1.) Your water parameters - pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrates and salinity (if appropriate)
ammonia = .25? (so hard for me to read the colors) Nitrite 0, nitrate 10 temp is 79
2.) Tank size and a list of ALL inhabitants
ten gallon 2dps 1 cherry shrimp, two ghost shrimp
3.)Feeding, water change schedule and a list of all products you are using or have added to the tank
live blackworms everyday, fasting on sunday, 50 percent WC on Friday. I use Prime for wc. Meds in the tank are Pimafix and melifix. I started medicating last Friday
4.) What changes you've made in the tank in the last week or so
Just the meds.
5.)How long the aquarium has been set up, and how did you cycle it?
set up since October, fishless cycling
Hi everyone,
One of my DPs "Hovermuffin" has had a bump on her nose for the last couple weeks. I started medicating with pimafix/melafix last friday, adding a bubbler to increase oxygen that may have been depleted due to the meds. My healthy puffer is doing fine, there's been no change in his habits. However, the sick DP has been a bit on the lethargic side the last couple of days, and especially today. She hasn't been sitting on the gravel, but is still staying towards the bottom of the tank most of the time. She is also slower than usual. The bump on her head has been healing since the use of the meds, but due to her lethargy I ran a test and it looks like there is a small spike in ammonia. I have a hard time distinguishing between the colors on the card, so I ran it against my tap water and the tap was a bit more yellowish. Are the meds throwing off my tests? or am I experiencing a minicycle? Also for the meds it says to run them for 7 days then do a water change. If I do a water change now will that throw off the medication? I am going to prime the tank at the moment to make it safe, and await your replies.
Thank you so much,
Jess
Using "the fixes" 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.
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
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burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
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Re: Using "the fixes" ammonia spike
Both those meds are totally safe for your biological filtration.
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!"
-
JessK
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:39 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 2 DP's
- Location (country): SE Michigan, USA
- Location: Michigan, USA
Re: Using "the fixes" ammonia spike
so if I do a water change how do continue the medication? Will the WC throw off the medication? I know I will have to do one, I just wondered if my dosage should change due to the wc. I put prime in the tank to detox the ammonia and plan on doing a water change as soon as I hear what my next step should be.
Thank you,
Jess
Thank you,
Jess
-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32988
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: Using "the fixes" ammonia spike
Since you should be dosing those products daily, just dose after your WC.
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!"
-
JessK
- Puffer Fry
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:39 pm
- Gender: Male
- My Puffers: 2 DP's
- Location (country): SE Michigan, USA
- Location: Michigan, USA
Re: Using "the fixes" ammonia spike
alright 
thanks. I just wondered because on the bottle it says to do a wc after the seven days of treatment. Have you ever experienced a puffer having a bad reaction to the fixes?
thanks. I just wondered because on the bottle it says to do a wc after the seven days of treatment. Have you ever experienced a puffer having a bad reaction to the fixes?-
Pufferpunk
- Queen Admin
- Posts: 32988
- Joined: Tue May 31, 2005 11:06 am
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Puffers I have kept:
T lineatus
T miurus
A modestus
T biocellatus
C valentini
C coranata
C papuan
C lorteti
DPs
suvattii
burrfish
T niphobles - Location (country): USA, Greenville, SC
- Location: Greenville, SC
- Contact:
Re: Using "the fixes" ammonia spike
No, not a puffer. Killed a bunch of discus & plecos, because the tank is kept at 86.
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!"