white vertical spot on the side of my lone flag fish. This visit, the spot is bigger and pink in the middle. I have included a photo low. I took 5, but none turned out well. I can't stay with the fish, so treating will be tricky at best. I can keep the flag fish in this tank and monitor its progress I can try to treat the fish in the tank, with all the other fish. I can put the flag fish in my first attempt at a mini pond outside. The mini pond is full of willow and honey suckle branches and green water and daphnia and mosquito lava. The outside temp is going to drop with highs in upper 60's and and the lows in the upper 40's. Lots of great food, but stressful temps. I do not have a tank I can put the flag fish in at this time. Please give me your best guess as to what this might be and what would be the best plan of action given my very limited time and options at this point. Thanks so much!!

I have been using a flashlight and catching a large amount of daphnia on the lake shore. I have been putting them in my tanks of mostly guppies in hopes of establishing colonies to help clean the tank and feed the fish while I take care of my mom who is on hospice. I never know when I can get to the cottage, and often can only stay about an hour. Someone will ask, so these are my tanks, all 10 gallon, one has 3 goldfish and guppies. 2 just have guppies. one has guppies and 2 corys, and the last tank has neon tetras and guppies and a flag fish with a white spot on it's side that I noticed tonight. I will try to get a photo of the flag fish, but I don't think I will be able to treat it with my current situation. This situation has been evolving since the end of February when my Mom platelets drop to a life threatening level and my well got cloudy and messed up my cycled tanks. I moved guppies around trying to balance the bio loads and added lots of plants to deal with the nitrogen. The plants did wonders for the tank water and gave the guppy fry a great place to hide. This resulted in a guppy population explosion. The only fish store I found that would except guppy donations would only take a max of 20 a week. Things have been stressful and a bit crazy, as you can imagine. I got weeping willow branches to root in all the tanks, except the one that had salt for a betta. The betta died a while ago, so I am replacing the salted water with bottled spring water when I can do a water change. If life was different, I wouldn't be dumping large amounts of freshly caught wild daphnia in my tanks, but such is life. Do you wonderful supportive fish folks think the daphnia is a good live food for the fish? The fish seem to love them and go nuts gobbling them when I add them to the tanks. I am also feeding the tanks lightly with a mix of high quality foods. I can't hatch brine shrimp because I don't know when I can get back to the cottage after I set them up to hatch. I look forward to hearing from you.

@Flumpweesel Thank you so much. It is times like this I wish we were in the UK. Hospice provides an aide 2 or 3 hours a week. We have to hire all the caregivers and pay them out of pocket. I have become very familiar with the 168 hours in a 24*7 week. We feel lucky if we can get 90 or 100 hours covered. The rest of the time it is just my husband and me caring for her. She can no longer stand without someone holding her. We will keep her in her home, but it is not easy, even with Hospice to advise us. @cavdad45 Only one of us can get to the cottage where my tanks are 2 or 3 times a week. I added a lot of plants to deal with the nitrogen because we did not have time for water changes. The fry used the plants to hide, now there are way too many guppies. I asked the volunteer coordinator at Hospice to ask the volunteers to see if they know anyone who wants guppies. I ask her not to tell me if they would be used as live food. Last week I netted a lot of guppies for one of the care givers. (I gave her the tank and filter etc a few weeks ago to start a cycle) only a week later, that tank seems full again. If I take the plants out, and don't do water changes, the ecosystems will collapse. They might collapse anyway, but I am hoping only one tank at a time will go belly up. At All : Mom is staying cheerful and thankful for the time we have together. We hung bird feeders and hanging baskets of flower outside the window at the foot of her bed. The bed is parallel to and about a foot away, from the sofa we sleep on while there overnight. We try to stay within arms reach for her. She has known 3 of the 4 care givers in the past. One was a 4th grade student of hers, one waited tables at a favorite restaurant, and one worked at a greenhouse she liked. She taught the younger siblings of the care giver we are interviewing tomorrow. I stopped at the cottage today. There are mushrooms growing out of the floating driftwood. That is a first for me. I will try to get photos next time.

