Southerrrngirrl

lol I used Yahoo! babel fish and put in the above sentence as Dixon did and got something slightly different: Please, I can press its chest? They are very likeable and glad. She would like motor boat of them. :lol: Yeah I don't know that I would trust the translation sites either.

So I chucked the tablet in last night and crossed my fingers. Fishy was still alive this morning so thats a good sign. He's been in isolation for what..about 5 days now and I've been feeding like a small shrimp pellet in the mornings and some bloodworms at night. He seems to be getting fatter so I think things are looking good so far. :bounce:

I have a feeling I've seen it too, no idea what it is sorry but it was at the local LFS, think it was on a tetra and it seemed to be the only one affected. I'm finding this gross but interesting. Would the removal of the parasite, say by just pulling it out be enough to kill the fish?

Did you test right after you did the water change? Of course there would be little or no ammonia present, because you just changed the water. Just keep doing regular water changes and test the water daily. The cycling process can take weeks. You need to be getting negative tests for ammonia for more than one day. What he said. Also, just because it tastes fine to us and doesn't make us sick doesn't mean that it won't make your fish sick..

Good recycling idea perhaps? What happens to old polystyrene anyway? I mean is it one of those items that is recyclable?

awwww..thats so sad. RIP Kashin.

Oooh pretty! Ummm.. I don't know birds, what is it?

Ahahahahaa.. I saw a face, then i saw errrrr something else.... :lol:

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=40758 In particular alanmin4304's post, saying by the time they get to the pine cone stage its too late. I've only had a few fish with dropsy and have tried to cure them, but with no success. I believe it is very hard to treat and there aren't many people around who have successfully cured a fish of dropsy.

Ok so now I have my hands on a Droncit tablet (50mg Praziquantel). I searched for the dosage and found 2mg per litre to be the most recommended dosage rate. The instructions I found were as follows: Dissolve tablet in tank water then add to tank. Wait 4 days then dose again. Wait another 4 days then do a 50% water change. Does that sound right? I've only got one tablet at this stage and the tank I'm intending to treat is an AR380 which is about 34 litres but I don't know the actual volume of water when taking in to account the gravel and two small bits of driftwood that are in there. Will one tablet be ok for now? I've noticed now one of my other Zebra Loaches that is still in the main tank is showing signs of becoming skinny. It has these "white protrusions" on both sides of the body that I can only describe as what looks like the skin being stretched over a bone and the bone is protruding, sort of like if you tightly clench your fist and look at your knuckles so I may have to catch and treat him too.

Do you mean NitrAte? Unfortunately, the good bacteria left in your canister and gravel would probably have died within a couple of hours of starting your long journey from the North to the South Island. Also I believe there is very little bacteria contained in the tank water.

There is no outlet pipe as such on the AR380. The spray bar is the same as the larger versions, but instead of trickling along to an outlet pipe at the opposite end of the powerhead, it trickles out a series of small holes directly below where the spray bar is located. I posted another topic about it and Zev has offered a solution so hopefully I've got it sorted.

Ahh I know exactly what you mean, thats what I thought. I think I can do that! Thanks!

hehehe big girl undies. Aww, I feel for you bedazzled. I too used to have my partner "deal" to the poor sick fishies, but have recently learned to suck it up and have euthanised a couple of fish this year. its for the best.

How did that work? Did it direct the water flow in a different way?

I'm wondering how to reduce the water current generated by the filter in an AR380. I have one little fish in it at the moment, and he seems to be getting pushed around quite a bit by the current, which I guess might stress him or wear him out a bit if he's struggling and working hard to stay in one place. It is a hospital tank, I've put him there to try fatten him up a bit. Any ideas on how to do this? Thanks

I have managed to separate him! Sneaky lil bugger wasn't too happy to be caught though. He's had a big feed of bloodworm and is checking out his new lil tank. The current created by the filter in the AR380 might be a bit much for him though.. any idea how to slow that down?

She's not a vet. just the owner of a pet shop. I dislike her very much, and wish I didn't have to shop there but have little option when it comes to buying fish supplies locally. I'm totally taking the drontal back to the store and asking for a refund. I did end up ringing the vet yesterday and discussed the metro, she was a bit confused but said she would do some research and see what she could find out about the disease and possible treatements.

Grrrrrr! Just got home and checked on here to see what dosage I should be doing for the drontal - according to a few posts I've read on here I shouldn't be using it. Anyone need some drontal? cost me $18.90! Could use it on my dogs but both dogs are over 10kgs and this is only for 10kg or under dogs. Can anyone tell me why we shouldn't use drontal for worming fish? I understand it has extra ingredients (my packet says pyrantel embonate & febantel). Are these extra ingredients going to harm my fish?

Thanks for that Bilbo! Good to know about the garlic. Is metronidazole not easy to obtain?.. wait.. my vet sends me dog & cat worming tablets every 3-4 months, I wonder what they are... I don't understand the poor water quality bit. I have vastly improved my tank maintenance this year, I've gone from one water change every 1-2 weeks to doing 1 bucket (approx 20 litres) every couple of days. I gravel vac everytime although not very deeply as I don't want to disturb the plant roots too much. I don't have any issues with pH, ammonia, nitrates or nitrites. I am looking at getting a canister filter though so might this improve this if poor water quality is infact the issue? Why does not not affect the other fish though? Is this something exclusive to loaches? Perhaps they are just more susceptible?

Ohhhh i see. Yes I often wonder whether she knows much of what she's talking about. I don't like having to shop there but don't have any other options, locally. Well I have some drontal. Should I start with that anyway or is it not likely to be the correct treatment?

Hmmm.. I just rang the LFS inquiring about whether they had aviverm. They asked what kind of bird it was so then I told them it wasn't for a bird but a fish.. the girl goes... ...oooook.. why? So I told her that I had been recommended this product and she went and got the manager lady who told me to certainly NOT use levamisole. She advised to get droncit instead?? AArrgh I hate getting confliciting advice.

Any ideas on the dosage of the levamisole?

Fresh as in freshly dug out of the ground or freshly purchased from the supermarket?? lol knew I should have grown my own. Crazyzoo said they used crushed garlic, I assume bought packaged from the supermarket. But I still don't know if it worked for them. I'm going to attempt to catch said zebra loach tonight and put him in one of my spare AR380s. I have frozen bloodworm, had it for a while now I hope its still ok. What else is good for fattening up fish? They normally get JBL Nova plecochips or Wardley shrimp pellets. He wasn't purchased like this though, I've had this loach for at least 3 years. He is very small and doesn't appear to have grown at all in the time I've had him. Stunted perhaps?

Resurrecting this thread. The loach I previously suspected of having the skinny disease is still alive but getting skinnier. Crazyzoo did you have success treating with the garlic? I've read about treating with levamisole hydrochloride or metronidazole? Where do I get these?