Help!!! My arowana is in dire danger ='( please advice
This thread might be long, please forgive me, but I would try to detail as much as possible to the current situation
Here's the story:
I have a 75 gal tank with a green arowana and 2 tiger shovelnose catfish
arowana and 1 TSN's size is 9" (other TSN 8")
The other day, my arowana got attacked two anchor worms, one near the gills and the other on the left front fin. The two worms are now dead and no visible sign of itching or scratching have occured since last night. I did not use dimilin, rather, a quite good alternative that worked.
I used salt concentration in my tank since the arowana seemed perfectly healthy and thus could surpass the procedure (I fed him 2 MW just before I started so as he could have some reserves just in case he didn't feel like eating later). I implied a 1.5% salt solution in my tank (i.e. around a cup of salt was dissolved in glass and poured into the tank). This concentration lasted for 12 hours before reduced to 1% so as to make sure that the anchor worm is dead and new hatchlings are killed. After 2 hours, I reduced the concentration to around .08% and added an anti-anchor worm solution (reduction on salt concentration were done by calculated water changes, so it took approximately 15 gals initial WC and another 10 gals WC).
The problem is that the PH level of my tank was up last night, way beyond the 7.6 ph indicator. The water seemed fine and my arowana was back to normal again right after the concentration was reduced (during the concentration procedure, the arowana noticeable was itching and scratching on parts where the anchor worm attached and other areas of possible infection, after the procedure, no signs occured) - i cannot make the procedure longer as dehydration on open wounds could occur. Last night I used blackwater solution to bring down my PH.
This morning 6-8 hours later, it seems that the first signs of cloud eye appeared, my arowana didn't have appetite and was breathing heavily. after 30 gals WC and another 10 gals WC, I managed to drop my PH to 7.2. Now I believe my problem was the water was contaminated last night. I believe it's cloudy eye as the eyes are starting to cloud a bit and is a bit swolen on the upper portion of the eyes (similar to how a mild drop eye looks like). I have gravel and driftwood in the tank (cleaned 40% of it in WC) and have placed a small additional submersible filter near the gravel to help clean it for now. My TSN seems fine but they have already been tried and tested and are VERY hardy (didn't have the anchor worms either). For all the water changes, I used very little rock salt to help a bit but not cause further irritation (around 2 tbsp). The anchor worms have not yet been removed (I will be buying tweezors in an hour or so - I am though scared of removing the dead worm as it is a nasty manual procedure and the current state my arowana is in, that really raises concern).
My water temperature is currently 27-28C. Should I raise it to 30-33C (I have yet to buy a heater now if that's the case - I live in the tropics by the way so heater isn't an instant neccesity in our tanks)? Would this really help in the condition of my arowana? What else should I do?
Can someone please help? If the condition worsens, it would be fatal. For now, slight improvement have been seen after the last WC mentioned (he is less frantic and could swim a bit). Please please help me.
This thread might be long, please forgive me, but I would try to detail as much as possible to the current situation
Here's the story:
I have a 75 gal tank with a green arowana and 2 tiger shovelnose catfish
arowana and 1 TSN's size is 9" (other TSN 8")
The other day, my arowana got attacked two anchor worms, one near the gills and the other on the left front fin. The two worms are now dead and no visible sign of itching or scratching have occured since last night. I did not use dimilin, rather, a quite good alternative that worked.
I used salt concentration in my tank since the arowana seemed perfectly healthy and thus could surpass the procedure (I fed him 2 MW just before I started so as he could have some reserves just in case he didn't feel like eating later). I implied a 1.5% salt solution in my tank (i.e. around a cup of salt was dissolved in glass and poured into the tank). This concentration lasted for 12 hours before reduced to 1% so as to make sure that the anchor worm is dead and new hatchlings are killed. After 2 hours, I reduced the concentration to around .08% and added an anti-anchor worm solution (reduction on salt concentration were done by calculated water changes, so it took approximately 15 gals initial WC and another 10 gals WC).
The problem is that the PH level of my tank was up last night, way beyond the 7.6 ph indicator. The water seemed fine and my arowana was back to normal again right after the concentration was reduced (during the concentration procedure, the arowana noticeable was itching and scratching on parts where the anchor worm attached and other areas of possible infection, after the procedure, no signs occured) - i cannot make the procedure longer as dehydration on open wounds could occur. Last night I used blackwater solution to bring down my PH.
This morning 6-8 hours later, it seems that the first signs of cloud eye appeared, my arowana didn't have appetite and was breathing heavily. after 30 gals WC and another 10 gals WC, I managed to drop my PH to 7.2. Now I believe my problem was the water was contaminated last night. I believe it's cloudy eye as the eyes are starting to cloud a bit and is a bit swolen on the upper portion of the eyes (similar to how a mild drop eye looks like). I have gravel and driftwood in the tank (cleaned 40% of it in WC) and have placed a small additional submersible filter near the gravel to help clean it for now. My TSN seems fine but they have already been tried and tested and are VERY hardy (didn't have the anchor worms either). For all the water changes, I used very little rock salt to help a bit but not cause further irritation (around 2 tbsp). The anchor worms have not yet been removed (I will be buying tweezors in an hour or so - I am though scared of removing the dead worm as it is a nasty manual procedure and the current state my arowana is in, that really raises concern).
My water temperature is currently 27-28C. Should I raise it to 30-33C (I have yet to buy a heater now if that's the case - I live in the tropics by the way so heater isn't an instant neccesity in our tanks)? Would this really help in the condition of my arowana? What else should I do?
Can someone please help? If the condition worsens, it would be fatal. For now, slight improvement have been seen after the last WC mentioned (he is less frantic and could swim a bit). Please please help me.
