Sheding skin

[jusy74]

Hi, I'm both old and new here. I just acquired an Asian Arowana (BBG XB FM), just yesterday. I immediately noticed that there were a lot of skin like particles floating around the tank, I took a net and tried to scoop out as much as I could. Again this morning I noticed that they're back and this time it was more than those of yesterday. It seems that my Arowana is shedding skin, but the Arowana is covered with scales. I called the shop owner where I bought my fish and he said, could be a sign of stress. Which is possible. What I need to know from our expert / experienced members is, what I can do to reduce the shedding (stress) on my fish. Is this form of shedding detrimental to the health of my Arowana, Could I have acquired a sick fish, one that requires medication. By the way, I tried feeding the fish this morning and again this afternoon, I tried shrimp slices, meal worms, cricket & Arowana pellets. It didn't even attempt to bite neither of them. Any suggestions as to how I can swiftly break in my fish in his new environment. By the way, he is roughly around 9" and he is temporarily housed in a 100 gallon tank (alone). I've checked my water quality and these are the parameters:
pH - 7
Ammonia - 0.25 ppm
Nitrite - 0.25 ppm
Nitrate - 10 ppm
Tomorrow I am planning on adding SERA SUPER PEAT to my filter, hoping to lower the pH to 6.6. My tank temperature ranges from 28.8 ~ 30 deg. C, depending on time of day. The tank gets cooler when I open the air conditioning. Kindly advice, I just got back to raising fishes after 5 years of giving it up. I don't want my first fish to perish due to my lack of knowledge in raising these delicate creatures or maybe it's the value of the fish that's giving me the jitters. I don't feel as worried when it comes to my other fishes. Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Hendre]

Photos would be helpful. I am not sure if playing with the pH is the right plan. It can still be settling in so don't worry about not eating, is the surface material at all oily? Please share photos if possible.

 

[twentyleagues]

Hi, I'm both old and new here. I just acquired an Asian Arowana (BBG XB FM), just yesterday. I immediately noticed that there were a lot of skin like particles floating around the tank, I took a net and tried to scoop out as much as I could. Again this morning I noticed that they're back and this time it was more than those of yesterday. It seems that my Arowana is shedding skin, but the Arowana is covered with scales. I called the shop owner where I bought my fish and he said, could be a sign of stress. Which is possible. What I need to know from our expert / experienced members is, what I can do to reduce the shedding (stress) on my fish. Is this form of shedding detrimental to the health of my Arowana, Could I have acquired a sick fish, one that requires medication. By the way, I tried feeding the fish this morning and again this afternoon, I tried shrimp slices, meal worms, cricket & Arowana pellets. It didn't even attempt to bite neither of them. Any suggestions as to how I can swiftly break in my fish in his new environment. By the way, he is roughly around 9" and he is temporarily housed in a 100 gallon tank (alone). I've checked my water quality and these are the parameters:
pH - 7
Ammonia - 0.25 ppm
Nitrite - 0.25 ppm
Nitrate - 10 ppm
Tomorrow I am planning on adding SERA SUPER PEAT to my filter, hoping to lower the pH to 6.6. My tank temperature ranges from 28.8 ~ 30 deg. C, depending on time of day. The tank gets cooler when I open the air conditioning. Kindly advice, I just got back to raising fishes after 5 years of giving it up. I don't want my first fish to perish due to my lack of knowledge in raising these delicate creatures or maybe it's the value of the fish that's giving me the jitters. I don't feel as worried when it comes to my other fishes. Any help will be much appreciated. Thanks.

You've got ammonia and nitrite and you are planning on messing with pH all the while this fish is settling in and already having issues. Don't mess with the pH right now. If you have ammonia and nitrite get some bottled bacteria to fix that. Or do water changes. Post pics of the fish to see if we can get an idea of what is happening. All fish need time to adjust to new surroundings but arowana are worse then most, they are panicky fish and want to bolt at the slightest little thing especially when young and new to you. Hopefully someone with an insight into arowana in particular will be able to chime in and help you out. But general fish care says ammonia and nitrite are bad in any concentration and stability is better then chasing numbers for pH in a very large number of cases.

