Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: george on June 09, 2015, 04:17:08 PM
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hope your fish are doing well and you tanks,
I have been busy past few months so not kept up with regular changes to my tank, reason is I come home and too tired to do anything even eat sometimes anyway I am putting a stop to it, because as other pets in the house the fish are family aswell
recently did a water change last week and I am due 1 this week aswell which I will be doing and every week again from now on, did have another rainbow fish die last week it had a red lump/spot on it not sure why it was there ?
i know people say fish and chemicals don't mix but i want to make my tank fresh with water changes and also by putting in a medicine in the tank for a few days or a day which will last a week, can anyone recommend a med for me please? isn't a clear tonic one good? just to get any nastys out and to make my water even fresher while doing the changes?
thanks
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or something to get rid or stop parasites please what med would you say i should get? just to use for how long it says on the bottle so then i know atleast my water is safer
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I would try water changes first as a lot of fish illnesses are caused by poor water. I know you have quite a big tank but if you could manage a couple of water changes a week for 2 or 3 weeks, it would help get the water back on track faster.
Most general tonics don't do much, I'm afraid. Treating a specific disease is better, but that means being sure which one. If the water changes work, the fish should look better and not get sick, but if they do then you'll know what to treat for.
Something like eSHa Optima might help. That's not a medication but it contains things to help boost fish's health - a bit like us taking vitamins.
Or perhaps Waterlife Nova+. That contains tea tree oil, but it will make the water smell a bit disinfectanty.
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hi sue thanks for the reply how you are well and the fish
so the med you mentioned do you think i am best getting that one?
my big BN plec died last week it was still in his hiding place ( one of my ornaments he liked )
i will be doing water changes every week as usual, filter is due a change too so gonna do that after my shower later on if not tomorrow, dont want to do it straight after shower as dont want any shower stuff going in my water so best to wait a few hours first
thanks
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Do you need to treat because of the red lump you mentioned on the rainbow fish? I have read that dwarf rainbows are very susceptible to these spots. Since we don't have very strong meds in the UK, the best one to try is eSHa 2000.
You said you were going to do a filter change - what exactly do you intend changing? I know you have an external so it's not those cartridges that so many internals come with these days. I just want to make sure you aren't going to change something that doesn't need changing ;)
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i meant that i am going to clean filter as water flow is slow i noticed
i only had 2 rainbows now the one with the red lump died
just with not having kept up with my regular water changes i have had problems with fish understandable but even when i was doing regular water changes i had some probs, i just want to make the water/tank more cleaner and healthier by doing regular changes and putting something in tank which wont harm the fish
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and to get rid of any bad bacteria or parasites, rather be safe and put that med you said in before anything was to happen if it does, it describes rubbing against plants on the info of the esha and i have saw my ram do that a few times even in the past
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If you have no sick fish in the tank at the moment, just water changes will help them. I would try doing 2 or 3 water changes in one week and see if that helps, then make sure you do your weekly water changes every week.
Rubbing on things is anything from them having an itch like we do to ammonia poisoning (and your tester should pick that up if that's the cause) to a skin parasite like whitespot just starting (though if there are no spots after a few days, that's not the cause).
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me mum said the other plec was acting funny not sure what she meant, but with having a good few fish die etc i just wanted to be safe and put something in
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so at the moment the fish could be fighting through whatever the others have but lasted out longer than the ones that passed
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As long as any cleaning is done with tank water and not tap water, this will ensure you don't remove the useful bacteria.
Do you test your water for Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates?
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i use seachem prime when changing water, and i havent checked my water in a long time as its always been fine as its a very mature tank
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Checking the water is always something worth doing if things go a bit iffy in a tank. Usually it shows nothing wrong with the ammonia, nitrite etc but sometimes it does throw up a problem.
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dont have a kit now, i will just do 2 or big water changes in a week i usually take 3 out but will do 6 twice in a week
shall i keep it as just one week doin 2 changes in 1 week or shall i do 2 weeks doin 2 changes in each week?
even if the test did bring something up to sort it out would be to do the big water changes
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I'm sure it's all fine, with the tank being mature and all, however with any fish deaths the first thing I'd do is test the water.
One symptom of skipping water changes can be a drop in PH.
A dramatic PH drop could end up killing some of the Nitrifying bacteria in the filter, which could, in turn, lead to a build up of Ammonia and/or Nitrite.
If the filter was cycling again then even a water change would only be a very temporary fix until the cycle was complete.
I had an Ammonia Spike (caused by me adding too many fish to a recently cycled tank) - Ammonia went up to almost 3ppm in 24 hours.
I performed a large water change and tested it shortly after and it was 0.25ppm. These kind of levels can significantly affect the well-being of your livestock.
24 hours later and it was up to about 1.5ppm again. I did another large water change and continued doing so for 4 or 5 days until the bacterial colonies grew to a level where they could cope with the additional bio-load.
The point is, I'd have known none of this without testing the water, and I would have lost fish.
I'm not saying that is what happened to you, but eliminating Ammonia and/or Nitrite from the equation is the easy part, then, with that out of the way, we can start thinking about what else could be causing the deaths.
