Brookey25

Hi everyone, For anyone who hasn't read my previous posts, I recently adopted a very sick little fish from a diseased tank at my workplace. He's now a very healthy and playful little fish that I want to find a really nice home for. I hope to get him a friend or 2.. but he's quite a big fish (3 years old approx). He currently lives in a 10 litre tank.. a hospital tank... and I'm dying to give him some freedom! How many different brands of tank are there? The shops where I live, only stock JEBO or Aqua One. I have had an AquaOne 380 a few years back and never had any problems. Which brand would you say is better? I know that AquaOne have increased their prices by 30% recently.... would you say that they make a better quality tank than the affordable JEBO? If you could let me know of your experiences/problems, that would be great. Thanks guys )

Caper, To give you an update on what's happened with my fish. Mr Fish is fine, and I'll be putting in an order for a 75 litre tank for him this week.. The day after posting on here, Patch came out in Whitespot again, this time worse than ever. I spent time researching exactly what White Spot is.. and it turns out I was wrong to try and wait for him to get some strength back.. I regret now I didn't just treat him earlier. So I treated him with Meth Blue Tonic.. double & triple checked the dosage amount so as to be sure I wasn't giving him any more than he needs. He seemed to be improving.. swimming around more.. but still hadn't eaten. On the 3rd day of treatment (as per the instructions), I did a water change and added some more tonic. The next few days he went downhill.. but not because of the Meth Blue. He didn't seem to be responding to the treatment at all.. the White Spot just wasn't letting up. Then I noticed his tail had turned red.. just over a day.. and one of the edges was falling off. I called both local pet shops and they assured me this was a fungal infection and that the tonic would take care of this also. I tried not to worry. The next day he'd gone downhill even further, with his whole tail covered in blood-red streaks. By the time I'd gotten home from work that night, he had barely any tail left.. it was only HALF the length it was.. and he had continued to keep it wedged up against the filter (as he'd been doing all week. I assumed because of the Itch at first). The next day, I noticed he had some fluffy fungus sort of hanging off his body.. and some of it was floating around in the water and on his tail..... I really didn't know how many more diseases this poor little fish could possibly harbour all at the same time. I owned fish for years, but never saw anything like this. This fish must've had ZERO immunity left. I was really confused, helpless and torn as to what to do. He had shown signs he was dying for the past week.. gasping for air on the bottom.. sitting in wierd vertical positions.. standing on his tail. But occasionally, he'd still swim around the tank a bit.. then go back onto the bottom.. and I told myself maybe he was just resting... I just hoped that if he was dying, that it would just happen quickly.. but I wanted to give him the best chance possible at surviving.. so I did my best to be patient. I got up one morning, towards the end of the 7 day course of tonic.. and he was starting to go belly up.. then he would correct himself.. but had stopped swimming around and his breathing was irregular. He was only a day away from death.. I could see then that I'd been far too optimistic.. and the best thing I could do was put him out of his misery. So with trembling hands and tears streaming down my face, I put him into a little ziplock bad and slipped him into the freezer. I'd spent all morning calling vets to ask for the best way to euthinaze fish (never having to do it before).. and they told me to either put him in the freezer, or chop off his head.. but I knew I couldn't do the latter. It was a horrible experience.. but I feel glad that at least I gave him a chance at life.. whereas if I hadn't of saved him from that diseased tank, he would've ended up being flushed.

I would suggest, as a percaution, the next time you do a water change, add a small amount of Aquarium Salt to the tank - 1 Tbsp per 20 litres was the instructions I was given by a very knowledgeable petshop owner. The salt helps with so many things and a small amount will not hurt your fish, even if he doesn't need it. Just be sure to try and dissolve most of it in a small amount of water first, before adding to the aquarium. Do you feed your fish Peas? I think they're the absolute best food for your fish! I feed them to my fish once a week to give them a good clean out of their digestive tract, because all those flakes do cause constipation a lot of the time. The best thing to do is vary their diet as much as possible - feed wet (blood worm) and dry foods. Peas are excellent for digestive problems and swim bladder irregularities. Once a week, I get a couple of frozen peas from the freezer, pour a small amount of boiling water into a bowl with them so they defrost, take off the skins and mash up the insides - then I feed to my fish, which they absolutely love. Keep in touch.