Mom entered Hospice today. At some point I will have time for frequent water changes, finding glasses that enable me to sort guppies by sex with my cataracts, and find someone who will take most or all of the guppies. Until then, I will add more plants, feed lightly and spend as much time and energy as I can with Mom. I didn't know Mom would get this sick, this fast when I got the guppies in January. Mom has been very ill for 9 weeks. Some things are just hard to plan for. One of Mom's care givers is taking the goldfish and some guppies which is a big help. The bettas died. I will soon be down to 2 corys, a handful of neon tetras, and way too many healthy guppies. Thanks to everyone who has been helping me find a way to keep my tanks going through all of this. I never could have done it with out the CARE forum!!!

I have been caring for my tanks part time while caring for Mom more than full time. Adding lots of plants have helped the tanks, but all the guppies are having guppies. I have way too many. I called the LFS to get details about giving them guppies. They are an hour away and will only take 20 guppies a week at the most, as a donation. I have guppies having guppies in all 5 of my tanks. I had thought I could sort them somewhat in an afternoon and take most of them to the LFS. But that isn't going to work. I guess I could buy a fish to turn the guppies into live food, but I like the little guys and don't really want to watched them get munched on. Right now, the tanks need the plants. and the guppies fry are hiding in the plants. I could set up a "pond" in a wadding pool for the summer, but have no place for them in the fall. Any great ideas out there? I don't have time or interest in trying to sell them. KittenFishMom in the East Finger Lakes in NY state.

The weeping willow branches are I got on the side of the road, are very long and thin.. I can put the cut end in my tank the roll the leafy end in a loose circle and put it next to the window glass, behind the shade, so the plant is in full sun, while the tank is out of the sun. I may put a hook above or on the sides the window to tie the branches to keep them from dropping away from the glass.

@PineSong I have been fishing for Bullheads for Mom. I take them to her house alive in a dark covered tote and clean them just before I cook them so they are super fresh and low stress. It is one of the few things she will eat very much of. I put the pike back in the lake and have caught one bullhead. I hope to catch more. The water conditions are right for them. I will take them to her tomorrow. I agree I think my mind is more tired than my body. When I am not caring for her directly, I am trying to find trustworthy caregivers, scheduling, figuring out who worked when and figuring who has been paid for which hours. I have power of attorney, so I have to have a complete paper trail of everything. Hopefully things will start to settle into place soon.

@OnlyGenusCapsWe will stop the Rx to increase her platelets and try to get her GI track back on track. then possibly start a new Rx. I was fishing for bullhead and just caught a Northern Pike from the from lawn here at the cottage. After a quick photo shoot, it is back in the lake Note: For those interested in such things. I used a large circle hook and a chicken heart off the front lawn. (Chicken hearts are SO much better and cheaper than worms. They last ages in the freezer. Freeze a single layer in a zippered sandwich bag. Transport several stacked bags to keep cold. Use whole to avoid catching fish too small to clean. Use semi-thawed stationary bottom bait, as the blood in the heart chambers thaws and it draws the fish to the bait. Thaw and cut into strips to attack minnow and worm eating fish. Great for people learning to bait a hook, because chicken hearts stay still while being put on the hook. Heart muscles are very strong and stay on the hook cast after cast after cast. )

@OnlyGenusCapsI have lucky bamboo in an HOB, It is doing more than the Mangrove, but not a lot. I had great luck with turnups earlier, you can search of "turnup triumphs" etc in the forum for photos. I just haven't thought of them while in the store. Too much on my mind. Turnips are cheap and grow fast if you just rest the very bottom in the HOB's water flow. Mom has an appt at 4:40. Only one person can go, so my husband who is stronger lifting her in and out of the car is going. I will be patched in by phone. Mom may decide on Hospice. I think it will depends on what the Dr says. I'm very tense.

