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Yes, it can get confusing depending on when one logs in! I meant I very much like your technique. I'd just be afraid of the chloramine, at least here in LA that is. That may be of no issue at all in some locales.

IMO you're method is excellent. I think this would largely apply if your water source uses chloramine. I used to live in Las Vegas and in Colorado. The latter did not use chloramine and in the former, the chloramine was (in the 1990's) a staggering 8PPM! o_O

Oops. Bad link. Sorry, all fixed!

I agree with Ch4rlie. Perhaps it's the nerd in me but I really need data as well, especially given a mistake can be a catastrophe. In many instances though all we have is anecdotal information and we must extrapolate from it with a good deal of license...and risk. The following is somewhere...

This may prove to shed some light on the topic though it may not translate directly to our discussions. It's a study by the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife Fish Control Laboratory in WI. of DMSO toxicity and antimycin absorption in fish. It's very old, circa 1966, but with respect to DMSO...

I fully agree. Unfortunately, aquariums are a closed system and as such, pathogenic spread can be far more ubiquitous and virulent than it would be in nature. It's a big petri dish if you will. In this case I probably brought the pathogens in with two new batches of juveniles I planned to grow...

Excellent information, thank you! I did not use DMSO on the kanamycin as it's so water soluble but I do know the amounts I used for nitrofurazone specifically as that was the most recent. It was a 75G with many infected fishes with columnaris. After seeing the 1st fatality, I began this...

Thank you for responding. I agree, it would be safer to just use water since this is how it's expected to be used! In my case, the horse is out of the barn if you will. This potential for overdosing just occurred to me after I've medicated two tanks which is when I finally thought to ask. I...

I try to avoid medications whenever possible but on rare, unfortunate occasions, one can find oneself with virulent outbreaks that require immediate, potent medications that are easily toxic if overdosed. To that end, I was wondering if anyone has used nitrofurazone or praziquantel with an...

Gorgeous. I have to look into the cardinal plant and the peace lily after seeing this. I'd never leave home if I had that!

Thanks so much. I suspect you're right as it took an inordinate amount of time to effect nitrate reduction (compared to the pothos) so as you said, first the substrate, then the water column. Soon my ceiling! :eek:

An LFS here in LA is run by two employees of the AQ of the Pacific, one a marine biologist and the other an ichthyologist. They have been kind enough to test samples for me, (usually a sick or dead fish) but recently we tested filtration media for nitrate reduction. The issue being the...

I may have missed this so please forgive me if this is redundant but are the dying fish new additions? I ask because there's a possibility they've suffered PH shock or ammonia shock from when you acclimated them to your tank. I recently had a similar situation when I bought fishes from a source...

I may have missed this information in your previous posts so forgive me if this is redundant but how long have you had the fish that are dying in that tank? And if they are new, how did you acclimate them? I ask because it almost sounds as if they suffered PH shock or ammonia shock while...

Thank you so much for these excellent links and suggestions. I did post a typo in that I meant 'nitrofurazone' on the days you specified. I think I copied/pasted it as I type like a snail and I copied 'kanamycin' by mistake. But it was the 5-day treatment regime that you suggested. On that...

Wow, thank you all for the wealth of information. From what I'm reading, and it's speculative on my part, but what I'm seeing may prove to be the '2nd strain of columnaris'. I base that on the symptoms, appearance but largely on the frequency of the deaths. I believe the 1st strain kills in...

Hi, Good question. I did fail to mention that I added aquarium salt, currently at 1tbps/3g, but that and the two antibiotics mentioned above are the only chemicals I've added to this tank, aside from a dechlorinator). It is a flat, dull patch. On the Silver Dollars, it looks like you've 'sanded...

I must admit, I've never seen anything like this but perhaps I was just lucky before! It was a fully cycled, 75G tank that had an adult population of EBAs and some plecos. It had been running without incident for many months. We moved the EBAs as this was for their grow-out and put 50 cardinals...

Just my 2C but there has to be something incorrect in the ammonia test. At 8ppm, I seriously doubt anything would be alive inside of a day. That's extremely high and toxic. I've seen just a 1ppm ammonia spike kill adult parrot fish overnight. As Byron said, your low PH is protecting you BUT that...

Yes, indeed it is starting to look like it was my acclimation. I did attempt to protect them from ammonia with Prime and zeolite but I'm sure there's a limitation to the protection that would afford them. Especially for sensitive or stressed fishes. I've done the 'mixing water acclimation'...

I will definitely try that. I did speak with the dealer and they said a PH up to 8 would be fine as they keep them at 7.4 but recommended a 1 hour acclimation with 15 minute introductions of tank water to their 'bucket'. When I saw a PH of under 6, I perhaps wrongly, elected for an overnight...

I suspect you're both correct. I bought them online and paid for overnight shipping to reduce stress as they normally ship by USPS which can take 3 days (so much for that idea!). As you said, the CO2 no doubt dropped the PH in the bag to <6 so I didn't know which was the lesser evil, releasing...

I have a sense you are correct. They do huddle as 1 or 2 groups largely which supports your observations. It's also something I can try immediately whereas the PH reduction will have to take much more time for safety. But i will try both. Thank you.

I can certainly give them more hiding places and more plants and reduce their stress. The PH I can lower over time and hope enough survive. Thank you everyone.

Hello, I'm not sure this is the correct category to post this but perhaps someone with experience with Cardinal Tetras may know what might be going on here. It is a 75G and has a SunSun704b canister and the output was modified to distribute the spray across the entire length to reduce the...

When I first began fishkeeping, I knew little and reading all the rhetoric about which fish prefer which PH was confusing so naturally, I asked the LFS for advice and they sold me PH Down and PH Up. I eagerly added one (I forget now which direction it was now as it was many years ago) thinking...

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. What happened is two-fold: Firstly, the PH-Up killed your fish. the reason being, fish need days to adjust to even small PH changes and a large one that occurs abruptly, causes internal organs to rupture known as Osmotic Shock. Fish DO tolerate PH changes...

Does he still eat? I'm no expert and it's hard to say but it looks like she's about to lay eggs to me. Yes, it could be a worm or worse, a prolapse but hopefully, she's just about to lay eggs. To be cautious, I'd treat the tank with Epsom Salts if she's not eating or soaking the food in the same...

As above, it's important to know why you think he has worms. You mentioned he has fin rot? That's bacterial and can make him sick enough to refuse food. Fin rot will require a very different treatment than internal parasites which is why I ask why you suspect he ahs worms. But assuming he does...

Just to add to what everyone already said and correctly so, he is a labyrinth fish so don't use any 'oils' like Stress Coat or Melafix etc. I've seen it kill weakened labyrinth fish because it hampers the gill function. I partially disagree with the salt option. It will improve osmotic...

For what this is worth, I've had two 12" plecos for about two years in a 125G and I've used salt for medical issues repeatedly without them adversely reacting in any manner. I use salt when a fish injures himself or if there's any external marks that might be the beginnings of something...