Best thing you can give your fish is unprocessed food, as the above post said. Try buying some bloodworm from your local pet store and defrost a cube of it once a week. The BEST food out for fish bloating, constipation, swim bladder problems.. and just a good regular cleanse of their system (like Medimucal for fish).. is PEAS. Take a couple of frozen peas, put them in a bowl, use a small amount of boiling water to defrost them in a second. When they're thawed, take the outside skin off.. mash up the insides and feed to your fish. The majority of fish LOVE peas.. and they're so good for them. I feed my fish peas about once a week, as that flake food is highly processed and can regularly cause them to get bunged up. Let us know if there's any improvement

I was lucky to meet a very knowledgeable pet shop owner.. which makes a refreshing change. I was told that if you want to increase your PH, the best way to do it is naturally - avoid chemically treating your fish if you don't have to. Most inside fish get enough tonics and dechlorinators thrown at them as it is. I've bought some Sera Mineral Salt for my tank in case the PH is too low. I haven't had to use this as yet, but the instructions tell you how much to use - you just sprinkle a small amount into the tank and this will raise the PH. It is better to underdose with the salt, rather than to overdose.. as I was told the PH can climb too high and you may then need to chemically reduce it with something like PH Down. The Mineral Salts are extremely beneficial to the fish, because they replace the natural trace elements that they're missing from their natural habitat - i.e. ponds.. where these sort of things exist naturally in the ground. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, having not used this yet.. but I've been learning these little things from my local pet shop owner.. who really knows her stuff. It's worth a look anyway.

Aww.. what a cutie!! Glad to hear you're getting a bigger tank. I have recently rescued a sick fantail and have had him in a 9 1/2 litre tank for the past month. Being a fish owner previously, I can tell you that once you upgrade to a bigger tank, you'll realise how much less work a larger home takes to maintain. Sometimes I feel like all I seem to be doing is siphoning loads of waste out of my tank! Anyways, I haven't had much experience with Dropsy, but I would say from looking at those pictures, that your fish looks pretty happy and healthy to me! I'm not sure what could be causing the gill problem.. but I'd say just to keep an eye on it.. make sure it doesn't get any worse. It could just be a sign that he's a little overweight.. as after reading this post... I'd agree that I've noticed the same thing in my own Fantail.. and he's beefed up since I've been feeding him his favourite food - bloodworm. He COULD be bloated due to constipation, which is really common.. so keep a regular eye on him to see whether he's going to the toilet and doing healthy poos. Constipated fish tend to do stringy poos.. or little short ones. The BEST thing to do, regardless of whether he's constipated or not.. is to defrost a frozen pea once a week and feed to him without the skin - just the mashed up inside part. Most fish love them.. they're excellent for bladder problems.. and constipation.. or just great to clean out the digestive tract. I do this for my fish regularly.. kind of like Medamucil for your fish Let us know how things go.

Hi everyone, I've just had the latest water tests on my fish I've posted about. I was wondering if someone could give me their opinion (I have yet to learn about nitrates or ammonia). Mr Fish's Results: PH 7.4 Nitrates 50-100 (on the peice of paper I was given at the pet store, they had the word "High" written underneath "100") Ammonia 1 Patch's Results: PH 7.6 Nitrates 0 Ammonia 0.5 If you could give me any ideas about what these mean, I would very much appreciate it. Patch is very sick at the moment and I'm not sure what's entirely wrong with him. If it's his water quality, I can at least help that.

Thanks Alan, Do you know what the best Parasite treatment for White Spot would be?

Hi, I've posted a couple of threads explaining the situation with my orange fantail "Patch". Patch is a very sickly little fish that I adopted from a diseased tank at my workplace. So I can't be sure of what he's had in the past, but I know the week before I took him home, he had Herpes.. now he has Whitespot... I suspect his poor little immune system has gone through everything. Anyway, he got stressed after a water change last week when I was attempting to fix a faulty filter and my hands were in the tank too long. Next day - he was covered in white spot. I tried Meth Blue, but he was gulping and gasping away 24 hours later (I have a pump, airstone and filter in 14 litres of water so he wasn't stuck for oxygen). I thought that any minute he was going to die.. he was breathing all irregularly.. so I panicked and took 50% of the water out that night.. after standing the water for an hour. It was either that I thought, or watch him die. He seemed to weak.. unable to even hold himself up in the water.. and had gone downhill significantly after the Meth Blue.. so I thought I'd leave him alone for a few days to wait for him to get some strength up.. calm down.. and I could resume whatever treatment. Now, his whitespot has disappeared! I don't think there's anything at all left on him! He had the Meth Blue a week ago, since then I've done 30% water a couple of times this week, because he hasn't eaten for a long time.. I needed to get all that leftover food out. His tank is now pristine.. and I have started him on Melafix. I know this doesn't treat White Spot.. but he does need something. Since he became ill like this, part of his tail went bright blood red and also has red streaks in it. I suspect he is sick with something else too.. as he's missing the majority of his scales which haven't grown back yet. I've only had him for 2 weeks.. so I can only speculate what would've caused this. I thought it would be safe to try him on the Melafix first and see if there's any improvement with that. I'm too worried about the Tonic killing him. Because the White Spots have disappeared, does that mean I don't need to worry about that now anyway?

