DarylB924 Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 (edited) Hi everyone! My name is Daryl. This is my first post to this forum and Iām sad to say to itās out of desperation. Iām not sure if this is like other forums so I will start by describing in as much detail as I can. Apologies in advance for the lengthy post! I have a 55 gallon planted community tank containing Serpae tetras, neons, pristellas, 5 ghost shrimp, Nerite snail and a juvenile golden Asian algae eater. Tank has been set up since January. Filtration is HOB Auqeon quietflow 50 and a 30 that are loaded with bagged media, filter mesh and fine filter floss and modified tops to hold some lucky bamboo and golden pothos. Water parameters are all stable and have been holding consistent since end of cycle(75-76 degrees Fahrenheit, ph 7.6, ammonia-0, nitrite-0, nitrates 20-30 ppm, gh 7, kh 5) I use well water and this is what comes directly from the tap. I Do weekly water changes (% varies on how many nitrates the plants used but usually about %25) typical food going into the tank once a day is either Fluval bug bites, tetramin tropical flakes or frozen brine shrimp, and algae wafers, with occasional fresh cucumber and zucchini. Ā 2 of my pristella tetras have shown some signs of bloating days ago so I switched to a light diet of shelled peas thinking maybe they were constipated because I didnāt see the āpine coneā dropsy symptoms. The 2 pristella tetras didnāt show signs of improvement and one stopped eating and separated itself entirely from the community yesterday. I woke this morning to find that the bloating went down significantly in the worst of the two but it looks to have internal bleeding and is gaspingā for air. At the moment I only have api general cure, Ich-x and aquarium salt. I donāt think this is something that Ich x will solve. I donāt know about aquarium salt helping or if itās safe for plants. (Varies Anubias, windelov Java fern, Asian water fern, Christmas and Java moss, rotala rotundafolia, AR rosefolia, mint Charlie, dwarf baby tears, Aponogetan ulvaceous, and water lilly) will general cure help this and be safe for all plants snails and inverts? Thanks to aquarium co op for all you guys do for the hobby and to anyone else who took the time to read all of this! Any suggestions are appreciated!Ā Edited June 7, 2022 by DarylB924 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 (edited) Hi @DarylB924Ā and welcome to the forum!Ā I like to use this disease chart, but instead of the medicines it recommends I use Aquarium Co Op products such as the ones in the quarantine trio.Ā But I at least attempt to diagnose with this. I wonder if it could be dropsy? Also this video was super helpful to me in regards to new fish or sick fish.Ā Around 2:57 in the video Irene says that her live plants did not tolerate salt well. P.S. I have pristella tetras too, and I justĀ ā¤ļøĀ them. Edited June 7, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 Looks like internal bacterial infection I would recommend treating with kanaplex or maracyn in food feeding a small amount twice a day for 7 days store any leftover medicated food in the fridgeĀ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarylB924 Posted June 7, 2022 Author Share Posted June 7, 2022 Thank you @Chick-In-Of-TheSeaĀ for such a quick reply! I love that disease chart and video! Iāve done a lot of internet research and have not seen either of those. They are already bookmarked and saved for future reference. I do think you are right and it is dropsy. Since my post the pristella has lost its ability to stay upright and unfortunately i am unable to turn down the flow on my HOB filters. I have it in a net that is resting on the top of the tank so it is not being tossed around by the current. Some of the Others started nipping thinking it was food being dropped in the tank. I think I am going to have to euthanize it. Makes me so upset š pristella tetras are my favorite and this one in particular was growing so well and had such personality.Ā 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarylB924 Posted June 7, 2022 Author Share Posted June 7, 2022 Thank you @Colu! I donāt think i am going to get this one to eat but I will make sure to treat the others. I am kicking myself for not having maracyn laying around. Emergency trip to the local fish store today. Hopefully itās in stock!Ā Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 (edited) On 6/7/2022 at 7:01 PM, DarylB924 said: Thank you @Colu! I donāt think i am going to get this one to eat but I will make sure to treat the others. I am kicking myself for not having maracyn laying around. Emergency trip to the local fish store today. Hopefully itās in stock!Ā If you can't get him to eat I would Qarantine him and dose tankĀ Edited June 7, 2022 by Colu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 (edited) I agree, try to quarantine him first. You can do it in a bucket or a plastic box, as long as there have been never been any chemicals in whatever container you are using.Ā Add air and heater, sponge filter. Set it up like a regular tank. Measure your water level. 10 gal if you can if you are dosing meds directly in the water. The medication instructions usually start at 10 gallon. @ColuĀ I really like your suggestion of medicating the food instead of the water. I'm sure that is less stressful to the fish. Ā Edited June 7, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea Added content Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 (edited) On 6/7/2022 at 10:31 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: I agree, try to quarantine him first. You can do it in a bucket or a plastic box, as long as there have been never been any chemicals in whatever container you are using.Ā Add air and heater, sponge filter. Set it up like a regular tank. Measure your water level. 10 gal if you can if you are dosing meds directly in the water. The medication instructions usually start at 10 gallon. @ColuĀ I really like your suggestion of medicating the food instead of the water. I'm sure that is less stressful to the fish. Ā Using medicated food is less likely to harm your benefial bacterial and is more effective at treating internal infection as most antibiotic treatments aren't adsorbed thought the skin or gills of fish so adding it to the water to treat an internal infection is like throwing money down the Drain it's just a waste of medicationĀ Edited June 7, 2022 by Colu 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted June 7, 2022 Share Posted June 7, 2022 That makes sense!Ā š Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 HeyĀ @DarylB924 How's the fishie doing today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarylB924 Posted June 8, 2022 Author Share Posted June 8, 2022 @Chick-In-Of-TheSeaĀ Iām sad to report that he didnāt make it through the day yesterday. I tried to transition him to one of my spare 5 gallon tanks with a small adjustable top fin filter that I keep running on my 55 gallon so I can use it in times like this but within minutes of moving he was floating on the top. I added the medicines recommended by @ColuĀ and gave him sometime. It was my error, I shouldnāt have waited until things progressed so bad. Iāve dealt with fin rot and Ich a few times but this was my first experience with something that progressed so quickly. Lesson learned! I also started feeding the others in my main tank with the prepared medicated food yesterday. The bloating in the second pristella seems to be going down. Might just be my imagination and wishful thinking. Iāll keep a close eye on em and keep ya posted! Thanks for your time and help everyone! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted June 8, 2022 Share Posted June 8, 2022 Aw, Iām sorry to hear he didnāt make it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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