Chick-in-of-TheSea journal

[Colu]

On 9/19/2022 at 6:12 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

@Colu @nabokovfan87 I don't think I should finish the paracleanse treatment, do you?  If camallanus, paracleanse won't work?

If it camullanus worms paracleanse will have no effective I would start treating with Expel in food 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/19/2022 at 1:13 PM, Colu said:

If it camullanus

technically, I'm not sure.  I just know the worm was brown and looked different than waste, and it wiggled on the bottom of the tank.  I'm guessing paracleanse just treats the worms that are white?

Edited September 19, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

Active ingredient in Paracleanse metronidazole and praziquantel are mostly used to  treats tapeworms skin and Gill flukes camullanus worms are usually red in color and you can see them hanging out of the anus of your fish with heavy parasites load

Edited September 19, 2022 by Colu

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/19/2022 at 1:37 PM, Colu said:

you can see them hanging out of the anus of your fish with heavy parasites load

There was at least one fish that this could apply to. I thought the fish was having a bowel movement, but I never usually see a long bowel movement attached to tetras, as one would see happen with mollies/platies, etc.  I thought hmm, ok?  But I didn't really take a closer look; I wasn't even thinking about worms at the time.  But then it was the same day I saw that worm on the bottom.  Actually within about a half hour of seeing the fish bowel.  And there was a little bit of salt in the tank.  Not even at a level 1 salt.

I know you guys are probably thinking, it's just poop!  But I'm telling you, there was more squiggles than what you see in the video.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

On 9/19/2022 at 6:56 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

There was at least one fish that this could apply to. I thought the fish was having a bowel movement, but I never usually see a long bowel movement attached to tetras, as one would see happen with mollies/platies, etc.  I thought hmm, ok?  But I didn't really take a closer look; I wasn't even thinking about worms at the time.  But then it was the same day I saw that worm on the bottom.  Actually within about a half hour of seeing the fish bowel.  And there was a little bit of salt in the tank.  Not even at a level 1 salt.

I know you guys are probably thinking, it's just poop!  But I'm telling you, there was more squiggles than what you see in the video.

What I would is watch your fish closely for abnormal swimming patterns fish may appear to shake Loss of appetite disinterest in food sunken belly if you see any of these signs then I would treat with the levamisole in  food

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/19/2022 at 10:12 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

@Colu @nabokovfan87 I don't think I should finish the paracleanse treatment, do you?  If camallanus, paracleanse won't work?

I would finish it.  I did 2 rounds of paracleanse and then did the treatment with prazipro / expel-p just to get rid of worms.  Paracleans and prazi are very similar in terms of the main ingredient from what I saw, so I essentially did 3-4 treatments of prazi with rest, salt, and the expel-p doses mixed in there over about a month or 1.5 months. Whatever it was.

The key being, most meds are more effective when digested. Expel-P is deactivated via light, so those two things needs to be considered.  I generally don't dose meds for fish into the food because I suck at it. That's just me, so I don't dose the food.  If I do dose the food it's usually repashy.

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/19/2022 at 10:56 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

There was at least one fish that this could apply to. I thought the fish was having a bowel movement, but I never usually see a long bowel movement attached to tetras, as one would see happen with mollies/platies, etc.  I thought hmm, ok?  But I didn't really take a closer look; I wasn't even thinking about worms at the time.  But then it was the same day I saw that worm on the bottom.  Actually within about a half hour of seeing the fish bowel.  And there was a little bit of salt in the tank.  Not even at a level 1 salt.

Essentially, these fish had the worms prior to your care for unknown amount of time, you're feeding good food, they are in good care now!  Once you see one, you treat it. Right now you're at the "need to diagnose it" but you're also already in QT.  Add air, salt, and then just finish up the med you're on. help them pass everything.  You can opt NOT to use standard salt in the water and do epsom salt baths, but that is reserved for a severe bloating / internal issue and you aren't at that point right now.  Aquarium salt = electrolytes and helps them with the stress of osmosis as well as the stress of meds / oxygenation.  One of those things where I do a level 1-2 most often whenever dosing meds for fish.  Even in a planted tank.

