Sick F8?
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.
Re: Sick F8?
Yes, the water coming out of the filter is breaking the surface. The temperature and water testings are normal. I don't see anything at all on his fins or gills. The salinity is 1.006. I also have an air pump.
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t1gerbee
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 831
- Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:10 am
- My Puffers: 1 x Ceylon + 1 x GSP + 1 x stars and stripes (juv) -Marine
(Non puffs-)
4 x clowns
1 x Oscar-Tropical
3 x Convicts-Tropical
1 x Map Turtle-tropical
2 x Plecs-Tropical
2 x goldfish - Location: london
Re: Sick F8?
two options.... the mollies brought something into the tank.. can you get hold of melafix/primafix and treat the tank, just to kill free swimmimg bacteria and internal ones too...
before adding it, do a 75% water change...
you had a 0.25 ammonia reading, so it's a possibility that in a 15G tank with a Fig 8 couldn't handle the sudden bioload jump of adding two more mollies... so you had a mini cycle...
your molly could have died from nitrite poisoning and it coud have damaged your F8 as well, acting blind, bumping into things and not being able to swim against the current as strong signs of nitrite poisoning...
I'd keep dong large daily water changes and hope the damage is reversible, treating with melafix may help soothe the fish and also nutralise any nasty bacteria in the tank...
Just one last thought, have you changed the salt levels recently? Up or down? Do you use a hydrometer to measure the salt exactly, as swinging it by more than 0.002 a week will damage/kill your cycling bacteria...
before adding it, do a 75% water change...
you had a 0.25 ammonia reading, so it's a possibility that in a 15G tank with a Fig 8 couldn't handle the sudden bioload jump of adding two more mollies... so you had a mini cycle...
your molly could have died from nitrite poisoning and it coud have damaged your F8 as well, acting blind, bumping into things and not being able to swim against the current as strong signs of nitrite poisoning...
I'd keep dong large daily water changes and hope the damage is reversible, treating with melafix may help soothe the fish and also nutralise any nasty bacteria in the tank...
Just one last thought, have you changed the salt levels recently? Up or down? Do you use a hydrometer to measure the salt exactly, as swinging it by more than 0.002 a week will damage/kill your cycling bacteria...
1 x 90G Juv stars and stripes puffer, Ceylon Puffer + GSP + 2 black clowns
1 x 30G LPS Reef
1 x 30G 1 x Blind goldfish
1 x 30G LPS Reef
1 x 30G 1 x Blind goldfish
Re: Sick F8?
Ok, I added Melafix and Primafix last night after a 75% water change. He moved around some while I was doing the water change but is now back to laying on the bottom. Nope, haven't made any salt level changes either.
So, for future notice, how do you "quarantine" a fish before adding it with others? Wouldn't have have to have another tank set up? Is there a simpler way?
So, for future notice, how do you "quarantine" a fish before adding it with others? Wouldn't have have to have another tank set up? Is there a simpler way?
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t1gerbee
- Fahaka Puffer
- Posts: 831
- Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 5:10 am
- My Puffers: 1 x Ceylon + 1 x GSP + 1 x stars and stripes (juv) -Marine
(Non puffs-)
4 x clowns
1 x Oscar-Tropical
3 x Convicts-Tropical
1 x Map Turtle-tropical
2 x Plecs-Tropical
2 x goldfish - Location: london
Re: Sick F8?
fraid not, quarentine is exactly that, usually a smaller tank made up to exactly the same parameters as the display tank, fully cycled (or with two filters running on the main tank, so that one can be transfered to the Q tank when needed)
then you put the new fish in for 4 weeks before adding it to the display tank, assuming no illnesses have shown up...
sounds a pain, but it saves longer term issues of bacterial/parasites being transfered from the new fish to your resident fish...
Most people with big marine tanks do it, as the cost to replace the fish if they get sick far outways the hassle of running two tanks for a few weeks.
then you put the new fish in for 4 weeks before adding it to the display tank, assuming no illnesses have shown up...
sounds a pain, but it saves longer term issues of bacterial/parasites being transfered from the new fish to your resident fish...
Most people with big marine tanks do it, as the cost to replace the fish if they get sick far outways the hassle of running two tanks for a few weeks.
1 x 90G Juv stars and stripes puffer, Ceylon Puffer + GSP + 2 black clowns
1 x 30G LPS Reef
1 x 30G 1 x Blind goldfish
1 x 30G LPS Reef
1 x 30G 1 x Blind goldfish
Re: Sick F8?
I'm afraid the puffer was lost this morning. What do I need to do to the tank (still has a mollie and 2 ghost shrimp)? How long should I wait before adding another fish? I am also debating on switching to either freshwater or saltwater. If I switch to saltwater (assuming I wont have the other fish) is all I need as far as equipment - a protein skimmer?