Hi, I'm relatively new to this site and have recently posted the story in this thread about my fish (Patch), who has a severe case of White Spot. His immunity is extremely low, and he didn't react well to the Meth Blue.. so I panicked and did a 50% water change to remove most of the treatment from the tank, as I thought he was going to die any second when his breathing suddenly became irregular and he was gasping. I have been surfing the net and read about a remedy called Pimafix, which by the looks of it, is in the same category as Melafix - not as harmful to fish, much gentler - but a natural ANTIFUNGAL remedy. Is anyone aware of this treatment? According to the news sites I've read, you can even use this in conjunction with Melafix. None of my local pet stores stock this, so I was wondering if it's only a something that exists outside the country. Let me know if you have any ideas. Thanks

Hi Scuba Sam, I'm not sure if I'll be able to help, but I do have recent experience with Furan 2. Just something important to remember - this is just about the most toxic fish medication that exists - so just make sure you dose exactly according to the instructions on the packet and ALWAYS wash your hands immediately after using. I actually gave my fish 2 courses of Furan 2. I'd adopted him from a diseased tank at my workplace.. and he was covered in Septicemia with internal bleeding. The Furan worked like a Miracle - even the woman at the local Pet Store was discouraging me from buying anything for the fish because she was so sure he would die. So in my experience, Furan 2 is highly effective if you dose correctly and the fish is sick enough to warrant using it. Otherwise Melafix is another excellent option.. but it depends on how chronic your fish's illness is. Now that I've reduced the Septicemia on my fish 90%, I have put him on a couple of courses of Melafix with a large break between.. just to help clear that last little bit up. You must be aware that Furan 2 can really make the fish feel awful. I gave my fish 2 4 day courses, with a short break in between.. and it was really touch&go.. was sure I would lose him. He sat on the bottom for the majority of the time, but I fed him his most favourite food everyday (defrosted bloodworm).. because I just tried to make sure he kept eating and kept his strength up. I think that was probably the most important thing. Also, you must remember to have the tank as oxygenated as possible! I was lucky to have met a local pet store owner who helped me through the process step by step and was very knowledgeable with fish. Even in my 9.5 litre tank, I had to have a pump with a giant airstone. A filter without the activated carbon would also be ideal as well.. as I was told the fish prefer the current it creates in the water. I was stressed to make sure there were "as many bubbles as possible". I followed their instructions and it all went well Also - I think it's good that you've seperated the sick fish. It sounds like they have different illnesses and no 2 fish will react to the dosage the same. You can monitor them better when they're on their own.. and they shouldn't have to worry about fighting over food anyway. Keep in touch. I hope some of this advice has been helpful!

Thank you so much for your replies. I really appreciate you taking the time to read my extremely long email. But I thought it best that I give you as much information as possible. The sad thing is that I because I've adopted these fish while they're sick, I can only imagine what they must've been through previously - especially Patch. I suspect he's been transferred to numerous diseased tank in his short little life.. and his immune system is just worn thin. Anyway, to answer your question HANS, I live in Taranaki, North Island. I did a 50% water change for both fish tonight. I know that Mr Fish's only problem at this stage is the fact I don't have the proper equipment for him i.e. a filter - but otherwise he's almost 100% healthy. Patch handled the water change reasonably well.. he's still hanging in there.. but I was shocked to discover his tank is just FULL of old food that I had thought he'd eaten.. but really it's just disappeared under the rocks over the past week. Tomorrow I will have to do another water change to get rid of the rest of it. He can't live like this. This goes to show though, that he hasn't been eating for over a week now. I only feed him small amounts, but it sure builds up when it's not consumed. He remains on the bottom of the tank, breathing very fast, with small but rapid gill movements. The White Spot has improved dramatically on it's own. I know that I need to be using the Meth Blue for this, but I'm just worried about him being so weak at the moment and not being able to handle it. I suspect he has much more going on internally than just the White Spot I can see. I really hope I'm doing everything possible. I'm taking both fish's water to the pet store tomorrow for the usual round of tests to see if things have improved. Thanks again for your help.