I'd rather know what it isn't and go from there instead of presuming and guessing.
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To maintain our good work and high standards in having titles for posts that reflect the content, as per Robert's post about this http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,1886.msg17960.html#msg17960 , I'm hereby amending the title of this thread. :)
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am i best doing 2 water changes in 1 week for 2 weeks?
i usually just take 3 out and put 3 in every week
but i may take 6 out put 6 in then 2 days later do my normal 3 out 3 in, then the following week take 3 out but 3 in then 2 days later take 3 out 3 in then just go back to doing my normal 3 once a week
that should be ok shouldnt it ?
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To maintain our good work and high standards in having titles for posts that reflect the content, as per Robert's post about this http://www.thinkfish.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,1886.msg17960.html#msg17960 , I'm hereby amending the title of this thread. :)
ok no problem mate
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am i best doing 2 water changes in 1 week for 2 weeks?
i usually just take 3 out and put 3 in every week
but i may take 6 out put 6 in then 2 days later do my normal 3 out 3 in, then the following week take 3 out but 3 in then 2 days later take 3 out 3 in then just go back to doing my normal 3 once a week
that should be ok shouldnt it ?
When you say you take 3 out and put 3 in, is that bucketfuls of water?
Yes do 2 water changes a week for 2 weeks, but do them the same amount of water as you usually do, don't do half the amount because you do 2 changes. You want change more water in these two weeks than you usually do.
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3 buckets out 3 in yes
thanks
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done my tank and cleaned filter after hard work with my filter but anyway tank is done :fishy1:
i found some more pebbles underneath my tank in the stand i put them in a bowl and filled up with boiling water to get anything off them if there was anything, this is fine isnt it?
also i found my green scrubber to clean my glass, its like the back of a washing scrubber i boiled that aswell in water in the bowl is this ok too? one thing with the green scrubber i could see a white colour coming off it, not pure white just when i squeezed it you could see a faint white colour coming off it hopefully this is ok ?
i have took some pictures before of tank just for you all to see
i also moved things around in tank for a fresher feel aswell
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another one, i could only post so many in one post
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if you are already looking at my post refresh i posted more pictures also could some answer my latest post please about the pebbles etc thanks
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i havent added anything to tank in a long time nor have i wanted to as i dont like my tank i bought it off a chinese person and as you may know i think its been bad luck not because off a chinese man just because it was used before hand, even though i cleaned it out and went through a fishless cycle blah blah i just wanted a new brand new tank, i have had nothing but problems with this tank i have invested alot of time and money into it i love my fish just like any other pet in the house thats the only reason why i dont think i could ever sell
but getting to my point i may start adding more fish as i need another mate for my ram and only have 2 rainbows, this wont be any time soon like next week or 2 weeks i dont know why i will let you know before hand when i do, i wanted different fish i want to move up to malawis but i dont think i could ever let me current fish go so i will be sticking with them and other tropical fish from now on anyway
i need more plants and ornaments aswell as fish but i will renew again ( plants fish decor ) soon as i can and as soon as its ok to do so,
i will do my second water change thursday then wait till monday do a change then wait few days do a change then start doing just 1 change a week then
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i see you are reading now sue i have added more comments and things if you could refresh you will see everything thanks :fishy1:
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The pebbles should be fine if they were bought as aquarium pebbles and pouring boiling water over them is fine. Putting them in a pan and leaving them boiling on the cooker can be dangerous because pebbles can have air pockets inside and left actually boiling can cause the pebbles to explode. But pouring boiling water over them in a basin won't explode them.
If the glass cleaner looks a bit iffy, I'd get a new one!
Be careful about getting another ram. If the one you still have is a male it will regard the whole tank as its territory and probably won't accept another ram. If you could get a definite female, if the one you have is male it may accept a new female; if yours is female it is less likely to attack another female. The problems are that you can't usually sex bolivian rams in the shop tank, and even if you did end up with a male and female they might not like each other.
Bolivian rams are perfectly OK as single fish. I think I'd concentrate on adding other fish.
Getting more rainbowfish could be a problem too. I have read on so many sites that dwarf rainbowfish are very prone to those sores and a lot of people say they won't buy any more because of this.
If you want to get more of them, by all means try some, but also think about keeping them as just the two you have left and choosing another species to add next. I know 2 isn't the ideal number, but when you have only a couple left from a shoal it is OK to keep them as just a couple till they die of old age.
