How to get fish to take Metronidazole

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
knicks791;3689979; said:
Sarah, my water parameters for ammonia and nitrite are as low as they can be according to my Tetra master kit. I even keep 4 ratty Amazon swords the oscar likes to beat up on to keep the nitrates down.

As for food... Home made fish food – (blended white fish/shrimp w/ some greens and multi – vitamins) in mornings and hikari gold in the evenings.

Only the best for my Scar face.
Click to expand...
Do u test for nitrates? The main cause for HITH is excessive NITRATES, please test for them and give us the results. Any nitrite in ur water could mean ur going through a mini cycle in ur tank. Another question is if you use carbon in ur filters? Some oscars can be sensitive to the carbon dust, and it can give them HITH. But please test for nitrates, or maybe u just forgot to post the results, but that would be very helpful!!!!
And I had to ad, that plants do almost nothing to keep nitrates down. Maybe if u had a super lightly stock list, like a small school of guppys, then plants would had a effect. But no way plants could keep the nitrates down in a oscar tank, even if it was stuffed full of plants.
 
You want a pic of scarface or the tank. The tank is clear and clean except for the whole nitrate thing im not sure about until tonight.
 
Nitrates were very high; 80 or 160. 75-80 percent water change was done and will feed less. What else should be done?

Very bitter that the tetra master test kit did not come with nitrate test. That rant is on another thread. Though the tank water was perfect.
 
Ran another test after the water change. Nitrates are still very high. Should another W/c be done tonight or tomorrow? Do the filters need to be cleaned out?
 
Test the water out of your tap.... all parameter afeter letting it sit overnight.

If you have high nitrates in your tap water, you'll have to address that prior to putting it in the tank.
 
If you find you quickly find nitrates rising after water changes, then you're overfeeding, not cleaning filter media, or a combination of the two. It indicates there's too much waste in the system. Your filter breaks dangerous wastes into less dangerous nitrates, but then you must remove nitrates via water changes.

Clean your gravel with a gravel siphon regularly during water changes. Clean mechanical media in your filters as often as you can (once or twice a month is usually enough). Make sure you're changing plenty of water -- a messy fish like an oscar may require 75% changes once or twice a week. Use your nitrate test to determine when you need to change. While trying to heal up that fish, change water any time that nitrates reach 20ppm. On down the road, it's not necessarily to be quite that aggressive. Nitrates for most South American fish can be quite high without causing harm, but if you get on a regular weekly water change schedule you won't even have to test anymore. You'll be able to see it through the behavior of your fish.
 
Tomorrow the filters will cleaned and another W/C will be administered. Glad to know what might be causing the HITH now.


Thank you all for you help!
 
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