Krissie

she eventually ended up upside down, completly, with what looked like pus coming out her back end. We felt the best thing for her was to end her pain, and we did. It was hard to do, but she really was a mess. IMO she was probably egg bound, which led to an internal infection from the eggs going bad inside of her.' Nothing was helping and i felt so sorry for her. Sometimes it's the best thing for the fish. cheers guys

Right so i was asking about salt baths in the beginners place but it turns out that a Salt bath is not working, which leads me to believe that i have mis-diagnosed my fish. So... i have a female Krib, about 2 yrs old, who has been headstanding for about 4 days now. She has not eaten ( as far as i can tell ) in about 2 weeks. She is fully and darkly couloured in her breeding colours, but her mate is not interested this time round. She is quite literally pushing herself around with her lips, but more often than not, is stuck to the filter intake grill. I caught her last night, (with my hands as she is not capable of going anywhere fast, if at all ) and felt her belly area. It was soft and supple, not hard like i would expect from a blockage (either gas or poo). She did a poo, it was like a tiny blueish green piece of ultra fine cotton, about 3mm in length. So not sure if she is constipated. She has had epsom salts added to her tank, 1 tblspn - 20 ltrs. She has been offered ONLY shelled mashed peas to eat. Im stuck as to what else to try. I though this maybe a side effect of the furan-2 i was using a few weeks back to treat for columinaris (she was never sick, but 2 tank mates died so i treated as a precautionary. Any ideas.... This is really frustrating! 2 years with no health issues and now a whole lot in a row!!! :-? Cheers

all the eggs were thrown out by dad and quickly gobbled up by the others in the tank. I think the meds may have damaged them, although most looked ok to me. It was the first time for the dad looking after eggs so that may have something to do with it too. cheers for the help though guys.

I am starting this subject up in the disease section.... the salt bath did nothing that i can see... so why is she 'headstanding'? will ask in the 'disease' section. cheers

Cheers Sharn, i'll will try that when i get my hands on some garlic. All these little tips you pick up on the way... i love 'em!

had not thought about her being egg bound.... would she be 'headstanding' from that though? am still trying to tempt her with the peas, and am not offering any other types of food. She is in my 'Q' tank with 1 Angel, 5 Bleeding Heart Tetras, and her mate. (anyone in Ak want a stoopid angel :roll: ) I did a google and the two main reasons i found for headstanding were constipation or swim bladder, so i am just assuming that is what is wrong with her. I will try her in a salt bath tomorrow (epsom) and see how she goes.

Can someone please give me an 'idiot proof' run down on how to give a fish a salt bath. I have a female Krib who is headstanding, and looks a little bloated. She is still in full breeding colours, so i'm guessing she is not 'sick' as such, and may be a swim bladder or constipation problem. Have tried to get her to eat the peas, as required, but she is not eating at all. Have also put a small amount of epsom salts in the tank, (1\2 tblspn to 20ltrs) but there are others in the tank with her that i don't want to dose up with salts. So.... salt baths.... temp of water, how much, how long, things to watch out for etc. Cheers

still no mate for him, and he is still sulking! Still spending all day sideways under the log. looks odd, but he seems healthy enough.

He looks fine apart from this thing hanging out of him, but i don't think it is poo... Also... I just got back from Jansens Mt Eden, and a guy there said he had the same thing on his holpo's, for ages actually. They never got sick, nor did it bother them, so i guess it is just an abnormality in this particular breed. Funnily enough, he got his from the same person about the same time i got mine, so it might be a genetic thing also. I guess if it doesn't kill him, it'll only make him stronger... Cheers

it's a hard disease to beat from what ive read online, but so far none of the others have it, although i did treat the tank with furran2 for 7 days, just incase.

Ok.. so i just had another look, caught him and got hubby to hold him still, and it is definatly comming out him bum, but it does not look alive. It does not move nor does it seem to retract at the touch. So not a worm in my opinion. But then what? Should i worry about it? It is about 4 or 5mm long, and is flat and kinda fluffy. he is still in the main tank as hospital tank has young Bleeding heart tetras in it, on Quarentine... Suggestions please.... Cheers

Noticed last night that my Adult Male Hoplo Cat has a thing hanging out of his bum. It is White, and looks a little like a feather (tapered frilly stuff off a main stem) He seems ok, happy enough, has a small wound on the spine part of his ventral fin, but looks to be healing. This worm \ feather type thing.... is it tapeworm? I've tried to google it but can't find a pic or diagram to compare it too. Need Help again guys..... Even some site addys would be cool. Cheers

we had tiger barbs and swords together when we first started out with a community tank and i found the barbs nipped the male swords tails all the time.... they say if you keep a larger school of tiger barbs they aren't so bad but i never tried more then 12 at a time and they were still into the swords.... hope this helps... cheers

If he is new to the tank, he may just be stressed by the change??? My fire eel didn't eat or come out of his hole for two weeks when we first got him, and he was breething quickly too to start with. Also if he is new, what sort of water conditions has he come from...? Our ph etc was right for him (according to the sites on eels) but his last tank had a much higher ph.... possibility.

lots of practise on spare sheets of glass too, before you try for the 'big one'... ask a glazier for some off cuts to practise on... Good wheel is also very important, the better the wheel, the easier it is to get a good clean cut. ( IMO )