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Posted by Mandy on March 13, 2005, 12:10 pm
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Hey guys,
It's been weeks - everything has been going well, the ich was cured,
the plants are growing like crazy...
A few days ago I noticed my female Blue Ram (Priscilla) at the top of
the tank breathing hard. Elvis wasn't chasing her and now completely
ignores her. She's not eating, she's looking thinner and a little
sunken in the abdomen and it seems like she's trying to get air from
above the water line. I don't think she's going to live long if I
don't figure this out...
All the other fish are thriving.
37 gallon heavily planted
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Ph - 7.6
Co2 stopped working a few weeks ago - I think I sprung a leak in the
line and I've been too busy to buy more. I have some algae but it's not
bothering the other fish and it's not terrible.
Two blue rams
Two young angels
15 Cardinals
4 otos (lost one in the ich terror)
Thoughts?
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Posted by 2pods on March 13, 2005, 1:15 pm
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>
> 37 gallon heavily planted
> Ammonia - 0
> Nitrite - 0
> Nitrate - 0
> Ph - 7.6
>
Just wondered about the Nitrate, 0 ?
Must be your plants eating it :-)
I have 2 heavily planted tanks whose Nitrate varies from 5 to 10
Weather that would relate to your sick fish I don't know, just a thought.
Peter
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Posted by Elaine T on March 13, 2005, 2:24 pm
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Mandy wrote:
> Hey guys,
>
> It's been weeks - everything has been going well, the ich was cured,
> the plants are growing like crazy...
>
> A few days ago I noticed my female Blue Ram (Priscilla) at the top of
> the tank breathing hard. Elvis wasn't chasing her and now completely
> ignores her. She's not eating, she's looking thinner and a little
> sunken in the abdomen and it seems like she's trying to get air from
> above the water line. I don't think she's going to live long if I
> don't figure this out...
>
> All the other fish are thriving.
>
> 37 gallon heavily planted
> Ammonia - 0
> Nitrite - 0
> Nitrate - 0
> Ph - 7.6
>
> Co2 stopped working a few weeks ago - I think I sprung a leak in the
> line and I've been too busy to buy more. I have some algae but it's not
> bothering the other fish and it's not terrible.
>
> Two blue rams
> Two young angels
> 15 Cardinals
> 4 otos (lost one in the ich terror)
>
> Thoughts?
>
Bummer. Sick rams are tough. If you have a quarantine tank that is
cycled, move her there to be sure the other fish don't catch anything
from her.
It sounds like she has an internal infection, but it's hard to know
what. Internal bacterial infections, protozoans, and fish TB can all
cause wasting. Whatever she has is probably in her gills as well. You
could try adding some copper in case it is protozoal. Melafix may also
help. In the past I would have recommended metronidazole in quarantine,
but I've since learned that using antibiotics in tankwater is quite
dangerous, since you can grow resistant fish TB.
If this were my ram, I think I'd try for ideal ram conditions in a
quarantine tank in the hopes that the fish might be able to fight the
disease off. Ideal conditions for rams are warm, soft water, plenty of
cover, and low lighting. So, start with tankwater so there's no stress.
Add a copper remedy and Melafix. Add cover - lengths of PVC, clay
pots, rocks, plant trimmings, or anything else handy. Filter over peat
which will soften the water and add beneficial blackwater acids, and
gradually raise the temperature to 80 degrees. Change small amounts of
water as often as you can stand to keep the water quality extremely
high, and use half rain, RO or distilled water in the water changes if
you can. Of course, use AmQuel or zeolites to manage ammonia if necessary.
Without a quarantine, remove any carbon and treat your tank with one
dose each of copper medicine and Melafix. I might even filter the
display tank over peat since all your other fish will like it too. You
could add blackwater extract instead but I don't know whether it's as
good as peat. You can remove the tea color from the peat later with carbon.
This may or may not work, and I'd actually rate her getting well as a
longshot. Rams are just SO darned sensitive and hard to heal that you
may lose her despite your best efforts.
--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
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Posted by Mandy on March 14, 2005, 12:35 am
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Hi Elaine,
I saw this after I got back from the LFS. I put her in a hospital tank
and am treating with maracyn 2, am slowly raising the temp (lfs says
to 90 degrees!!!) and am leaving the lights off. Have fake plants and
several caves for her to hide in. She has a bunch of snails to keep
her company (have been waiting for dwarf puffers to come in but at this
rate the snails will all be too big for the puffers to eat!)
Would you advise I change course of action at this point? How do I
soften the water for her?
Thanks.
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Posted by Elaine T on March 14, 2005, 2:57 am
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Mandy wrote:
> Hi Elaine,
>
> I saw this after I got back from the LFS. I put her in a hospital tank
> and am treating with maracyn 2, am slowly raising the temp (lfs says
> to 90 degrees!!!) and am leaving the lights off. Have fake plants and
> several caves for her to hide in. She has a bunch of snails to keep
> her company (have been waiting for dwarf puffers to come in but at this
> rate the snails will all be too big for the puffers to eat!)
>
> Would you advise I change course of action at this point? How do I
> soften the water for her?
>
> Thanks.
>
I'm not sure what you will gain by going to 90 degrees except for dead
snails. Ich, costia, and velvet all have plenty of trouble reproducing
at 85.
Maracyn 2 is minocycline. It's one of the antibiotics that can be used
against Mycobacterium marinum (fish TB) and many other infections in
both fish and humans. Not my first choice but it could work, if
Priscilla happens to have a bacterial infection that responds to it. I
guess it's safest to go with the full length dosage Mardel suggests
rather than quitting partway through to best avoid raising resistant
bacteria. Your biofiltration should be OK but test for ammonia daily
just in case.
If the Maracyn is a bust, filter it out with carbon and switch to copper
and Melafix in an attempt to rid her of parasites (my first thought).
You could also try metronidazole - I would have recommended that as an
absolute first choice of treatment except that I've sworn off adding
antibiotics to water.
Once you're eventually done treating Priscilla, bleach your hospital
well for your own safety.
To soften and acidify the water so it's more to her taste, do a series
of small daily water changes with RO or distilled water, filter over
peat, or add blackwater extract (gradually). You don't want to suddenly
soften the water because it would damage her gills, but rather soften it
gradually, a little bit each day. My first choice would be peat
filtration because it's easy and gives nice, stable, blackwater chemistry.
--
__ Elaine T __
><__'> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
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> 37 gallon heavily planted
> Ammonia - 0
> Nitrite - 0
> Nitrate - 0
> Ph - 7.6
>