My god I'm so upset right now.
Maurice my little Figure 8 had been doing so well, the tank water was testing well. Completely clear for ammonia and nitrite using a liquid test kit. However the ammonia test kit ran out 3 days ago because I've been using it everyday I burned through it.
Anyway fast foward to now and I've been away for 5 days leaving him in the care of my partner who had been given instructions on how much to feed etc.
Anyway I got back last night, the first thing I noticed was this Brown hair like algae on everything. I wasn't too worried as I read previously that it's common in newly cycled tanks. But I did notice that Maurice was not not quite right, he didn't look as plump and seemed a little lethargic, maybe a little duller in colour than I remember. My boyfriend swears he's been fine but he obviously needs glasses.
Well this morning he was in the top corner of the tank with his tail curled up and obviously not right at all. I did a 50% water change immediately but whilst cleaning I noticed the filter was kinda stuck halfway between output settings (fluval u4) and didn't seem to be flowing well. I sorted it out and there is another filter on the roof of the tank too.
Unfortunately because I didn't have the test kit on hand I couldn't test for ammonia before the change. I've tested everything now and I AM showing somewhere between 0. 15 to 0.25 so at a guess it was probably at least at 0.5 before I did a water change.
Maurice has perked up a lot this evening but his skin has a slight pink hue, do you think he will survive this or is he done for?
Help, possible Ammonia spike
Forum rules
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.
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.
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sarahnya
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
- Location (country): United Kingdom
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
Oh yes I've thrown another bottle of quick start in to try and help the bacteria build up and obviously I gave the sand a good vac and picked up any plant debris when I did the water change.
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
That should do it.
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
sarahnya
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
- Location (country): United Kingdom
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
God I hope so, he's definitely got a pink tinge. Do you think I can save him?
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sarahnya
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
- Location (country): United Kingdom
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
Do you think this is an ammonia issue or could it be anything else?
-
eieio
- Mbu Puffer
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"olivia"
and.......
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RIP cream puff :-( - Location (country): U.S.A.
- Location: Prescott, Arizona
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
any ammonia is too much, .25 is a lot and 0.5 is huge 
the pink tinge may be irritated or burnt skin
hopefully his gills are not damaged (add an air stone or two for additional circulation & oxygenation)
if it were mine, I'd do regular major water changes with continuous monitoring of all parameters
as you probably figured by now, order new test kits well in advance of running out
these things always seem to happen at the wrong time (not that there's a right time)
the pink tinge may be irritated or burnt skin
hopefully his gills are not damaged (add an air stone or two for additional circulation & oxygenation)
if it were mine, I'd do regular major water changes with continuous monitoring of all parameters
as you probably figured by now, order new test kits well in advance of running out
these things always seem to happen at the wrong time (not that there's a right time)
"I plan ahead. That way, I don't have to do anything right now!"
-
sarahnya
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
- Location (country): United Kingdom
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
I hope not, I'm really scared how much it went to while I was away. I'll do another 25% tomorrow
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sarahnya
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
- Location (country): United Kingdom
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
My other half said he did a 25% water change while I was away. God knows what happened but I have plenty of tests now
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sarahnya
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
- Location (country): United Kingdom
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
He's actually resting at the bottom now. I'm not going to feed him for a day or two to allow the bacteria time to catch up.
-
eieio
- Mbu Puffer
- Posts: 1033
- Joined: Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:34 am
- My Puffers: *
The Congo Puffer:
"olivia"
and.......
The DP:
"cream puff"
RIP cream puff :-( - Location (country): U.S.A.
- Location: Prescott, Arizona
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
any time you have to do emergency water changes, if you don't have time to test the water immediately, set aside a sample of the tank water and test it right away after the water change is done
that way, you'll know where you were before the change
that way, you'll know where you were before the change
"I plan ahead. That way, I don't have to do anything right now!"
-
sarahnya
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
- Location (country): United Kingdom
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
Thanks for that, I will do in future.
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sarahnya
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
- Location (country): United Kingdom
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
Still looking lethargic but no worse. I'm not feeding today to keep ammonia down, tested this morning and it looks to be at 0 but I'm doing another 25% anyway.
I'm beginning to think my other half did something wrong as he's evasive when I'm questioning but I'm not going to push it, could just be a fluke of a newly cycled tank not worth starting world war 3 over lol.
Has anyone experienced this before, is there any hope for him. I'm scared he will die a slow death from having his insides burnt out
I'm beginning to think my other half did something wrong as he's evasive when I'm questioning but I'm not going to push it, could just be a fluke of a newly cycled tank not worth starting world war 3 over lol.
Has anyone experienced this before, is there any hope for him. I'm scared he will die a slow death from having his insides burnt out
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sarahnya
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
- Location (country): United Kingdom
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
Just had another good look at him. The pinkness has gone but his skin appears bobbly for want of a better word, it's not as smooth as it should be. He is still lethargic and no longer comes to me when I go near the glass, in fact he seems scared and swims away if I put my hands near.
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Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32773
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Filbert, the 12" T lineatus
Punkster, the 4" red T miurus
Mongo, the 4" A modestus
2 T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
Also kept:
lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Chicago
- Contact:
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
Do you have plenty of decor in there? Have you tested nitrite?
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!"
"The solution to pollution is dilution!"
-
sarahnya
- Figure 8 Puffer
- Posts: 117
- Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2016 6:11 pm
- Location (country): United Kingdom
Re: Help, possible Ammonia spike
There's 2 rocks, a small bogwood and lots of plants. Nitrite is at 0