You're already in QT, no reason to stress or anything, you've been through the worst with the columnaris stuff so you're all good.  You're looking at minimum 3 treatments of expel-P right now and then monitoring them, but you also want to finish up QT and what you're in the process of now.  You add on that med as a "yep, need to use it" because you want to also treat for roundworms now.  Some species are more prevalent to it, but it's the * on the med trio anyways. It's a lot more work, it's something we all should do generally before adding to the community tank.  It's less beginner friendly because it is a multiple dose situation.  That being said, here is the video for it!  It is also on the main med trio video.  Every time I use meds I re-watch these, literally every time.
 

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Hmm.. I spent some time observing this evening. I did not see any worms or weird behavior. Everyone looks good. They were upset I turned the light on. They don’t like it. They hide in the cube or stay still. But after awhile some swam around. The mystery tetras are developing “tail lights”. Can you see them?

Looks like they could be head-and-tail light tetras. 🙂

 

I realize the lighting is not the best. Just using the extra light I have on hand.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Observation is postponed until this evening as I didn't have enough time before work.  I like to spend some time watching, to be thorough.  The one dose of paracleanse is still in there but I'm just going to go off of the ACO [preventative] instructions to leave that one packet in for 7 days. Why add more meds unnecessarily?  I don't see a reason yet, and more meds contributes to stress.  Haven't seen any more of the brown worms, and I did inspect waste that I removed yesterday, which had no signs of life.  Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me after all.  So the QT is pretty much on autopilot for now.

I did add a little salt today to help with slime coat and electrolytes, as @nabokovfan87 suggested. I'm phasing in the salt these days, 1 T. per day, as I learned on another thread that too much salt too soon will cause an ammonia spike as the bacteria go into shock and it takes them time to recover.  That's a problem I repeatedly had with salt in the past.

Edited September 20, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/19/2022 at 3:51 PM, Colu said:

I would treat with the levamisole in  food

I collected all the ingredients in case we go this route next.  The LFS had the Expel-P and the floating pellets, and I will make my own Garlic Guard for $.99 by pressing garlic cloves and letting them sit in hot water vs. the $12.99/bottle at the LFS.  The LFS only had the big bottle in stock.  

Edited September 20, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Alrighty. Everyone ate eagerly and looks fine. Even brighter tail lights today. Looks cool, but now I have a school of 2 of that species. 😞  I am wondering if that’s gonna be a problem later, like I had with Pippin being bullied.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Picked up some frozen bloodworms on Monday at the LFS.

Gave every tank some bloodworms today.  The long bloodworms looked so big for Pippin's little mouth, but he happily chomped onto it and then slurped it like spaghetti, never letting it go.  He's got his strategy down. 😄  A few fell into the snail dish.  I wonder if the snails will actually eat those.  We will see if they are there when I get home later.  I know there are some snello recipes out there that call for bloodworms, so I think maybe they would.  Even so, I gave crab cuisine as well so they've got choices.

Had reservations about feeding the quarantine tank bloodworms, but I made sure everyone ate every worm so I wouldn't find a worm later and think "OH NO! PARASITES!" 😲

Did my water change today on the 29, and as usual Snoopy wouldn't get out of the way.  LOL

Edited September 21, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Guppysnail]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:51 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I wonder if the snails will actually eat those

Mine do.  (Edit add- also spaghetti slurp style) They also beeline for the dish when frozen baby brine shrimp hit the tank.  On live brine days after a while when any leftovers slow/die they are crazy active digging about the gravel. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Guppysnail

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:57 AM, Guppysnail said:

Mine do.  (Edit add- also spaghetti slurp style) They also beeline for the dish when frozen baby brine shrimp hit the tank.  On live brine days after a while when any leftovers slow/die they are crazy active digging about the gravel. 

Very good to know. I'll have to make sure I get some down to the bottom of the tank, especially the 29g where the mob gobbles all things that float.  Of course, Snoopy always retrieves his "supply drop" at the entrance to his little tunnel.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

My last harvest from the garage. 2 sprite and 2 anacharis. It was worth it to throw some scraps in there. I got a few new plants out of it. A lot actually, even though they were small. They will keep growing.

 

[nabokovfan87]

Looks awesome.  I wish I had the know how / setup to grow some of my plants this way, especially given the whole algae issue.

The second photo, that little scrap looks like some susswassertang (in texture and what not) and in my tank I took this random bit I found and glued it to the wood.  Good luck little buddy.

