need some help

[frnchjeep]

i have the thought that you overdosed.. with those meds .. you should only use the meds for a few days and then rely on water changes.. give a big water 50% change now and add a very mild {small amount}aquariam salt solution to relieve stress and do not put any more medicine.. i hope he will be okay.

I guess an o.d. is possible. I have been redosing every day. The thing is though, this is what the original problem looks like with every outbreak (before any meds.) maybe I should back off with the meds a bit, but I think that there is something else that needs to be addressed here. This is my third round with this problem. This bala is 1 of 6 fish left out of 30-35 (the syno died today). This whole situatoin has been so stressful, I just want to pack it in. I don't know what else to do. I did a 50% water change yesterday. It might be too soon to do another one?

 

[Red Devil]

I guess an o.d. is possible. I have been redosing every day. The thing is though, this is what the original problem looks like with every outbreak (before any meds.) maybe I should back off with the meds a bit, but I think that there is something else that needs to be addressed here. This is my third round with this problem. This bala is 1 of 6 fish left out of 30-35 (the syno died today). This whole situatoin has been so stressful, I just want to pack it in. I don't know what else to do. I did a 50% water change yesterday. It might be too soon to do another one?

i am sorry to hear that.. and if you did a water change yesterday then it would be too soon to do another 50%.. did you add more med after the water change.. if you added more meds i would do a 25% and go with the aquarium salt.. and raise temp a bit.. and let the salt and higher temp try to take care of the fungal infection and relieve some stress the fish are going through.. i know we want all disease to be gone.. but when you add meds you really have to follow directions.. and the synodontis is scaleless so he could not take the potent med.. i am sorry for you .. but these things do happen.. you cannot panic and get stressed over it although i know how you feel.. meds are great but always try aquarium salt, maybe a little garlic oil and raise temp a bit.. first..

 

[frnchjeep]

meds are great but always try aquarium salt, maybe a little garlic oil and raise temp a bit.. first..

I tried the temp. and salt thing the first time the problem showed up. After a week of fish dropping like flies, I had to switch to the meds. I followed the dose instructions on the melafix and pimafix. It also says that it can be dosed daily for 7 days, longer if necessary. Whats the garlic oil thing? I haven't heard of that before.

 

[Red Devil]

I tried the temp. and salt thing the first time the problem showed up. After a week of fish dropping like flies, I had to switch to the meds. I followed the dose instructions on the melafix and pimafix. It also says that it can be dosed daily for 7 days, longer if necessary. Whats the garlic oil thing? I haven't heard of that before.

garlic oil just relieves stress and gives the fish an appetite and seems to help with external skin problems as well.. as they are going through an illness or you can just use as a booster to good health.. well i don't know what else i can say to help .. you must have had some wicked infection going on in your tank.. i just saved a bunch of mollies that were being sold as feeders.. thought i would take them home and give them a chance..they looked pretty {gold and blacks} put them in hospital tank}good thing} because every one of them was filled with parasites and one by one they died.. and these would have been used as feeders.. so u can amagine the hell someone else is going through feeding their monster fish these mollies.. never trust a fish is safe... i learned the hard way too many years ago...always separate for a few weeks or even longer..

 

[frnchjeep]

garlic oil just relieves stress and gives the fish an appetite and seems to help with external skin problems as well.. as they are going through an illness or you can just use as a booster to good health.. well i don't know what else i can say to help .. you must have had some wicked infection going on in your tank.. i just saved a bunch of mollies that were being sold as feeders.. thought i would take them home and give them a chance..they looked pretty {gold and blacks} put them in hospital tank}good thing} because every one of them was filled with parasites and one by one they died.. and these would have been used as feeders.. so u can amagine the hell someone else is going through feeding their monster fish these mollies.. never trust a fish is safe... i learned the hard way too many years ago...always separate for a few weeks or even longer..

Well, thanks for all your help. I am going to do a 25% water change and add stress coat and salt. I will get some garlic oil tomorrow. What kind of dose should I use for the garlic oil?

That sucks for you about the mollies. Then again, you might have saved someone's aro from parasites. I used to use feeders, too. Those I always quarintined, though, because of the conditions they come from.

The LFS I got these fish from seems to be top notch. I have been using them for years without a problem. It is my own fault for not seperating the new fish. I should have known better. you can only get lucky for so long, I guess.

 

[frnchjeep]

we brought a fungal infection home from an LFS a few weeks ago.. didn't show up until we moved the fish out of the quarantine tank (wasn't there long enough, i got antsy). We treated both tanks with salt and raised the temp to 88 degrees.

treated it the same as we did ich, salt 1 tsp per gallon, and raised the temps, then weekly water changes after 10 days and gradually reduce the temp 2 degrees per week till it's back down around 82 - 84 degrees.

the same thing has worked for ich and a couple different fungus outbreaks (in different tanks) and i haven't lost a fish.

Thank you for the advise. I am going to try the temp and salt treatment again.

 

[Red Devil]

Let me know how it goes..and i wish you the best..

 

[frnchjeep]

It didn't go so well. When I woke up this morning, I found a dead pleco. When I came home from work, the bala was dead. When i scooped him out, I measured him. 9 inches. I had him for about 4 years. I know that is only a fraction of it's expectancy, but it is long enough to get attached to it. My once flourishing tank is now just a couple black skirt tetras and a rafael cat. I think tonight I will move them to a spare 10 gallon I have and retire the 90. Sucks.

 

[Red Devil]

It didn't go so well. When I woke up this morning, I found a dead pleco. When I came home from work, the bala was dead. When i scooped him out, I measured him. 9 inches. I had him for about 4 years. I know that is only a fraction of it's expectancy, but it is long enough to get attached to it. My once flourishing tank is now just a couple black skirt tetras and a rafael cat. I think tonight I will move them to a spare 10 gallon I have and retire the 90. Sucks.

I am soooo sorry .. that really is so sad..i know how you feel.. maybe it would be okay to take a break from it.. but please do not let this discourage you for good..you have learned so much.. and you really care about them... to me that is what a good fish keeper is all about..

 

[frnchjeep]

WOAH!! My wife just thought of something. They just built a Wallgreens on my street. I got to thinking about it, and lately the water in both tanks goes cloudy for a couple days after water changes. If they had to mess with the city water pipes for the new construction, could there be copper in my tap water from new pipes?