Just my luck, sick GSP

Oh no! Sick fish?! Come here and see if someone can help!
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.
Pandora114
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 397
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:28 pm
My Puffers: C. travancoricus RIP both of you little guys. Tank will be a F8 after GSP goes full marine
T. nigroviridis Named Pepsi
Location: Comox Valley, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by Pandora114 »

We have two rather big air stones and a bubble curtain in the back.

So we do have LOTS of aeration going on...
Pandora114
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 397
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:28 pm
My Puffers: C. travancoricus RIP both of you little guys. Tank will be a F8 after GSP goes full marine
T. nigroviridis Named Pepsi
Location: Comox Valley, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by Pandora114 »

Heh I figured out how to get the nitrites down to zero in a jiffy...

Only one problem...

Bio-Spira is nowhere to be found *sigh*

Figured a splash of Biospira tossed into the filter would help bring things back into balance...Ufortunately the only place in Canada that has it, charges like $45 to ship the stuff.
:onfire:
User avatar
Boxermom
Former Staff Member
Posts: 2182
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
Location: Wisconsin
Contact:

Post by Boxermom »

Get Prime.
Tina

Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32976
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:

Post by Pufferpunk »

Does this guy charge that much?
http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html
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!"
Pandora114
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 397
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:28 pm
My Puffers: C. travancoricus RIP both of you little guys. Tank will be a F8 after GSP goes full marine
T. nigroviridis Named Pepsi
Location: Comox Valley, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by Pandora114 »

Pufferpunk wrote:Does this guy charge that much?
http://fishstoretn.com/bio_spira.html
Yes, he does charge that much to ship...it's disturbing..

I'm sorta eyeballing this product if the local box pet store has it..

http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl ... costart8oz
User avatar
Pufferpunk
Queen Admin
Posts: 32976
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:

Post by Pufferpunk »

Forget about it. Anything other than Bio-Spira is just dead bacteria.
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!"
Pandora114
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 397
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:28 pm
My Puffers: C. travancoricus RIP both of you little guys. Tank will be a F8 after GSP goes full marine
T. nigroviridis Named Pepsi
Location: Comox Valley, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by Pandora114 »

*sigh* can't blame me for hoping right? lol

We'll try the daily water changes without increasing the salinity any till the nitrites go away...

Figure the ammonia is still at zero, so we just gotta hope the nitrite eaters come up again soon.
GunSmoke78
Puffer Fry
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:31 pm

Post by GunSmoke78 »

IF I was to get some Bio-Spira and dump it in, would it fix the nitrite problem? I'm not one for quick fixes, but I do want to reduce stress on the little guy as much as possible. If the answer to above is yes, should I get the freshwater or saltwater version? 3tbps/5gal isn't much when 1cup/5gal = 1.005 SG. And can I get an official yay or nay about the "blue" stuff for the Ich? I'm confused as to whether I should or shouldn't use it.
User avatar
Boxermom
Former Staff Member
Posts: 2182
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
Location: Wisconsin
Contact:

Post by Boxermom »

Yes, it will help the nitrite problem by adding the right kind of good bacteria for the cycle. You would use the freshwater version. Nay on the blue stuff for ick. Heat and salt is all that is needed.
Tina

Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
User avatar
Phaedrus
Former Staff Member
Posts: 1402
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:34 pm
Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Contact:

Post by Phaedrus »

Heat, salt, vacuuming, water changes, and melafix to sooth the cysts. Air stone can be a good idea too when treating an illness.
Pandora114
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 397
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:28 pm
My Puffers: C. travancoricus RIP both of you little guys. Tank will be a F8 after GSP goes full marine
T. nigroviridis Named Pepsi
Location: Comox Valley, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by Pandora114 »

nitrites are 0!
:mwave:

I do think it's because of the bloodworm diet, we think he might be missing a few and they rot.

we really need to find a feeder that can keep them contained...

Or we could pick up some freeze dried krill and soak some overnight and feed him with those on a skewer...since our whole snail experiment just went bust (apple snails OY!!!! LFS is pretty meager here when it comes to snails...we'll see what the pond supply store has)

Just gotta minimize the food waste..*sigh*
User avatar
Phaedrus
Former Staff Member
Posts: 1402
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:34 pm
Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Contact:

Post by Phaedrus »

a turkey baster works really well for feeding blood worms. If you just gold it there they will slowly fall out a few at a time.
Pandora114
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 397
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:28 pm
My Puffers: C. travancoricus RIP both of you little guys. Tank will be a F8 after GSP goes full marine
T. nigroviridis Named Pepsi
Location: Comox Valley, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by Pandora114 »

oooh good idea :D

thanks hehe.
User avatar
Boxermom
Former Staff Member
Posts: 2182
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2006 8:34 pm
Location: Wisconsin
Contact:

Post by Boxermom »

I have better luck with long stainless steel feeding tweezers/tongs than with a turkey baster. But I do love watching my DP swim up into the end of the turkey baster to eat. :D
Tina

Puffers: Auriglobus silus x1, Tetraodon travancoricus x1, Tetraodon turgidus x1, Tetraodon miurus x1, Tetraodon nigroviridis x2, Tetraodon baileyi x2, Tetraodon lineatus x1, Tetraodon palembangensis x1
Pandora114
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 397
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 1:28 pm
My Puffers: C. travancoricus RIP both of you little guys. Tank will be a F8 after GSP goes full marine
T. nigroviridis Named Pepsi
Location: Comox Valley, BC, Canada
Contact:

Post by Pandora114 »

hehe I'm just using my fingers and holding the frozen halfchunk in the water and he nips at it like a puppy. sometimes he takes the chunk out of my fingers in a vicious shake and just shakes it around...hence why I need a better mode of distribution...he's like a shark sometimes. It's so cute...he shakes it everywhere and misses some...which what is probably causing the nitrite problems.
Post Reply