brishe Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 As some of you know i have been battling hex in our tank for a while now. I have tried everything to get rid of it and apart from our two bristlenoses, all the other fish died from it despite treatment. Today i euthanised our lovely banded gourami male(our only big fish in the tank) as he has been showing signs of hex off and on since we got him. But for the last 2 weeks he has had sores all over him (poss hthd) and internal hex also, he has been on medicated food for 2weeks and in the last 3 days stopped eating altogether and hiding in the tank, so to avoid the bristlenoses being reinfected and to end his suffering i had him put to sleep, but i am feeling REALLY bad about it as he was such a cool fish. Since i brought him and two others 5 months ago we have had nothing but problems with hex, so i am giong to do a large water change today and keep treating the bristlenoses and do daily waterchanges to try and get rid of this aweful disease once and for all!! Sorry just had to get my guilts off my chest!! (but still feeling bad!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 Yeah it's certainly a hard situation, paticularlly when you're attached I had to put to sleep (clove oil) a red crowntail siamese fighter, who was as gentle as can be, yesterday due to a kidney problem. I hope its for the best and your Hex problem goes away forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 As some of you know i have been battling hex in our tank for a while now. I have tried everything to get rid of it and apart from our two bristlenoses, all the other fish died from it despite treatment. Today i euthanised our lovely banded gourami male(our only big fish in the tank) as he has been showing signs of hex off and on since we got him. But for the last 2 weeks he has had sores all over him (poss hthd) and internal hex also, he has been on medicated food for 2weeks and in the last 3 days stopped eating altogether and hiding in the tank, so to avoid the bristlenoses being reinfected and to end his suffering i had him put to sleep, but i am feeling REALLY bad about it as he was such a cool fish. Since i brought him and two others 5 months ago we have had nothing but problems with hex, so i am giong to do a large water change today and keep treating the bristlenoses and do daily waterchanges to try and get rid of this aweful disease once and for all!! Sorry just had to get my guilts off my chest!! (but still feeling bad!) doing water changes isnt going to get rid of it, you have to strip the whole tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted April 16, 2007 Report Share Posted April 16, 2007 i would strip the tank two Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted April 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 i would strip the tank two I was thinking about doing that too, i havnt had to do that before, what is involved and what is the best way without stressing the fish too much, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMAZONIAN Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Unfortunately with Hex changes of water only give the "hex" a bit of vitalised water to increase in. Stripping and sterilizing the tank is the only way I would recommend. Good Luck with the battle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew_W Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 sorry to here about your fish. but what is hex? what causes it, and how do you prevent catching it? sounds bad so thought I better find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 hmmm, well no clear cause can be pin pointed. This disease is usually associated with stress, poor water quality, malnutrition, internal flagellates{such as Hexamita etc} & bacteria infection{such as FMB etc} In most cases the fish have a depressed immune system. This disease can be cured if the exact cause is known. The disease is first recognised by an eroded{gaps in the} lateral line. This lateral line contains several sensory organs, runs along the fishes body. Fish can survive a long time but eventually the weakened fish will die of a {secondary} bacterial infection. At the onset holes are not visible yet. In some cases a number of parasites can be found around the holes, but there is no indication that they are responsible for the holes. Specific bacteria could not be determined in the initial stages either, but do occur in later stages. If fish are infected with FMB they can no longer be saved. To prevent; keep your water clean, eliminate stress, be fussy when buying fish, feed your fish only high quality food. {beef heart, turkey meat or mosquito larvae are not the ideal food for fish.} Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayci Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 To prevent; keep your water clean, eliminate stress, be fussy when buying fish, feed your fish only high quality food. {beef heart, turkey meat or mosquito larvae are not the ideal food for fish.} Sorry, I thought these foods were excellent foods. Why is my thinking this wrong?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 The information I wrote above came from "The new illustrated guide to fish diseases" Gerald Bassleer. {beef heart, turkey meat or mosquito larvae are not the ideal food for fish.} Is on page 203. It's proceeded by, The importance of high quality food cannot be overestimated Followed by The prevent the disease, it is best to mix into the food more vegetable products or algae with extra vitamins, Sorry, I thought these foods were excellent foods. Why is my thinking this wrong?? I have given my reasons on this so many times,{no fault of yours if you haven't read, been mainly in the Cichlid section, quotes from Kjell Fohrman, in an Ad Konings book} Therefore, to hopefully save me time I will ask you this instead. Why do you think they are excellent food for fish? Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 Why do you think they are excellent food for fish? umm the internet said so? :lol: :oops: I know for oscars and discus you say homemade food and 'Beefheart' is always the first thing out peoples mouths. Although lots of other goodies are normally added too like spinach (oh yum),garlic,shrimp, few peas etc Our angels lay eggs when they've had mosquito larvae. Lately we've been feeding unbranded "Cichlid Pellets" - no idea whats in those but everyone eats them, think they're probably for africans though. Also treats of shrimps, insects, earthworms, and the occasional fish culling. Their favourite is ramshorn snails at the moment, they go spaz if they see you holding one through the glass. Everyone is healthy and happy. Only food related health problem we've had was Anabantoids + Frozen Bloodworms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herefishiefishie Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 umm the internet said so? :lol: :oops: Baa Baa :lol: What nutritional value is in these foods? Everyone says these foods are good. Why? :lol: Frenchy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 I feed my fish mossie larvae and daphnia because they are FREE :lol: They only get it as an occasional treat though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted April 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Can anyone give me some advice about how to strip a tank safely?? I have never had to do this before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 If you want to totally strip it and start from scratch hoping any possible greeblies are killed in the process, I would do it this way (others may have other, and better, ideas)... 1. Turn off the equipment (heaterstat, filter etc) 2. Remove the fish 3. Remove the plants and throw them away (if you think they are infected with something) 4. Empty all the water out 5. Thoroughly rinse the gravel then boil it. Same with driftwood and decorations. If they can't be boiled, sterilise in bleach solution. Rinse really really well if you use bleach. 6. Wash the tank out with salt and water, rinse thoroughly afterwards 7. Wash filter and media in bleach solution. Rinse thoroughly. Spread media out in sun to dry out a few days. 8. Set it all back up again. Oh, I would also wash the heaterstat etc with a bleach solution too, again rinsing very thoroughly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted April 20, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 If you want to totally strip it and start from scratch hoping any possible greeblies are killed in the process, I would do it this way (others may have other, and better, ideas)... 1. Turn off the equipment (heaterstat, filter etc) 2. Remove the fish 3. Remove the plants and throw them away (if you think they are infected with something) 4. Empty all the water out 5. Thoroughly rinse the gravel then boil it. Same with driftwood and decorations. If they can't be boiled, sterilise in bleach solution. Rinse really really well if you use bleach. 6. Wash the tank out with salt and water, rinse thoroughly afterwards 7. Wash filter and media in bleach solution. Rinse thoroughly. Spread media out in sun to dry out a few days. 8. Set it all back up again. Wow that really is sterilising the tank!! I have a few questions though, I have a aqua clear filter, would it be ok just to replace all the cartriges instead of washing them?? And i dont have another tank to put the fish in for more than one day, i can put them in a bucket for a day while i clean the tank though but i would have to put them straight back in again. Obviously i will have issues with the tank having to cycle again. At the moment the only fish i have is 7 neons,7 rummy nose and 2 bristlenoses, will they cope with this?? My other tank that i have setup is raising baby bristlenoses and guppys at the moment and i dont want them to be infected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 hmmm i had the same problem about 2 weeks ago i had the fish out for a day (i didnt have any spare tanks tho) what i did was put all the fish in a chille bin (sp) and put a hot water bottle in (for about 6 hours the temp didnt change) my tank is now fine i did water changes every day (about 20 L ) then after 5 days i cut it down to 1 water change every 2 days and now im doing it every 3 days hope some of that helped good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 20, 2007 Report Share Posted April 20, 2007 To sterilise something, you must clean EVERYTHING otherwise it will not be sterilised There is a big difference between cleaning and sterilising. You could replace the cartridges, yes. After sterilising the filter and replacing the cartridges you could run it a couple of weeks on your disease free tank before stripping the other tank and it will help the cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brishe Posted April 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 To sterilise something, you must clean EVERYTHING otherwise it will not be sterilised There is a big difference between cleaning and sterilising. You could replace the cartridges, yes. After sterilising the filter and replacing the cartridges you could run it a couple of weeks on your disease free tank before stripping the other tank and it will help the cycle. Thanks for your advice Caryl, some of my baby Bristlenoses in my small tank are now showing signs of Hex, i couldnt believe it!! The water conditions have been stable for ages now too and there has been no cross contamination either, or stress that i am aware. So i am going to put all the fish from my big tank in with them and treat the water with metro aswel as the food then i will strip my big tank down and start again. Hopefully it will all go ok, i will let you know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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