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thanks sue like i said problems so much with this tank just so much bad luck
after i did my change on tuesday fish were more active and happier ( understandably ) changed things around etc
now today my ram looks weak and hes just basically on the bottom of the tank which is not like them/him i can just tell theres something wrong with him, i took pictures because as you said is he a male or female ( lol at he i have always just thought it was a he ( male ) ), so ye i took pictures of the ram yesterday because i was going to say what sex is he as i cant remember and i have already asked about this but cant find were i have asked in the forum, because i was thinking of getting another ram or more rams to put in the tank as you say they are picky and he is very picky hes been my first ram i bought, hes bullied one to death and another i had to get rid of had to take it to MA but i kept him because hes been there from day one, anyway i was gonna risk after sexing the ram and get a mate for the ram because he seems lonely even though you say hes ok on his own which is fine but i dont want the ram to be lonely but i wont bother asking much about the rams yet as my one now looks weak after looking fine the other day
this is him on tuesday after my water change( the first 3 pictures)
and this is him now the 2 bottom pictures
i just finished my water change today which is my 2nd of the week and now will wait till monday to do another 1 then another 1 in the same week then i will go back to doing 1 water change a week after next week,
now when i did my water change on tuesday as you know i use seachem prime and i usually put 0.3 measurement in a shringe but tuesday i did 0.5 in each bucket ( 3 buckets ) so i am wondering if that had an effect but the others seem fine its just the ram, todays water change i went back to 0.3 and will stay at 0.3 just every last bucket i put in i usually do 0.4
the pebbles were from a fish shop yes i put them in a bowl and filled up with boiled kettle water then put it in the sink and overflowed the bowl with cold water before putting them in the tank
i hate my tank so many problems hardly good moments
going back to the rams a second my mum went to MA today before she went she said what sex is the ram i said i dont want one i am talking to sue about it at the moment i asked her to get me a water test kit she said ok if its not too much as i havent had money for a few months i dont claim job seekers as i have been sanctioned and i havent had luck with a job yet so hopefully she can afford one for me if not then nothing i can do until i get money whenever that is
anyway thats all i can think about at the moment, thanks again everyone
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first 3 pictures are the ram looking fine, the last 2 are today looking weak, the siamese fish seem to be around or near the ram often so i am hoping they are not making the ram worse they sometimes swim above him and their fins touch the ram, maybe this is me thinking the worst as usual and theres nothing to worry about i dunno
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There are a couple of things that can indicate the sex but they are not 100% reliable.
The first few rays of the dorsal fin (the one on its back) are extended in a male but not a female. This makes yours look female.
The anal fin (that last one underneath before the tail) overlaps the tail fin in a male but not in a female. Again this makes yours look female.
A male's underside is flatter as it goes towards the tail, a female's curves outwards. This makes yours look male. But a female that isn't eating can look like that too.
I think you have a female that hasn't been eating properly, maybe because of an internal infection. But as I said before they are very difficult to sex unless their breeding tubes are showing.
I don't think I'd risk getting another ram because if this one isn't well, the new on could well pick on it.
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thanks sue
i had to put my ram down on friday it was harder than putting the others down i think it was because he was my first ram i had and had been lonely for awhile, when i turned on the lights on friday he was upside down but fins where moving very very slow ( his arms ) i sure they arnt called fins but i am on about his arms, anyway and a shrimp then jumped on him so i had to get my net and get him and i put him down as i thought with him being like that i dont think i could of done anything else, now with me having anxiety issues ocd etc i have now been thinking maybe i could of done something for him
anyway it hit me hard to the fact hes never going to be there or seen again and i dont know if i could ever get rams again because of it but i could because atleast i can carry on with getting new rams which are his family after all they are all the same fish but anyway i wont be adding fish yet as i dont have money and also still need to see if tank is healthy etc
here are pictures of him in the bet, i couldnt see marks on him i am hoping it was just old age getting to him but he was find the day i did my change last week the next day he wasnt, his eyes do look a bit different than normal
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with you saying the ram isnt eating well is this because i dont feed them every day? i feed them 1 day but leave a day out then feed the next, i am going to start feeding every day i think from now on
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Sorry, I should have said it's not because you weren't feeding the ram right. If there is something wrong with a fish it goes off it's food, even things like bloodworms which fish usually can't resist. The problem is trying to work out what it is that's made it go off its food. It could have a bacterial infection (which can be so bad it needs antibiotics which we can't get without a very expensive vet) or a viral infection (and there are no treatments for viruses) or a protozoan infection (another one that needs a vet's prescription). In this country we can't buy very effective medicine from a shop unfortunately.
Or it could just have been old. We never know how old the fish are in the shop tank.
I think you did the right thing putting the ram down. If a shrimp was showing interest it could have started eating it before it was dead, not a nice thought. You saved it from that. Sometimes that's all we can do.
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would you get more rams ? have you lost one before? i like them they, kribs seem to hide alot i think so pointless getting fish you wont see, i cant buy anything yet as need to keep an eye on tank plus money, before i do buy i will come here first asking for suggestions or if types of fish i want are ok etc
thanks again sue
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I lost a pair of bolivian rams a few years ago. I had gravel then and the female got some stuck in her throat. It vanished after a few days but I don't know if she got it out or swallowed it. But she was never the same after and died a short while later. The male then just pined away for her.
This was a mated pair. I'd had two rams for 6 months and they turned out to be 2 males. Then I found a shop with some adult ones which had their breeding tubes visible so I bought 2females. One of the males and one of the females paired up and I took the other 2 back to the shop. The pair I kept spawned several times though the eggs all got eaten.