@OnlyGenusCapsI have mangroves in the tanks, but have had very little growth on them. Until Mom got suddenly very ill, I was not letting nitrates get above 40 mmps. I just skimmed the article they said nitrates could go much high without hurting the fish. I just wish the well problem had not messed up my nitrogen cycles. I'm using Fritz 7 and Stability and it is coming back into shape. I'm trying to keep myself from testing the tanks because I don't have time or energy to do water changes. The guppy fry seem to be eating the solids produced by the bigger fish, so even while I am feeding lightly, they are growing surprisingly fast.

@Tihshho I am spend most of my time caring for my very ill mother at her home. I can only spend a very small amount of time every few days caring for my tanks. I was going to euthanize my fish, but the folks on the forum told me ways o keep the tanks going. It is early spring here, so the willow should take a lot of nitrogen out of the water as they put on new growth. I spread my guppy fry out into all 5 10-tanks, hoping some would live and others might feed the bigger fish. Most of the fry are thriving and increasing the bio-load. As soon as I have the time and energy, I will sort and give most of the fry to a local fish store. In the mean time, I am feeding lightly and topping off the tanks with bottled spring water (and wonder shells) because we had well problem just when Mom started needing 24*7 care. When things settle down, we will get the well repaired. The willows are not a long term plan. They were in a pile on the road side on my way to the cottage. They are covered with tiny young leave. I hoped I could use them to control nitrogen for a while. Everything is in a holding pattern, while I trying to care for Mom and my tanks. Of course, Mom comes first. I will re home the willows when I no longer need them.

@PineSongI wanted them to consume the nitrogen in the fish tanks. I don't have any place to plant them once they are grow roots.

I picked up a bunch of weeping willow cutting on the side of the road today, with the thoughts of rooting them in my tanks. A friend told me never to plant a weeping willow near a parking place because it will weep sticky sap all over your car. If I put these cuttings in my tanks, will they drip sticky sap all over everything? Should I save them for an outdoor pond instead? Thanks

I would fear being tickled to death by the ghost shrimp.

Something lke this might work, but I am not sure what size I need. https://smile.amazon.com/ASR-Outdoor-Classifier-Sifting-Prospect/dp/B06WVKHX98/ref=sr_1_13_sspa?crid=1FBYPE0FC0D6C&keywords=size%2Bsifter&qid=1650163090&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=size%2Bsifter%2Clawngarden%2C189&sr=1-13-spons&smid=A165HF78ROWQQM&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzNTM1Tk1MUkFIVEJKJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTQxODU2M044QkFUNU0xMzE1TCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjY0OTE0SDhGOVkwWFc2RTYwJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfbXRmJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

The next time I am at the cottage I want to quickly sort out guppies for the local fish store. I have been looking on Amazon and on YouTube for methods. One video suggested using spider strainer ladles. I wonder if there are nets with different size holes, or colanders with set hole sizes that will sort the guppies the way nesting coin trays keep quarters in the top trey, and nickels in the next and pennies in the next and dimes fall through to the bottom. I won't have time or energy to do a lot of selecting and culling and such. I just want to keep the adults and the fry that are too small and put the middle size guppies in a bucket for the fish store. I'm not looking for perfect, or exact, just fast and low stress for the fish and for me. Any advice would be great. Mom is not doing well. I caught another bullhead for her today, but I don't know if she will feel up to eating it. I was hoping get get another one, but the wind is kicking up and the winter driftwood is snagging the fishing lines. Also caught 2 mudpuppies. I need to release them after attempting to gently removing the hooks they swallowed. I use circle hooks, the the mudpuppies have a good chance of living with the hooks inside them.

This is forum is very supportive and helpful, but I realize a lot of this thread is off topic. I hope the admins don't mind. Mom spent most of the night in the ER, came home at 3:00am and has an appointment with dr at 1:00. I watched all the results from the tests come in on the portal. I noticed TSH was high, so maybe they can give her a bit of thyroid to help improve her strength and energy level. I have my fingers crossed. Will try to check on the fish tanks today or tomorrow. Best of luck to all who are struggling with difficult times in there lives. Thank you all so much !! @CoryThis forum is like a nice supportive safe school of fish where everyone watches out for everyone.