AquaAries

Hello Colu! Happy Summer. Starting the day off in the fish room and thought I would ask your advice yet again. My Parrot fish has not fully recovered. Her gills are still open. She eats pretty ravenously. I feed her mostly frozen blood worms but some flake for the dither fish I put in her hospital tank to keep her company. htis has been the status quo since my last post. she has a hard time getting food into her mouth with the dip an scoop method she employs. It is so sad to watch because even when she gets some worms in half go out her gills. Her color is medium but still much paler than her male counterpart that is still in the 300 gallon. Do you think this could be a congenital issue for her and that her prior water conditions simply exacerbated her poor breeding? Anyway I was thinking of moving her today from her 10 gallon to a 40 breeder. The 40 is completely bare and empty but I thought I could create her a really nice space and maybe bring her beau over from the 300. Do you think if i can do this without stressing her too much that it would be ok to reunite the two? I am thinking this is not a bacterial /viral or parasitic disease at this point. Do you agree?

Hi there! I thought I would check in since you were so kind to lend guidance. My parrot fish is still with us. I believe she has improved, the black stress spots are gone but her color still pretty pale. She is also eating ( or at least trying to eat). Her gill plates are still wide open. She is moving around much more and comes to the front of the tank when I approach. I am wondering what to do next. I keep her tank very clean with a 20% water change every day. I replace salt and a little stress guard with each water change. In your opinion is this something that will eventually heal on its own or should I be trying to treat? I read through all of your notes in the link you provided but not sure that any of those diseases is what she has. I was thinking of trying general cure soaked in food. Thoroughly appreciate your willingness to help.

oohh I found some and its just an hour north! THAnk you thank you!

thank you! I will see if any stores around carry garlic guard. i will probably have to order it online though. maybe mix it in with repashy? My poor baby!

@colu: she is still alive, today is day 5 of maracyn, I can't say much improvement, she's not eating and stays at the top of her hospital tank where the air bubbles are abundant. she is pale with the black splotches they get when stressed. Still labored breathing. i have tried frozen blood worms and initially she went for them but cannot get her interest back. Should i just hold the course and she if she improves or try another treatment? I know this is probably dumb but would she do better with her mate? They have spawned together and were always near each other. I am trying hard not to do dumb things which I tend to do when this worried.

thank you. she is in a hospital tank now, she seems to be doing ok. plenty of air. I did but salt in the 10 gallon hospital tank (1 tablespoon) . I started her on maracyn yesterday so I guess I should continue that course. I am still baffled about the tank water parameters. The only thing I can think of is that the older strips I was using were telling me things were fine when they were not. I do bi weekly water changes in that tank and have never had any issues. I did start using a new food a few weeks ago. Maybe I am over feeding it. I really appreciate your advise. Thank you!

update ; read a bunch online, put her in the hospital tank, dosed with maracyn, airstone, heat, lights out. fingers crossed. She's not looking great. Dug out my API master water kit. Water parameters are reading very good in all 7 tanks. Don't know what on earth is going on. #fishkeeperintailspin.

I see that the way this posted it shows the two vials of strips top and bottom ( vs left and right) . The top vial is my brand new vial and the bottom was my older vial. I have a fish room downstairs and also keep tanks upstairs which is why I still had a vial upstairs. So glad I thought to check the strips! For clarification strips shown in the images were dipped in same tank at the exact same time. Yesterday I was trying to fix the results of what I was getting with that new vial. Something was already wrong with my Parrot but so afraid I made it worse. Water parameters look good based on the old vial. I have all the meds Cory recommends in my arsenal. If you have any ideas what I can do to support/save her please post.

I noticed her acting off yesterday, breathing faster than my other parrot and hanging low. Well established tank, 300 gallons, have had in place for a year. I use Co-Op strips often. recently bought a new jar and i was alarmed when the strip I used to test this tank yesterday was bright pink for Nitrate. This is side issue to be addressed but please see the images below. Both strips were dipped into this tank at same time today. The one on the left is the new vial and on the right is from the old vial that I still had some of. Based on what I was getting yesterday with this new vial I did pretty significant water change and was dumbfounded when I could not get the nitrate down. somethign is obviously wrong with my new vial. I am worried I added to her issue by stressing her with to much of a water change. Anyway please help me with my girl. Yesterday significant water change, over 50 % I am sure. Due to size of tank ( and on a sump) I syphon water out with pump and add in fresh at same time. I added salt per API salt container instructions because I could not see any clear signs of something specific to treat and thought she could use some electrolytes . I have a UV sterilizer on this tank also and no new stock added to this tank for about 2 months. This morning her color was back and I thought I was out of the woods. Now she is hanging out at top of tank in the corner. I don't know what to do. All other fish very healthy , active. The other Parrot fish is also doing very well. I Have a hospital tank all set up. I have meds. I just don't know what i am treating for and don't want to stress her by moving her without a plan. Please help if you can.

