We had the water tested today at a local pet store and all was said to be "normal." My fish, pepino, has tried to eat blood worms for two days now and always ends up spitting them out. His "Breathing" is labored and he is laying there almost on his side. We force fed him a bloodworm using a soft syringe today, which he kept down. He has eaten blood worms for the past ten months. His companion has outgrown him and seems fine in the same amount of time and on the same diet. They refuse to eat anything else, even snails. Pepino is separate and there is no "emergency" care close to us. I don't want to stress him out worse by trying to feed him again. He has no visible blemishes, his eyes seem clear and his fins are moving. He randomly swims at an angle across a bowl we have placed him in. One noticeable thing is that his mouth seems to open and close "inside of his lips". Like he has a mouth within his mouth? I would like him to make it till tomorrow when we can get him to a "specialist" if it is worth it. He's been with us for a long time. Any info I am great full for, thank you.My Dwarf's on it's side.
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.
-
mszepesy
My Dwarf's on it's side.
We had the water tested today at a local pet store and all was said to be "normal." My fish, pepino, has tried to eat blood worms for two days now and always ends up spitting them out. His "Breathing" is labored and he is laying there almost on his side. We force fed him a bloodworm using a soft syringe today, which he kept down. He has eaten blood worms for the past ten months. His companion has outgrown him and seems fine in the same amount of time and on the same diet. They refuse to eat anything else, even snails. Pepino is separate and there is no "emergency" care close to us. I don't want to stress him out worse by trying to feed him again. He has no visible blemishes, his eyes seem clear and his fins are moving. He randomly swims at an angle across a bowl we have placed him in. One noticeable thing is that his mouth seems to open and close "inside of his lips". Like he has a mouth within his mouth? I would like him to make it till tomorrow when we can get him to a "specialist" if it is worth it. He's been with us for a long time. Any info I am great full for, thank you.-
Pufferpunk
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How long is a "long time"? I believe they only live to around 5 years. Can you please post the results of your "normal" tests?
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!"