Help!my congo is dying!

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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Read this before posting!!

Since this board has been up, we have found there are several questions that routinely get asked in order to help diagnose problems. If you can have that information to begin with in your post, we'll be able to help right away (if we can!) without having to wait for you to post the info we need.

1) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate). This is by far the most important information you can provide! Do not answer this with "Fine" "Perfect" "ok", that tells us nothing. We need hard numbers.

2) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants. Include algae eaters, plecos, everything. We need to know what you have and how big the tank is.

3) Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank (examples: Cycle, Amquel, salt, etc)

4) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so. Sometimes its the little things that make all the difference.

5) How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it? If you don't know what cycling is read this: Fishless Cycling Article and familiarize yourself with all the information. Yes. All of it.

We want to help, and providing this information will go a LONG way to getting a diagnosis and hopeful cure that much faster.

While you wait for assistance:
One of the easiest and best ways to help your fish feel better is clean water! If you are already on a regular water change schedule (50% weekly is recommended) a good step to making your fish more comfortable while waiting for diagnosis/suggestions is to do a large water change immediately. Feel free to repeat daily or as often as you can, clean water is always a good thing! Use of Amquel or Prime as a dechlor may help with any ammonia or nitrite issues, and is highly recommended.

Note - if you do not normally do large water changes, doing a sudden, large water change could shock your fish by suddenly changing their established water chemistry. Clean water is still your first goal, so in this case, do several smaller (10%) water changes over the next day or two before starting any large ones.
pufferian
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Help!my congo is dying!

Post by pufferian »

She looks like she's suffering very badly..
I don't know what's wrong.. everything was fine..
She was eating and having great appetite...
her last meal was last night.. and I found her acting weird this morning..
She's gasping and her body is slightly bloated and her color changed a bit..

Here's the info..

1) water param: ph - 6.5, ammonia - 0, nitrite - 0, nitrate - 5, temperature: 78.5F
2) 30 gal
3) Diet: Fed every other day.. shrimp, scallop, mussel.
4) Water change 50% once a week. Tank is well cycled; didn't make any changes to the tank.
5) tank is 2 months old. but all media, wood, sand are from another established tank.

anything I can do to help her...?

I am doing a 20% water change as we speak.. what else can I do for her?
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bertie 83
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by bertie 83 »

Could you post a vid? Is it poss she got some air in her? If thats a possibility try burping. Grab by the tail get her head up and give a shake. Anything else that might help us diagnose?
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by pufferian »

Here's her earlier this morning
http://youtu.be/PO6hcmJdke8

Here's her right after the water change
http://youtu.be/z9n5jH5ICn4

Not looking good.. also her eyes look diff.. like.. I don't know how to describe but she's def suffering...

I also turned the filter current down a bit...
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by Pufferpunk »

How long have you had her? I had one that only lasted 6 weeks before it died. When I opened him up, his liver was yellow & hard. Probably from being fed feeders before I got him.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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puffykid
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by puffykid »

could there may be something coming out the tap? activated carbon can help remove stuff out of the water, kind of a shot in the dark.
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pufferian
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by pufferian »

I had her for 2 months.. She only had one owner before me and he's a very knowledgable guy. So I am sure that he wont feed her anything that she shouldnt be fed.

I doubted it's the tap water either.. As the last time I changed water ( before this morning 20% change) was last Saturday... everything was normal till this morning...

I am out right now.. hopefully I wont find her dead when I get home... :(
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by pufferian »

I just got home..
she looks even worst than this morning..
I found that she spitted out some of the scallop from last night..
maybe the scallop was the problem?
She sometimes swims around.. more like darting around..then will try to fit herself in a tight space and hang there...
Not looking good at all ....
Image

I added an airstone.. hope this can make her feel better... :(
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by FADE2BLACK_1973 »

I dont feed my Congo, nothing but live earthworms, rollie pollies, and small crayfish. My fahaka eats, raw market shrimp, large crayfish, earthworms and night crawlers. Only the raw market shrimp is not alive and well frozen and never fresh food. I believe that you could get bad food with its fresh. Frozen or alive is the way I feed mine. Just wanted to point that out. And it could have been a piece of bad food. Another think, mine acts like that when he is fed abit more then he should and get all lazy until he finally digests his meal. So it is either yors is being lazy and needing that time to digest or bad food.
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by PolishPuff »

Pufferpunk wrote:How long have you had her? I had one that only lasted 6 weeks before it died. When I opened him up, his liver was yellow & hard. Probably from being fed feeders before I got him.
Was that congo from me? :scared:
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by Pufferpunk »

No, Tatertot is still alive & well but still only eats earthworms.
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by PolishPuff »

Pufferpunk wrote:No, Tatertot is still alive & well but still only eats earthworms.

He's lucky too have you :D
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by pufferian »

FADE2BLACK_1973 wrote:I dont feed my Congo, nothing but live earthworms, rollie pollies, and small crayfish. My fahaka eats, raw market shrimp, large crayfish, earthworms and night crawlers. Only the raw market shrimp is not alive and well frozen and never fresh food. I believe that you could get bad food with its fresh. Frozen or alive is the way I feed mine. Just wanted to point that out. And it could have been a piece of bad food. Another think, mine acts like that when he is fed abit more then he should and get all lazy until he finally digests his meal. So it is either yors is being lazy and needing that time to digest or bad food.
Frozen or alive that's what I fed mine too...
She passed away last night...
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by bertie 83 »

I am so sorry for your loss.
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by Pufferpunk »

:(
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
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Re: Help!my congo is dying!

Post by eieio »

very sorry :(
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