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pleasehelpmehelpmykillifish
- Thread starter ixchel
- Start date
Hi and welcome to the forum 
Is it an Aphyosemium gardneri?
Most killifish only live for 1 or 2 years. If it has been kept in warm water (above 24C) its entire life, it is probably getting old. The body condition would suggest it isn't eating much and has been losing condition for a few months.
--------------------
You can try cleaning the tank up with daily water changes and add some salt, but I think the fish is just old and anything you do might not help. But if you want to try, do the following.
Feed the fish more often using a variety of live and frozen (but defrosted) foods. You can feed them 3-5 times per day for a month and see if it helps the fish regain some condition.
You can treat the fish for intestinal worms.
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a couple of weeks. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.
Increase surface turbulence/ aeration o maximise the oxygen levels in the water.
Add some salt, (see directions below).
-------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.
The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, plants, shrimp, fish or snails.
After you use salt for a couple of weeks, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.
If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
Is it an Aphyosemium gardneri?
Most killifish only live for 1 or 2 years. If it has been kept in warm water (above 24C) its entire life, it is probably getting old. The body condition would suggest it isn't eating much and has been losing condition for a few months.
--------------------
You can try cleaning the tank up with daily water changes and add some salt, but I think the fish is just old and anything you do might not help. But if you want to try, do the following.
Feed the fish more often using a variety of live and frozen (but defrosted) foods. You can feed them 3-5 times per day for a month and see if it helps the fish regain some condition.
You can treat the fish for intestinal worms.
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a couple of weeks. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens.
Increase surface turbulence/ aeration o maximise the oxygen levels in the water.
Add some salt, (see directions below).
-------------------
SALT
You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt) or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.
Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, Bettas & gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.
The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria, plants, shrimp, fish or snails.
After you use salt for a couple of weeks, you do a 10% water change each day for a week using only fresh water that has been dechlorinated. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that. This dilutes the salt out of the tank slowly so it doesn't harm the fish.
If you do water changes while using salt, you need to treat the new water with salt before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salt level stable in the tank and minimise stress on the fish.
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