Thank you all for the help and guidance. Since my original post on the 14th... 1. have done (4) 65 gallon water changes , kept up on easy carbon ,added two power heads , (3) pounds crushed coral ,potted pothos plant on top of tank with hearty shoots already reaching down to slurp out my extra nitrates and adjusted my fluval lights down to 80%. All recommendations from the Nerms. My nitrate is lower but still at about 50 and always flirting with 100 on the strip. All the plants are gently moving with the extra flow. My GH is down between 25-75 ( on aquarium co-op strips). My KH is between 40 and 80 ( thank you crushed coral) and my ph has come up to 6.8 from <6.4. I am pleased with the progress. I ordered SAE from Liveaquaria this past week as suggested for my BBA. I was very very disappointed. All six arrived dead. I will try and not be too harsh a critic here but why the heck would they send fish to anywhere in New England with ICE PACKS in May? Such a sad and horrible experience for a lover of fish. Anyway I have learned so much from you all. I feel my 300 gallon is on its way to being rid off BBA and healthier more stable water conditions.

thank you so much for your willingness to jump right in and help!

I got it guppysnail! thank you. it is like the instructions are so simple they don't think you need instructions. Except for people like me. lol lets see if i can mange to plug it in!

I am feeling a little stupid...does this look right to you? I cannot attach my new power head to the supplied suction cup bracket. one groove on power head,,, two opposing grooves on the bracket. omg nevermind! i figured it out. i knew as soon as i asked for help i would get it. dugh

Thank you Brandon and everyone! I have a plan now and your input has really helped me focus. I have done a second water change ( about 60--70 gallons) and this temporarily reduced my Nitrate down to 75 ( using Aquarium co-op strips). Hardness came down a little too. the KH pad actually started to color up a little where it has always been zero. This morning Nitrate was back up around 100. KH is still blushing the pad. I'll do another water change tomorrow. I ordered some more plants ( watersprite), adding back the easy carbon, I positioned a large Pothos on top of the tank and dangled de-leaved tendrils down into the water which i know will root up and start assisting with the Nitrate. I ordered a power head and some crushed coral. When I have stabilized my parameters a little more i will order up some Siamese algae eaters. How many do you think? 2 or 3? Amazing support! thank you! Oh PS. I have syringes and can try the peroxide trick. I wonder if just dipping them ( saving roots out) in a solution vs syringing?

Thank you beardedbillygoat1, I wondered about crushed coral... I was confused though because what I read said it would indeed increase kH but also increase GH which is already quite high. Good suggestion for flow... Where would you position a power head on a big tank like this... at one end? Would you be concerned about my low ph for those Siamese Algae eaters? Will check out fluval 3.0 forum thread Last questionI don't know much about snails and not sure I can order them ( I live in Maine) but are they large? I think my clown loaches would make a quick meal of them.

thank you so much for your reply! I will definitely look at changing light settings. Our home water softening system I think is a salt based softener as my husband is always lugging in big bags of salt from Lowes. I agree my Nitrates are high. None of my other tanks run that high and it is part of my concern. Big fish big poop is probably part of it. I am going to increase the the frequency of my water changes for a few weeks to see if I can get it down some. My tank PH is actually 6.4 ( tap was 7.2) which is why I am concerned about adding fish. It just perplexes me that my water is soft from the tap and neutral PH but in my tank it is hard (150) and acidic. I do think I probably would have been better off without the Fluval Stratum for substrate. I feel like I am struggling to keep pace in a race when I don't know where the finish line is. LOL. I am sure the solution is obvious. I will play with lighting and step up my water changes. thanks again!