I have these super tiny micro plants that are trying to grow, but every time the pump comes on for the CO2 it flies all over the place.  I have the parts to built the spray bar, but just need to make it and make sure it works.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/22/2022 at 1:07 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

I wish I had the know how

Simple.  Light for plants + dechlor water or tank water + Easy Green.  That's it.  & I just turned the light off when I went to work and turned it back on when I came home.  Just to save on power and because I wanted to view the plants while home.

It's like taking care of a flower arrangement but you have the light too.  I did change water one time in the 2 weeks because there was some dead plant matter collecting on the bottom of the vase, and a little bit of a film on the top of the water.

I believe @Guppysnail keeps aquatic plants in water on her windowsill.  Same idea.  Just to get some roots/growth so they look good enough in the tank.

Edited September 22, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I “tried” to improve the scape of Pippin’s tank a little bit. Gathered a bunch of the anacharis and tucked them all into an empty pot. Didn’t make much of a difference but at least I can see some of the driftwood now.

 

Some are so long that they still look like they are floating, but that's just the top sitting at the surface.  They must be 14-16", believe it or not.  I should move some to the 29 to hide my cords since my aponogeton crispus is looking pathetic.  But RR first for sure.  Too many limpets.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Here’s Pippin using his feeding ring.

 

And here’s some Ibises that I saw on the way to work. I call them grubbers. ☺️ I don’t usually hear them talk but one of them was the alpha or something, putting on a show or enacting pecking order. (video quality is poor)
 

I guess I didn't capture him well in the video. He was behind the power post, flaring his wings.

Edited September 22, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Internet photo of an ibis

 

[Guppysnail]

On 9/22/2022 at 9:02 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Simple.  Light for plants + dechlor water or tank water + Easy Green.  That's it.  & I just turned the light off when I went to work and turned it back on when I came home.  Just to save on power and because I wanted to view the plants while home.

It's like taking care of a flower arrangement but you have the light too.  I did change water one time in the 2 weeks because there was some dead plant matter collecting on the bottom of the vase, and a little bit of a film on the top of the water.

I believe @Guppysnail keeps aquatic plants in water on her windowsill.  Same idea.  Just to get some roots/growth so they look good enough in the tank.

My inglorious plant rooting propagation method 🤣

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I think I will put Pippin in the quarantine tank, perhaps a week before they go to the main tank.  That way he will be able to make some friends before the final move.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

This morning the qt tote got its first water change. So they’ve had 1 packet of paracleanse for 7 days as per co op preventative instructions. Also they had the level 1 salt with that. I haven’t seen ANY symptoms since that one time (suspected worm, maybe not a worm) but sometimes I see what I think is flashing. But a) they don’t like the light and b) if it’s near feeding time they are all dart-y. That’s just their deal. And I think the bare bottom confuses them.

So at this time I decided it’s not something to worry about. If it’s in the evening when they are winding down, I do not see anything that looks like flashing at all.

As a reward for completing their 7 day treatment, they got a new plant decoration! They instantly liked it and were swimming around it.

They are coloring up nicely and I am certain my mystery fish are the head-and-tail light tetra. A school of 2! 😐  Hope they do well. I guess my pristella school is going to stay at 5 then, because I don’t want to overstock and the Pristellas are all very happy and constantly doing the mating dance. Every day. Which i might add, they never did prior to having live plants.

I will keep the Pippin tank open after everyone’s move in case there are any issues. Except for the few resident snails, of course. 😉

Edited September 25, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Bev C]

i have a 20 gallon quarantine tank ,, i debated rather to use for my  new shrimp tank   i decided to get 10 for the shrimp because i like having the 20  gallon  open …having it for an emergency or fish separation  or have it to play with … with fertilizer and plant experiment  without hurting the fish 

It came in handy when Marvin was hurt 

When i started out my fish guy says it is nice to have one  open tank or tote  in case the tank starts leaking,, till you get a new tank set up 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Bev C

[Guppysnail]

On 9/26/2022 at 9:15 AM, Bev C said:

i have a 20 gallon quarantine tank ,, i debated rather to use for my  new shrimp tank   i decided to get 10 for the shrimp because i like having the 20  gallon  open …having it for an emergency or fish separation  or have it to play with … with fertilizer and plant experiment  without hurting the fish 

It came in handy when Marvin was hurt 

When i started out my fish guy says it is nice to have one  open tank or tote  in case the tank starts leaking,, till you get a new tank set up 

I always have totes on hand also for this reason. Easier than a spare tank because I can store stuff in them vs a tank just taking up space.