What on earth is going on with the Flowerhorn and my tank? At a loss!

Meeji90

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 11, 2018
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I am so lost and confused now. I have no idea what is going on.Instead of typing a long ass story I'll give you the tank info and main points, pictures to follow.

Tank: 55gallon
Inhabitants: 1 x Kamfa Flowerhorn (5-6 inches at a guess)
Substrate: Pewter Sand
Filters: Fluval 306 and Large sponge filter
No Plants
Water changes: 20-30% every other day, including top offs when condensation occurs.
Tap water pH: 7.2 Tank pH: 7.2 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 10-20 (Cycled)
Water conditoner: Seachem Prime
Tank temp: 28 celcius (need a second heater to raise to 30 which I will have at the weekend after I have been paid!)

- Fish arrived a day early and I wasn't prepared so he arrived and I still had other stock in the tank and I had no option but to acclimate him with the other stock. He ate 5 of 6 Harlequins overnight. The stock was all rehomed the following day. There was plants and rock in the tank at this time but they were removed when the rest of the fish were rehomed.

- First week I had him he wouldn't eat at all, then he started of week 2 by picking the food then spitting it out, eventually he has started eating 2 Bug Bites pellets a day by the end of week 2. Fish colour was fine, behaviour he was shy and timid and scared.

- During week one I tested water parameters and found 0.25 ammonia. I followed this by a large water change and haven't seen any since. Tank was pre cycled before hand so something set it off into a mini cycle at that time.

- pH has dropped twice to 6.0. First time was a few days after rehoming the previous inhabitants, second time was just at the weekend there. Used baking soda to up to regular pH. I should note when originally cycling the tank about 6 months ago, this happened too however I upped it via baking soda then and it never dropped afterwards.

- I have been feeding him 2 pellets in the morning, followed by 2 in the evening for the past week and he has ate them all.

- I noticed white poop. It was sort of a brown ball with white stuff around it. I dosed the tank with Praziquantel however I forgot to take the carbon out the filter like a right idiot.

- Noticed a mark on his skin a few days ago, day 2 or 3 this has now enlarged ( see pic below), My first thought was heater burn but I am not entirely sure now to be honest.

- Seems slightly lethargic however still active and aggressive.

- Started treatment of Seachem Paraguard last night 5 caps is the recommended dose size for my tank, I intially started with 2 caps, then another 2 caps this morning. I removed the carbon this time. Since starting this last night, There has been excessive amounts of white poop hanging from his anus, some with brown bits some not. It stays for a while then falls off, is this the medication working or has it just accelerated whatever is wrong with him?

- Since starting Paraguard treatment last night, his behaviour seems different and he will sometimes float vertically near the surface for a few seconds every 15 minutes or so. I have not fed him during this time. Tested water this morning and parameters are fine.


Pics of mark on his skin first day:

2/3 days later:


Tried for a pic of the white poop but its practically impossible. Its hair like and see through and maybe about a couple of mm in length, there was longer ones during the night.

Here is a video just taken of him:


(Ignore the background audio, watching a live stream)




This is stressing me out big time to be honest, and I am getting frustrated. I I have meds here - Melafix, CLEAR, Paraguard, esha Hexamita and Zedrix Guardian.

I just want to get this sorted so he is healthy, happy and eating then I can focus on getting him to shine.

Many thanks
 

Rocksor

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Nov 28, 2011
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Paraguard won't cause white poop. Stress will cause white poop.

You need to determine why your PH is fluctuating. Measure the GH and KH of your aquarium water and tap water. I would measure your ammonia and nitrites twice a day to rule out any ammonia/nitrite spikes
 

Meeji90

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 11, 2018
38
10
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Paraguard won't cause white poop. Stress will cause white poop.

You need to determine why your PH is fluctuating. Measure the GH and KH of your aquarium water and tap water. I would measure your ammonia and nitrites twice a day to rule out any ammonia/nitrite spikes
So by adding the Paraguard, this promoted stress and therefore white poop?

Water parameters have been fine, checking twice a day.
GH and KH I don't have kits for, but I did a check on my water companies website for info and found this if you can make sense of this?

Calcium 9.58
Magnesium 1.93
Hardness as mg/l CaCo3 31.81
Clark degrees 2.23
French degrees 3.18
German degrees 1.78
Soft

As a small update, he is now refusing food too. I've added the carbon back to the filter to removed the paraguard.

At a complete loss as to what to do next tbh.
 

Stephen St.Clair

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Jul 2, 2017
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Your FH evidently entered the tank with a healthy appetite, initially devouring several of the tankmates. The pictured blemish doesn't look too concerning.
I'm with Rocksor, concentrate on the water quality. It's a nice looking FH. Hope he makes it.
 

Rocksor

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Nov 28, 2011
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Flowerhorns are hybridized central american cichlids that generally occur in harder water. Over time soft water will cause stress in the fish that orginate from hard water areas, and cause them to lose minerals faster than they need to. You need to raise your gh and kh to hard water parameters. Get a GH and KH kit. Kh should be at least 4 degrees. Raise the GH to around 10 degrees.
 

skjl47

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
May 16, 2011
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Tennessee
so something set it off into a mini cycle at that time.
Hello; This is likely due to the greater biomass of the FH. That being the FH alone has a greater metabolism that the total of the other fish so yes a mini cycle. As you already seem to know the beneficial bacteria (bb) population will change, adjust up or down, as the amount of ammonia in the water changes.

Used baking soda to up to regular pH. I
Hello; I stay away for trying to adjust pH myself. It is such a tricky process and trying to adjust can give swings of pH. If I were to try to do something about pH I likely would use stuff that slowly can have an effect on pH.
What I do any more is to keep fish that are OK in my source water. Just saying.


Measure the GH and KH of your aquarium water and tap water.
Hello; Yes to this. Also the difference, if any in pH between tap (source water) and tank water.
 

Meeji90

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 11, 2018
38
10
8
33
Your FH evidently entered the tank with a healthy appetite, initially devouring several of the tankmates. The pictured blemish doesn't look too concerning.
I'm with Rocksor, concentrate on the water quality. It's a nice looking FH. Hope he makes it.
The blemish looks like its healing slowly.

Flowerhorns are hybridized central american cichlids that generally occur in harder water. Over time soft water will cause stress in the fish that orginate from hard water areas, and cause them to lose minerals faster than they need to. You need to raise your gh and kh to hard water parameters. Get a GH and KH kit. Kh should be at least 4 degrees. Raise the GH to around 10 degrees.
Have ordered a test kit. How do I raise the GH and KH?

Hello; I stay away for trying to adjust pH myself. It is such a tricky process and trying to adjust can give swings of pH. If I were to try to do something about pH I likely would use stuff that slowly can have an effect on pH.
What I do any more is to keep fish that are OK in my source water. Just saying.

Hello; Yes to this. Also the difference, if any in pH between tap (source water) and tank water.
Thanks!

throw in some coral chips when you do water change and see if it helps... reason to buffer PH
Will buy some crushed coral, throw some in a mesh bag, and place in filter.
 

Rocksor

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Nov 28, 2011
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San Diego
You can raise your gh and kh with regular unscented baking soda. There's a lot of diy info how to do this on the internet. The important part is measuring the progress. I would start with a sample of your tank in 1 cup and mix in there to see the effects.

Using crushed coral can take a bit of time, and you have to measure weekly. Once you figure out the baking soda recipe for your tap water, it becomes easy when doing water changes. It's not hard or tricky raising the gh and kh, while maintaining it if you have the correct tests.
 
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