something is up...PLEASE HELP!!!!!

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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ewa1987
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something is up...PLEASE HELP!!!!!

Post by ewa1987 »

first the specifics:
salinity is 1.05, temp 76F, its 45 gl,

i have 4 figure 8s, 2 about 2 inches and 2 at 1 inch, there is one pleco (2.5inches) and 7 bublebee gobies

i did a 50% water change yesturday

the one that isnt acting right is one of the bigger guys, he has been like this for a few days. he has mainly been swimming at the top of the tank, he hasnt been eating nothing it seems, he has lost his colour, i got the two little puffers on sun, they are not the problem since he has been like this since fri, and it seems like sometimes he is struggling to breathe.

any suggestions?!?!?!!?

thanks
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DrKennethNoisewater
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Re: something is up...PLEASE HELP!!!!!

Post by DrKennethNoisewater »

it might help the experts to also know the parameters.
Nuclear_Glitter
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Re: something is up...PLEASE HELP!!!!!

Post by Nuclear_Glitter »

Please answer all the red questions above, so we can help you more.
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." -- Henry Ford
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goldielocke76
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Re: something is up...PLEASE HELP!!!!!

Post by goldielocke76 »

IMO the tank is WAAYY overstocked-- that's alot of fish in just 45 gallons....But water params would be nice ^.^
5.5g: Pond snails
5.5g: Red Cherry Shrimp and Rams
10g: PZ the Pee Wee (DP), Ghost shrimp, Otos x3
36g: Luau the F8, Zebra nerites x8, sometimes a herd of ghost shrimp for food
60g: Perches the starry blenny, 1 watchman goby Snaps the l.c. hermit, 2 emerald crabs, 1 red crab, 2 turbos, 7 asteas, 2 nerites, 2 clown gobies and 2 firefish gobies (upgrading to a 90 gallon reef)

RIP Yoshi, you are dearly missed <3
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bertie 83
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Re: something is up...PLEASE HELP!!!!!

Post by bertie 83 »

+1 I can guarantee the water readings are out. Way overstocked
It's amazing how easy maintenance is. If done regularly and thoroughly
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Pufferpunk
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Re: something is up...PLEASE HELP!!!!!

Post by Pufferpunk »

Please remove that pleco! It is strictly a Fw fish & will not do well at all in there, for long-term.
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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