Abnormal Silver Aro (Sick?)

[RBowers31]

New member, first post, so be nice to me.

Spent the past few hours combing old posts to try and identify what's wrong with my silver but haven't found anything promising..maybe everyone here can help.

Baby silver arowana around 5 inches long (that my girlfriend named Origami) is currently in my 29gal guppy breeding tank after being picked on by my oscar. He eat dried blood worms and Hikari freeze dried krill tails. Tank is cycled and sitting at about 0/.25/10ppm. 3 days ago noticed a few white spots (ich) on my Arowana so I immediately started raising the temp from 82F to 86F and used API Super Ich Cure (the one with malachite green). Aeration was increased from my air stone to compensate for oxygen deficiency in warmer water. Added the second dose of the medicine last night and woke up to a very lethargic arowana. It seems like he didn't take well to the medication added to the tank. He will not eat and will stay still in the water. He'll allow his tail to curl while the current pushes him around. His head remains up but he just sits and moves with the current until he feels ready to swim. I've read about situations with the head sinking and doing a headstand, but none with the symptoms I'm having.

After reading and reading and attempting to identify and cure his issue I did a 25% water change, readded a charcoal filter to remove the ich cure medicine and added salt to the aquarium. My guppies seem to be loving the warmer temps and salt, yet Origami seems to be lethargic. He will get burts of energy and swim around for a while but not like his normal self.

Any ideas? Going to wait for a few responses before doing another 25 or 50% water change tomorrow. I really don't want to lose this little guy as I've become attached to him already. Spent a lot of time doing research and deciding to get one and feel as if I'm not doing a good job taking care of him.

Thanks in advance for the help,

Ryan

 

[leather]

Do at least a 50% water change. There should be no nitrite reading on a fully cycled tank. Keep the temps up, I wouldn't do any more medicating. A diatom filter is suppose to be a good remover of ich. Wait for a couple of responses and see what the most common suggestion is. Ignore anybody who starts about it being a 29 gallon tank. Just don't leave him in there after another couple inches.

 

[cc247]

^ agreed their should be no nitrite on a fully cycled tank... if it was you might need more filtration on it... not really sure what it could be unless it's just cuz he is stressed... with the move and meds... and just so you know next time... if you raise the temp up to 86 you don't need to use meds... ich either dies at 86 or can't reproduce... either way it will go away with 86 degree water without treating with meds... how long has it been since you moved him?? might just need to keep the lights off for a day or so and let him settle in the tank....

 

[RBowers31]

Thanks for the quick response. And I only say nitrite is .25 because it seemed to show a slight bit of blue on my testing kit. And I already figured a few flames to come from it being in a 29 gallon, but it's a temporary solution to let him grow until he can be my Oscar's only tank mate.

Do at least a 50% water change. There should be no nitrite reading on a fully cycled tank. Keep the temps up, I wouldn't do any more medicating. A diatom filter is suppose to be a good remover of ich. Wait for a couple of responses and see what the most common suggestion is. Ignore anybody who starts about it being a 29 gallon tank. Just don't leave him in there after another couple inches.

 

[RBowers31]

He's been in that tank for almost 2 weeks. My oscar beat him up a bit so I moved him to it and used melafix and he regrew his fins quickly! I decided to leave him there after doing reading on aro/oscar tanks and to let the arowana be at least 6 inches or larger before adding him to a tank with an oscar. I'm thinking he may be stressed as I've done everything tank wise to make sure his environment is perfect, but figured I'd check in here since I read and read but never post. Love the quick responses by the way.

^ agress their should be no nitrite on a fully cycled tank... if it was you might need more filteration on it... not really sure what it could be unless it's just cuz he is stressed... with the move and meds... and just so you know next time... if you raise the temp up to 86 you don't need to use meds... ich either dies at 86 or can't reproduce... either way it will go away with 86 degree water without treating with meds... how long has it been since you moved him?? might just need to keep the lights off for a day or so and let him settle in the tank....

 

[Kaya]

i'm def not the expert on ich.. and i lost a whole load of oscars to ich.. but aros are super resilient.. they recover super quick.. is the aro eating at all? what color is the poop.. ignore this but (in india) we dont use tap water.. most of it is ground water.. isn't there a possibility you can jus do a 100% water change.. lots of aeration and temp bump only.. these meds have to be used right else they can screw things up.. and ditch the power head.. the aro might be tired swimming against the current.. but you need to work out some sort of filter prob an external or hob or top filter without the current.. and a clean(your old tank could still have traces of meds unless you clean it totally) tank.. no deco.. no stones.. nothing.. all the best.. but please do wait for a few more replies.. i'm sure brian or chaitika will have a few answers.. and do check these stickies..

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=295476

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371335

and is the fish rubbing against the glass or anythin? pics would help... all the best.. cheers..

 

[cc247]

if he has been in there a few weeks... not flaming you just wondering... has he hit the tank top a lot? i am not flaming i understand your situation and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.. but with a smaller tank they can sometimes tend to jump more... and if he is that might be why he is acting that way... just another thought

 

[RBowers31]

His recovery from the fin nipping and the ich was excellent. Haven't seen a trace of ich in the tank since starting the treatment. He has not eaten today, but yesterday he was. As far as 100% water change, I don't want to lose the biological filtration I have established. Most I would do is 50% to be safe. Maybe he is tired from swimming against the current. I'll try turning my air pump down after I lower the temp. My filter is currently a Marineland 200 top filter that pushes against only one side of the tank and doesn't cause that much current. It seems that the air pump and air stone cause more surface action than anything. He stays away from the glass, no rubbing, no jumping, no jerky/skittish movements.

i'm def not the expert on ich.. and i lost a whole load of oscars to ich.. but aros are super resilient.. they recover super quick.. is the aro eating at all? what color is the poop.. ignore this but (in india) we dont use tap water.. most of it is ground water.. isn't there a possibility you can jus do a 100% water change.. lots of aeration and temp bump only.. these meds have to be used right else they can screw things up.. and ditch the power head.. the aro might be tired swimming against the current.. but you need to work out some sort of filter prob an external or hob or top filter without the current.. and a clean(your old tank could still have traces of meds unless you clean it totally) tank.. no deco.. no stones.. nothing.. all the best.. but please do wait for a few more replies.. i'm sure brian or chaitika will have a few answers.. and do check these stickies..

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=295476

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371335

and is the fish rubbing against the glass or anythin? pics would help... all the best.. cheers..

 

[RBowers31]

Hasn't hit the top of the tank at all..he's not really a jumper. Only seen him jump during the first day when I walked up to the tank to check on him and he was a little nervous.

if he has been in there a few weeks... not flaming you just wondering... has he hit the tank top a lot? i am not flaming i understand your situation and sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.. but with a smaller tank they can sometimes tend to jump more... and if he is that might be why he is acting that way... just another thought

 

[Kaya]

His recovery from the fin nipping and the ich was excellent. Haven't seen a trace of ich in the tank since starting the treatment. He has not eaten today, but yesterday he was. As far as 100% water change, I don't want to lose the biological filtration I have established. Most I would do is 50% to be safe. Maybe he is tired from swimming against the current. I'll try turning my air pump down after I lower the temp. My filter is currently a Marineland 200 top filter that pushes against only one side of the tank and doesn't cause that much current. It seems that the air pump and air stone cause more surface action than anything. He stays away from the glass, no rubbing, no jumping, no jerky/skittish movements.

cool..i'm sure he'll be fine.. jus give it some time