farmchick Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 We have a parrot cichlid that is at the surface of the tank and losing its colour, as in its almost white!! All three parrots were doing this about a week ago but seemed to come right after a big(ish) water change, now only one of them has started doing it again. It is currently in a 550 litre tank with: 4 x pleco 2 x clown loach (1 really big one) 2 x jewels 2 x jags 2 x brasilliensis (sp?) 1 x ghost knife 2 x parrots no one else is behaving strangely. We have salt here but not sure how much to dose the tank with? Can anyone tell me how much to use without harming the loaches and the plecs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gannet Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 take some water from the tank put into a bucket put salt in there then put parrot into bucket... depened on type of salt depends how much u put in... (will say on packet) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted March 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 thanks Gannet Its a packet of Rock salt from the supermarket :oops: Its got a good recipe for cooking but not for fish dosing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gannet Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 cant say ive used tht i normaly use tonic salts that i get from the pet shop i work at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted March 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 thanks again Can i use the rock salt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxglove Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 should be fine. Rock salt doesn't usually contain iodine, or "flow" agent, which are what you need to look out for in salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted March 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 thanx all, the tests have all come back with high nitrites, nitrates and amonia. This is one week after a water change (approx 200 litres). We have checked for dead bodies but everyone is accounted for so no reason for the spikes really??? 4 days after the water change the filters were unclogged and the flow is great. We are running 2 x 1200 lph cannister filters and are just about to plug in a fluval 204 to help. Will see how that goes before bathing the parrot in his salt bath. Thanks for the link Alan, will be good for future reference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Kirstee, how long has the tank been set up for? When you cleaned the filter did you use tap water or something else? Your tank as it stands now should have a BIG water change. What source is your water?? If it is treated town supply, you will have to treat for chlorine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Hi, with regards to rock salt I use it at every water change at 1 gram per litre of water that I have removed and am replacing. This is because salt doesn't evaporate when the water does so you have to be careful that you are only putting salt in to allow for the amount in the water that you have actually removed. Doesn't hurt my fish but I don't know about the type you have. Hope this makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 I have used salt with my plecs a few times at the 1Tbsp/40L dosage and they were happy as larry. That is the dose i see reccomended often for tanks with scaleless/sensitive fish (plecs, your loaches and knife etc) but do keep an eye on them *just incase*, every fish reacts differently You havent changed foods recently have you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted March 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Kirstee, how long has the tank been set up for? This tank has been running for about 3 months but it was set up using all of the existing water from the old tank and the same filter When you cleaned the filter did you use tap water or something else? The filter got a light rinsing with tank water, straight rain water basically. Your tank as it stands now should have a BIG water change. We did a big change last night, approx 200 litres. Luckily it rained so we dont yet have town supply water in our tanks. What source is your water?? If it is treated town supply, you will have to treat for chlorine We havent had to use town water yet. We have 2 large water tanks for the house, one is concrete and the other is plastic. Thanks for everyones help. The parrot has some of his colour back this morning but is still hanging around at the surface. The confusing thing is that everybody else is just fine. We're not sure what has thrown the ammonia and nitrates/nitrites sky high between the last water change as we havent done anything different. If he is no better tonight we will put him in a bucket and treat with salt I think. There doesnt appear to be anything externally wrong with him. Hes not bloated, definitley no white spot present, hes just doing a lot of gulping at the surface Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted March 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 He died. My sister has just run another lot of water tests and the ammonia is off the chart Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? Its very disheartening and shes reached the point where she is nearly ready to give up. Would ammo-lock help in this situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Another water change is needed. That one was probably more damaged gillwise than the others. Just keep doing the water changes while the filter catches up. Sorry to hear that your fish died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted March 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Thanks Alan We are going to do another water change now and see if that helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snookie Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 major airation can help (Sometimes) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted March 12, 2007 Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Have you tested the water before it goes into the tank?? Maybe there is something in your water tanks, ie dead bird, bugs etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted March 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2007 Have you tested the water before it goes into the tank?? Maybe there is something in your water tanks, ie dead bird, bugs etc. My thoughts exactly, but no, all is good with the tanks outside, if anything the PH is a bit low but if that was our problem we could fix it easy :-? major airation can help (Sometimes) We have 2 airlines in there at the moment and 3 spray bars but just dont seem to be winning the battle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 tested the tap water for ammonia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 did you spill some sort of chemical that may have ended up in the tank?? what sort of food to you feed them?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted March 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 tested the tap water for ammonia? Yep, 0 did you spill some sort of chemical that may have ended up in the tank?? what sort of food to you feed them?? Nothing that anyone is owning up to. The tank has now had 3 large water changes and an extra cannister filter put on it. Everyone still seems okay, it was just the one Parrot that succumbed Thanks for everyones help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 Sorry to hear you lost your guy farmchick I hope you get on top of things real soon.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmchick Posted March 13, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 thanks Afrikan Its the clown loach who we REALLY REALLY dont want to lose. At 25cm+ its a bit special . Not saying that anyone else is allowed to die :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 I know what you mean.. you always have your favourites huh.. even tho they are all special, there is always one ya seem to be drawn to, like me.. I am drawn to our old Jack Dempsey :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snookie Posted March 13, 2007 Report Share Posted March 13, 2007 only fish people know to other people its only a fish ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warren Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 I used to have a problem with my tap water. Nitrate, nitrites and ammonia were 0ppm but 1 week after a water change my nitrate were 140+. The filters were ok and managed to cope with converting the ammonia and nitrite to less toxic nitrate but I could never get the nitrates to drop. After 2 big water changes the nitrate would drop to around 50ppm but over the next week it would rises steadily back to over 140ppm. In the end I had the water tested and contacted the local council. I was advised the well in my area came up through an old forest. While the water looked good on test kits it was loaded with dissolved organic mater that broke down in the tank. This was confirmed by the local lab (very expensive test as well!!). So, there was the reason for the high nitrates... Maybe there's something non-toxic and organic in the water tanks creating the issue. If you can't get the ammonia level down doing water changes, you'll need to find the source. Maybe it's the water you're using for water changes. Maybe it's something else in the tank breaking down - a rotting log, detritus in the substrate etc. Logs can rot from the inside out if they have a soft center. Do you use UGF? If so, when was it last cleaned well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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