 

[jusy74]

Thank you Twentylegues, you are right, there are traces of Amonia, Nitrite and Nitrate in my water. I also read somewhere that for Arowanas, you'd like to keep the Nitrate level below 40 ppm. But Amonia and Nitrite must be 0 ppm. As for the pH, I just thought simulating it's natural habitat of 6.6 might help calm the fish down? I have a bare tank, no wood, no moss, no stones, no nothing. I noticed my pH has the tendency to rise up to 8 ~ 8.2 ppm. Then I read that high oxygen contributes to the rise of pH, so the first thing i did was to set the air pump to a lower setting. Because I also noticed that my over head filter and 2 canister filters are all producing oxygen. By the way, I was told to add salt (o.1%) by the pet shop owner where I got my fish, not so sure about the logic behind it but it was supposed to help calm the fish. Any input regarding the salt? Or was the salt precautionary, since the fish is stressed, it is susceptible to diseases, and salt is supposed to help rid of parasites. Still my main concern at this point is the shedding of the skin, its floating everywhere, I couldn't see where it's coming from, there are no traces on the body and fins of the fish. I am attaching photos of my tank, the picture is not that clear but you'll be able to spot the floating skin like, cotton like, mucus ( white spots) floating every where.

 

[jusy74]

Photos would be helpful. I am not sure if playing with the pH is the right plan. It can still be settling in so don't worry about not eating, is the surface material at all oily? Please share photos if possible.

Not at all, I have all sorts of filter agitating the surface water. I placed 2 corner filters with K1 media, I have an overhead filter with sponges and activated carbon (chemical filtration), I have a canister filter (prefilter with its own power head) that is purely mechanical filtration and another canister filter with 1st chamber as mechanical filtration and the next 3 chambers filled with Siporax (biological filtration).

 

[jjohnwm]

Any suggestions as to how I can swiftly break in my fish in his new environment.

This sentence ^ speaks volumes. You've had the fish for one day, and are worried that it isn't eating, and are planning on messing around with pH changes...and want to "swiftly break in" a new, flighty fish. That's not a reasonable expectation, or a wise plan.

Please, for your sake and that of your fish...relax. Plenty of fish take some time (easily days, maybe even weeks) to settle in enough to begin eating. And I personally feel one of the biggest mistakes many aquarists make is stressing out over pH, and how to change it, and how to change it, how to maintain it, etc. Unless your pH is extreme...and a pH of 7 is, by definition, not extreme...your fish will be fine.

I can practically feel the waves of tension and stress emanating off of you all the way over here in Canada; if fish could talk, I think your Arowana would ask you to chill...

I think the floaters are just mucus, not actually tissue. I've never had it happen, but I've read (and your seller seems to agree) that mucus production can increase due to stress, similar to the way that a dog will start shedding hair almost instantly if nervous or stressed. The answer? Relax!

 

[twentyleagues]

I do believe the salt is just precaution. Take care of the ammonia and nitrite issues first. Stable pH is safer then wild swings but if you can maybe cut your water with ro/di water it will help to lower the pH and the super peat to help keep it lowered, but do it slowly over weeks not days and let your fish acclimate to it's new surroundings first.

 

[jjohnwm]

Take care of the ammonia and nitrite issues first.

That's where the focus should be. It sounds like you have plenty of filtration...and plenty of filters!...so getting those levels down should take care of itself soon. In the meantime, some water changes, done carefully so as to not increase the stress on your fish, might be wise.

How about all that food you are tossing in there? Is it being left to decompose, contributing to poor water quality? Or are you removing it? Doing so might be adding to stress levels as well. I'd probably not even attempt to feed the fish for a few days; give the biofilter a chance to clean up the levels, and let the fish settle in and develop an appetite.

After re-reading the OP, I would also suggest that jamming a net into the tank every time a piece of fish dandruff appears might be counterproductive also. To carry forward the shedding dog analogy, that's about the equivalent of standing over the dog and screaming at the top of your lungs "STOP SHEDDING!!!" You're just increasing the stress levels...the exact opposite of what you should be doing.

 

[jusy74]

your fish will be fine. The answer? Relax
Probably I should relax. Assurance and confirmation is kinda relaxing...Thanks jjohnwm.

Take care of the ammonia and nitrite issues first. Stable pH is safer then wild swings
This would be the smart thing to do right now. Thanks twentyleagues.

 

[Raynado]

J jusy74 - Sorry to say this but you are not ready for a fish like an Arowana. You've put that fish in harm's way by adding it in a tank with bad water parameters. I haven't read all the replies but a few were right on about getting the water fixed (which you should do ASAP) first by doing daily water changes and/or getting used seeded media from the LFS or a friend. That's a beautiful aro you have and it pains everyone here to see it suffering. Help the fish out and get your water parameters sorted out