Sick Figure 8

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.
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teejay

Sick Figure 8

Post by teejay »

Help! My figure 8 is sick and I'm unsure of what to do. I have him in a 10gallon brackish tank with a guppie. He's got this sort of gray film over his head and cloudy gray eyes. I asked on Yahoo Answers and they told me that the "QuICK Cure" Ick medicine is harmful to him because he's a scaleless fish and that he should be cured by increased heat and water changes. Can anyone tell me if just changing the water is enough or should i do anything else? He hasn't really been eating and he just sits on the bottom of the tank not really moving. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm new at owning fish and i've only had him for about 2-3 weeks and the tank for about 6 weeks. So... please, any help?
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Pufferpunk
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Re: Sick Figure 8

Post by Pufferpunk »

What makes you think he has ich? Sounds bacterial/fungus. What are the water parameters? Do water changes & add Melafix & Pimafix.
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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Fernzero
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Re: Sick Figure 8

Post by Fernzero »

I agree with PP, does not sound like ick at all. PP Is the expert though.
Fern.
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bazil323
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Re: Sick Figure 8

Post by bazil323 »

You'll want to get him in a 15 or 20 gallon tank asap. F8s need at least 15 gallons. Also, they aren't very compatible with guppies.

Otherwise, the suggestions above sound good, and remember to take out the carbon while you're treating (if you have it, most filters come standard with carbon) as it will remove the medications from the water.

What are your parameters?
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