My flowerhorn had been sick for awhile, off and on. I searched the symptoms and tracked down the issue at those times and took all necessary precautions and actions to save her. I was doing a water change and I had planned on taking the sand and rocks out. I noticed a horrible smell coming from the rocks, there was fungus on them but to me, it seemed very bad. She had symptoms that were between 3 illnesses which were ick, fungus and flukes. The symptoms were leaning more towards flukes. I picked up Jungle brand Lifeguard all-in-one treatment, as well as Nutrafin brand Aqua Plus (tap water conditioner), Waste Control (biological aquarium cleaner) and Cycle (biological aquarium supplement). I started with the treatment right away and did the full 12 days, as she was extremely ill (Dec 4th-Dec 16th). I took a water test after each dose; Nitrate (NO3) was at 200, fluctuated 80-160 in between and ended at 200, Nitrate (NO2) was at 3.0, fluctuated from .5-3.0 in between and ended at 3.0, Hardness remained at 300 over the period, Alkalinity remained at 40 low over the period, pH was 7.2 neutral, fluctuated from 7.2-6.8 neutral in between and ended at 6.8 neutral. I added water on the 6th day using Cycle (biological aquarium supplement) and on the 13th day I did a cleaning, put filter back in and a water change using the Aqua Plus (tap water conditioner). She had been moving around more and seemed relatively more happy. Today, Dec 19th I went to see if she felt up for eating, as she has not over this course, and noticed a little pimple-like bump on her head, about an inch above her eyes, in the middle. Not interested in food yet and other than that she seems to be looking better and swimming around more. I took a water test and NO3 was 200, NO2 3.0, Hardness 300, Alkalinity 40 and pH 6.8. Please, I am in need of some advice as to where to go from here! I did some research but I wanted to get others opinions as well.
Saving my Flowerhorn, Poseidon!
- Thread starter Laurissa1284936
- Start date
Fix you water quality first. Nitrate needs to be less than 20ppm. Do a 100% water change or 2 75% water changes back to back to bring it down.
What is the nitrate level of your tap water used for water changes?
Are you using a liquid test to determine your nitrate? Or are you using strips? If strips, you need to purchase liquid tests.
What is the nitrate level of your tap water used for water changes?
Are you using a liquid test to determine your nitrate? Or are you using strips? If strips, you need to purchase liquid tests.
Agreed, get the nitrates way down. Keep doing daily water changes till you can barely read for nitrates. Stop offering food. Make sure there is dim lighting and lots of hides, no stress.
Once you do this and give the fish a bit of time to reap the rewards of clean water we can look at symptoms again at that point.
When was the last time you cleaned the filter? What's causing such high nitrates? Investigation is in order.
Once you do this and give the fish a bit of time to reap the rewards of clean water we can look at symptoms again at that point.
When was the last time you cleaned the filter? What's causing such high nitrates? Investigation is in order.
I checked the water quality of my tap water. The nitrates are at 0, Hardness 150, Alka is moderate and ph is 6.8. I just did a half water change and I have been using the test strips. I used only 5ml of the Aqua Plus.
