it started a month ago with my 18 inch arowana.. he was big and healthy ive had him for about a year..one day he quit eating two weeks later he died...someone told me to put melifix in the tank so something wouldnt spread to my other fish so i did. The melifix killed my 14 inch black ghost knife in ten minutes..now its a month later and my big healthy vampire tetra is doing the same thing as my arowana and is goin to die within the next couple days...I just dont get it i have very clear water its a 180 gallon tank with very good filtration and flow with power heads and two fx5 filters. when my arowana quit eating i did a 25 percent water change and the filters were barely even dirty after one year of use. The fish i have left are a foot long teacup ray, a 17 inch polypterus enlicheri, and a 9 inch sand goby which are all healthy and eating... should i just do a gigantic water change or what cause this is a nightmare and i have alot of money invested in these fish...
someone please help me...
- Thread starter justingordon
- Start date
ALthough the filtration is BIG, still maintain 50% water changes once every week........The cause of death for the 17 inch may be a parasite......When a species suddenly stops eating and dies two weeks later, it always a helpful thing to disect the carcass and to examine yourself..........17 is a pretty big number, might of been of age age, who knows.......If you still have the body, do some scalping and see if there is anything inside of it.............
Personally, I'd do 50-75% water changes every day for a week. I'd also get a gram stain test done if possible. This will tell you if there is a bacterial infection and if it is gram positive or negative. I've heard that melafix can do this with certain types of bacteria. It's very rare, but aparently has happened in the past. I'd say overall, the benifits of using melafix outweigh the risk, and I'd have done the same thing as you.
That's just what I would do, though.
And I agree, disect to see if it's a parasite issue.
That's just what I would do, though.
And I agree, disect to see if it's a parasite issue.
alright thanks for the advice guys...if there is a parasite issue and i end up changing most of the water in the next week or so could it stick to my sponges in the filter and stuff like that?? I mean how do i wipe this out before it kills the rest of my fish??
melafix and pimafix suck, a total waste of time using to treat a serious illness. QTing them and doing large daily daily water changes with salt at 1 tbs per 10 gallons is a good start. If you think it is parasitic try prazi and metro, if you think it isbacterial try kanamyacin. Yes it is a parasite or bacterial like TB your filters would be infested and would need to be treated to. KMnO4 is a good nuke chemical, you have to start over with your cycle
I disagree that Melafix and Pimafix suck. They have their place, and I've used them with great success. But like has been said, they are not a serious medication for a serious medical issue. I use it when my cichlids get nips, frayed fins, etc... and it works well for that type of preventative medicating.
Another thing to remember that serious medicating can also harm the fish. I prefer to use it as little as possible, and if I can get by with salt, melafix, and other natural remedies, I'd rather do that than "nuking" my entire tank.
And this seems to be a time that serious medication is necessary. But he needs to find out what the heck to treat for first. Likely, it's going to be parasites, or bacteria. Bacteria is not all the same, so you need to find out what type of bacteria before treating if it is bacterial.
Start doing large W/C's with salt right away while you test to find out what the problem is.
Good luck.
Another thing to remember that serious medicating can also harm the fish. I prefer to use it as little as possible, and if I can get by with salt, melafix, and other natural remedies, I'd rather do that than "nuking" my entire tank.
And this seems to be a time that serious medication is necessary. But he needs to find out what the heck to treat for first. Likely, it's going to be parasites, or bacteria. Bacteria is not all the same, so you need to find out what type of bacteria before treating if it is bacterial.
Start doing large W/C's with salt right away while you test to find out what the problem is.
Good luck.