Hi, My name's Brooke and I'm new to this site. I have previously kept fish, but not for a couple of years now. Recently and on seperate occasions, I adopted 2 very sick fish from the tank in our workplace - as they have absolutely NO idea how to take care of fish.. and I just couldn't watch these dear little things suffer anymore. The first fish I named "Mr Fish" (lame I know, but it just caught on..). Mr Fish lives in a 9.5 litre tank. When I took him home, he had chronic Bacterial Septicemia which had led to internal bleeding. I treated him with Furan 2 and he's almost entirely healthy - aside from a very small millimetre wide white patch left on his tummy, which I have given him 2 courses of Melofix for.. but I am not too worried about this.. as he's almost 100% healthy now and I keep a close eye on that patch. I'm just trying to give him a break from the horrible medication he'd been on. Mr Fish lives in a 9.5 litre medicine tank with only a pump and airstone, as I wasn't sure whether he would survive. But I'm on the look for a new tank now. I was lucky to have saved Mr Fish from what I thought was certain death.. but I haven't had as much luck with my new fish - "Patch". Patch is about 1 year old, an orange Fantail with beautiful long fins and some small black markings (possibly crossed with another type of fish). I adopted Patch after I had regularly seen him in the tank at work, in odd positions - sitting on his tail. He has lost most of his scales and is the most skittish fish I have ever seen in my life! In case you're wondering - I have seperate tanks and equipment for both of them to avoid cross-infection. Patch lives in quite a big tank, but only 14 litres of water is in the tank at this stage because I've been medicating. He has a filter, pump and airstone. I was surprised how well he handled the move to my house, as he perked up straight away.. and for the first week - he was very erratic and hyperractive.. continuously swimming back and fourth as if he had endless energy (this is not behaviour I had seen with him at work). If someone came too close to the tank, or he was startled in any way, he would immediately retreat to the corner of the tank and begin shallow breathing.. and it would take about half an hour for him to recover before he began swimming around crazily again. The first week I got Patch, I had him on a course of Melofix, but mistakenly hadn't taken out the activated Carbon, so this doesn't really count. When I went to clean out the tank after his 7 day course, I couldn't get the filter to start back up and this meant I spent much more time with my hands in the tank than I would've usually.. when water changes are usually just such a quick in-and-out job. The next morning, his fins were absolutely covered in white spot. So I bought some trusty old Meth Blue and gave him only 9 drops for the 14 litres of water he lives in. I left him in the Meth Blue for 24 hours, and during that time, he'd begun standing on his tail again.. he was spending time at the bottom of the tank.. breathing fast and then gasping so bad, I thought he was going to die. My family and I thought he would die and so I stood 7 litres of water for half an hour, and then did a water change (I know this was wrong, but this is how terrible he looked). Since then, he has been lying on the bottom of the tank, opening and closing his mouth extremely fast and his gils are barely (if at all) moving. He does try to swim up, but it seems that he is so weak, he can't even hold himself up in the water. His top fin is permanently down and remains covered in white spots, as does the rest of his fins. But this has improved a lot from what it was. Part of his tail has also gone red and has bloody streaks through it. I've been told this is from poor water quality. When I did the water change, I put Stress Zyme, Stress Coat, and the recommended dosage of Rocksalt in the water. I've been feeding him peas without the skin, defrosted bloodworm, sinking granules... but he isn't even eating now. I suspect he may be braindamaged now? He's been like this for 4 days constantly. I have left him alone, thinking that any drugs would push him over the edge.. and thought the quiet time might help him recover. I have spoken to both petshops here, and they tell me I've done everything possible - but I just don't want to give up on the little guy yet. I have spent hundreds on all my fish equipment, but have yet to buy an Ammonia or Nitrates Kit. I had the petshop test these for me. Patch's nitrates and ammonia were fine, but his PH was 8+. I will be using PH Down after a water change I will do tomorrow. Mr Fish (has no filter). and his nitrates and ammonia were apparently off the charts. Mr Fish has black edged fins and that small white patch of Septicemia, but is in otherwise perfect health. I really feel like all this time, effort, money and love I've given these fish has caused them more harm. If you have ANY ideas on what I can do for Patch to save his life - I'd love to hear from you. Thank you for reading & I'm sorry this has been so long! Look forward to hearing your thoughts.