I cant image anyone will want to read all of this but hoping there is a friendly Nerm out there willing to help this baffled aquarist. I have kept aquariums for 25 plus years but only recently (after stumbling upon Cory's YouTube videos ..darn him) have become obsessed. I have 6 aquariums from 10 gallons to 300 gallons. I need help connecting some water parameter dots. No major issues but hoping someone can give me some advise on managing my 300 gallon tank ... 300 gallon tank, Nitrates 50-100 ( consistently even with regular 25% water changes) , Nitrite 0, PH 6.4, KH always 0, GH always 75-150 Tank set up for 5 months Inhabitants (3) mega tin foil barbs ( 10 inches or so), 2 large clown loaches ( 4-5 inches), 2 large leopard loaches (3-4 inches) 12" pleco * note all of these fish are at least 10years old, moved from 100 gallon tank 4 months ago Newer fish( added 3 months ago) include (2) red spot gold Severums and (5) of the happiest cutest little bubble rams on the planet & (2) red parrot fish Substrate : fluval stratum Plants: anubias, java fern , amazon sword, valisnaria ...some others i don't know name off but all getting covered by bba Light : two 48 fluval plant lights on planted light setting Water supply: well water with water softener. out of the tap PH 7.2 GH25 KH80 Filtration: Eshopps fusion flow 300 sump and two large Aquarium Co-op sponge filters Question/Issues 1. My fish are healthy and happy but I am uneasy with my water parameters because I would like to add Chinese algae eaters or Florida flag fish for black beard algae problem and I am concerned that my ph is too low for them 2. Black beard algae problem. help me please! 3. I was dosing ezgreen regularly but then worried that with my substrate I was adding too many nutrients so backed off, I was also using easy carbon but backed off that also. So hard to know if I was on the right track or not...

Ok so now I am totally regretting putting my first four stickers on my ( too small) aquarium log book! So many great ideas but really love the tackle box idea and also MoshJosh covered poster! Guess I better place some more orders!

that is a beautiful nano tank! I have 3 Nano tanks ...maybe i'll post some pics too! It is wonderful seeing that so many others are into this hobby

New to the forum but have been keeping fish for 20 + years. I am not much of a social media gal and had no idea this type of thing existed for fish lovers. I am over the moon at having found you all ! I have several tanks and consider myself kind of a slap dash aquarist with aspirations. I wanted to share my current project....I currently have a 100 gallon tank that I purchased used about 11 years ago. When I went to pick up the tank the guy still have fish in it! I had no confidence that he would do the right thing with those fish after I took the tank so I begrudgingly adopted the tanks existing inhabitants. I have now had those same fish ( 3 glorious tin foil barbs) for all that time and they have outgrown the tank. I love them dearly and have been on the fence about what to do. I know they must be toward the end of their natural lives but are healthy. I decided to go ahead and buy them a new home. They deserve it. I ordered them a 300 gallon tank! I am insane. I am spending several thousands to set up this tank for three fish that probably cost about $20.00 and likely don't have many years left. Just doubling the tank size didn't seem like enough so ...there you have it. It arrives sometime next week. I am excited, nervous, and a little overwhelmed! Glad to know you are here if I need you!

Thank you all. Love the idea of maintaining plant back up bin. One could actually make that an attractive feature of the fish room! Regarding the "white list" I am not sure. I mean I assume "white list" must mean a list of fish we cannot have here? If this is what a white list is then yes. I know when I have inquired about certain fish I am interested in my fish stores have told me they cannot order that particular species several times. They have to refer to a list of what they allowed to order. Kind of a bummer. I have been keeping fish for 20 years now though and have been blissfully ignorant to what I have been missing out on until very recently.

Good morning from 1 degree and windy Maine, I have an exciting project ahead of me. New 300 gallon acrylic tank coming my way in a few days. I jumped the gun a little ( maybe) and purchased my plants from aquarium co-op. They all arrived in gorgeous condition of course. I currently have them in a couple of Rubbermaid tubs. They are in substrate and I have a light on them. I have also given them a dose of easy green. It has been about a week and they will likely have to sit another week before being settled into the new tank. Should I be doing anything else to ensure they continue to be healthy? Wondering about CO2 or dropping in an air stone to keep water moving so less sediment on leaves. Thoughts? Also wondered if I could some how rig up my soda stream to deliver Co2. LOL... I have seen crazier things from you fishy folk.