Fast tips for swollen L14.

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7Pete

7Pete

Black Skirt Tetra
MFK Member
Oct 17, 2014
64
5
13
Suomi
Hey.

My L14 a bit swollen and breathing fast. My L128 died few weeks ago and i thought he just ate high protein/fat cichlids food (he was hiding and it was too late when is first time saw her) and got "swollen to dead". But it's something else cause my L14 got now swollen too. So i need fast tips to safe her.

-I added heat, was 28 but i raise to 30-31.
-Stream is on surface and aeration is for sure at max. Water makes noise.
-I added salt (real non-raffinated sea salt) one spoon. How much is enough? Tank is 450 liters.
-Do i transfer it to a small quarantine tank with small panaques ja zebra plecos? Or should i move the panaques and zebras to the bigger tank for a while?
-In quarantine tank i could add more salt and use medicine? Which medicine is good for swollen pleco?
-What else should i do?

I would appreciate for quick helpful answers. Thanks.
 
Its possible your fish has an internal bacterial infection. Be sure to check your water parameters. With two swollen fish it's very likely a water quality issue. The second most likely cause could be a dietary issue and/or parasite. Without a pic, hard to say. I would lower temperature to what it was.
 
Thanks for replys.

I moved the L14 to a smaller tank and used "bacterial treatment"-medication. eSHa 2000.

Food has not been changed. I've not checked parameters yet, but WC 5-6 days 30-40 %. Water quality seemed to be okay recently. My pH goes quite low to 6 and tap water is 7.4, but pH has been doing that for "years" and no problems. But it might have long term effects, who knows. I have overstock, but filtration is powerful (x7 +internal filter)with two external filters. I also have 12000 l/h streamer. Luckily i am currently building a 750 liters system with 240 liters sump so filtration will not be an issue after that and i will keep the same stock.

Here is a video of her state: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGZjSkEzQ-4&feature=youtu.be
 
If you change 40% of the water every 5 days, and the ph still drops from 7.4 to 6, there something that needs to be addressed. How hard/soft is your water? When is the last time you cleaned out the filters? Do you have gravel? If so, when was the last time you vacuumed it?

Perhaps there's a source of organic matter decaying in the tank that you are not aware of. A dead fish behind a rock? Years of poo/food I the gravel? Gunk in the bio element inside the filter?

Overstocking is not that bad, but you must be on top of your water parameters. High nitrate for prolonged period is usually what causes "mysterious bloat/diseases". Since it doesn't kill quickly. Low on also makes the environment that much more dangerous for the inhabitants. Ammonia becomes much more toxic, especially when ph goes down to 6.

Best to get a test kit and make sure your nitrate and other parameters are in order. Make sure all the gravel and filter media are free of excess organic matter (poo, uneaten food, dead fish). If parameter is good and no excess organic matter to break down, and oh still drops. Then you NEED to buffer your water.


curing your fish is easy, many good advise already. Knowing why it happened in the first place is much more important.
 
Here's a video of my tank which is few weeks old.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQZCgX29w_c

Thank you for your posts. mrtoofay's post was really an eye opener to me after i did some tests. I will buy ammonia test which i don't have. I might also need a µS-tester too and do some research more on that.

Tap water:
KH 4
pH 7.0-7.1

450 l:
pH 7.0-7.1 (added salt rises pH?)
KH 4-5 (added salt)
NO2 <0.3 mg/l
NO3 25-35 mg/l (30 % water change today)

Quarantine:
NO3 15-20 mg/l (no water change yet)
pH 7

So...obviously i don't have poo laying around on bottom cause i have build filtration and water flow so the poo ends up to filters and i know there is no dead fish cause L600 or someone would eat it. I only have few liters of fine sand so i don't think there can be hidden poo under the sand. My geophagus keep my sand very clean. Small amounts of organic matter can be under some rocks, but i have moved rocks few times in past 2-3 years and there has not been very much of it. Half of my bottom is covered with slate rocks.

I think the reason for high nitrate is with the filters. Quite heavy feeding also can raise nitrate. Filters are always very messy and i clean them every 2 months. Flow rate of the filters have now dropped ~50 % so i would clean them anyway now if there is a problem or not. After now i need to clean my filter sooner and i will do water changes more often and do some water tests (pH, NO3) before water change etc. Luckily my next tank will have sump and easy access to prefiltration so media and sponges will be free of organic matter.

I saw some symptoms on my L203 so i moved it also to quarantine. No bloating but faster breathing, a bit sunken eyes and some abnormal behavior. Breathing rate has slowed down since i moved it to quarantine. L14's condition has stabilized(?) but same condition as in the video. Tomorrow i will first do small 20-30 % WC to quarantine tank and add more medication. After that i will clean a bigger canister filter from the main tank. After few days the i will clean the other and also quarantine tank's smaller external filter. Is it okay if i add one spoon of sea salt to quarantine tank after WC? I already put one spoon today + medication.
 
With the eartheaters, substrate shouldn't be the problem. You can add salt during med treatments. 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons.
 
Sadly she passed away this morning. I knew it was over when I saw her eyes bloating and barely breathing. Her state was stable for three days but i think she run out of energy cause she hasn't been eating for a few weeks. This has definitely been an learning experience for me and i hope it made me better pleco/fishkeeper. But i really didn't want to pay this kind of price for it.

DSC_0064%207.jpg


Additional pic.
http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd253/Pietu87/RAndom/DSC_0070%205.jpg

L203 seems to get better, but has not been eating yet. I cleaned quarantine tank's filter and i will be monitoring N03-levels for a while. Today it was 20-25 mg/l before cleaning.

Main tank:

04.02.2015
Water change 35 %.

05.02.2015
Nitrate 25-30 mg/l.

06.02.2015
Water change 35 % + JBL CristalProfi e1901 cleaning.

07.02.2015
Nitrate 25-30 mg/l. Internal filter cleaning.

Water is now very bright and clean. On the other hand mechanical filtration hasn't been an issue. I will clean smaller JBL e1501 tomorrow. After cleaning i will see if nitrate goes lower. Of course biological filtration don't like cleaning and it will take few days, weeks(?) to recovery back to full capacity. I was very careful with the media. Is 15-20 mg/l okay in a overstocked aquarium? I will not feed so much as before.
 
Sorry to read about your loss. The Tank temperature should be at about 80 to 84 degrees Fahrenheit. The PH should be in the 7.0 range. What is the Ammonia level in your tank. That should be zero or near zero. Also, what about your Nitrites (not Nitrates). Nitrites should also be Zero or near zero as well.
 
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