hi, I posted the other day on the gourami forum as one of my dwarfs injured himself on some bogwood about a week ago and I did a course of melafix which seems to have healed the cuts but then I saw him do a long white poo a couple of days ago. I was told this was likely to be an internal parasite so I treated with Octozin (Waterlife) starting today. The fish was also pale but he had been like this since the injury, and had been pretty quiet but was still eating (not very enthusiastically, but enough).
A couple of initial questions: am I right to have treated the whole tank (20 gal) with the octozin tablets? I couldn't find any clear information on this so I went ahead and treated. Have I done something really wrong? Also I notice this evening that a bit of tablet has not dissolved. Should I remove it?
The gourami seems a bit perkier today and I have not seen it do another white poo since the other day, however admittedly I have not been home to watch the whole time.
My other problem is that this morning when I treated the octozin I noticed that one of my guppies (a relatively small male) was suffering from what seemed to be dropsy. His scales were protruding a bit, and he was breathing quite heavily near the surface. I also saw him doing a small clear poo.
Basically I'm a bit confused about how to diagnose my fish - is it dropsy, parasites, or could it be bloating?
I have been at uni all day and when I returned home the lights in the tank had already gone out. Should I switch them on again to check how the guppy is doing?
1. Water parameters. (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, temp', Hardness etc)
I'm relatively new to all this and I don't have a proper test kit. I realise I need to get one soon. I have a very basic nitrate kit and I they are a little high. I think the fish may have been overfed in the last few days, which is why I wonder about both dropsy and bloating. I am really sorry I cannot give proper water statistics. I will buy a kit asap.
3. How often you do water changes and how much.
I did a 20 % water change earlier this evening as the melafix treatment for the gourami ended yesterday. Perhaps I should change again tonight or tomorrow morning?
I do a 15% change weekly.
7. Finally Have you recently added any new fish?
I bought the guppy (and two other larger ones) two weeks ago, is it possible the parasites came with them? I also fed live daphnia that day, maybe it was that.
The other thing is that I cannot find concrete information online as to whether dropsy is contagious. I do not have a quarantine tank and while I realise I need one urgently I assume I would need to cycle it and its filter which would take time I might not have? Apologies if I seem like an unprepared novice.
Sorry for the essay, I have just found that posting on forums like this seems to be the most useful source of information.
Thankyou anyone in advance for any help.
aimee
A couple of initial questions: am I right to have treated the whole tank (20 gal) with the octozin tablets? I couldn't find any clear information on this so I went ahead and treated. Have I done something really wrong? Also I notice this evening that a bit of tablet has not dissolved. Should I remove it?
The gourami seems a bit perkier today and I have not seen it do another white poo since the other day, however admittedly I have not been home to watch the whole time.
My other problem is that this morning when I treated the octozin I noticed that one of my guppies (a relatively small male) was suffering from what seemed to be dropsy. His scales were protruding a bit, and he was breathing quite heavily near the surface. I also saw him doing a small clear poo.
Basically I'm a bit confused about how to diagnose my fish - is it dropsy, parasites, or could it be bloating?
I have been at uni all day and when I returned home the lights in the tank had already gone out. Should I switch them on again to check how the guppy is doing?
1. Water parameters. (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, temp', Hardness etc)
I'm relatively new to all this and I don't have a proper test kit. I realise I need to get one soon. I have a very basic nitrate kit and I they are a little high. I think the fish may have been overfed in the last few days, which is why I wonder about both dropsy and bloating. I am really sorry I cannot give proper water statistics. I will buy a kit asap.
3. How often you do water changes and how much.
I did a 20 % water change earlier this evening as the melafix treatment for the gourami ended yesterday. Perhaps I should change again tonight or tomorrow morning?
I do a 15% change weekly.
7. Finally Have you recently added any new fish?
I bought the guppy (and two other larger ones) two weeks ago, is it possible the parasites came with them? I also fed live daphnia that day, maybe it was that.
The other thing is that I cannot find concrete information online as to whether dropsy is contagious. I do not have a quarantine tank and while I realise I need one urgently I assume I would need to cycle it and its filter which would take time I might not have? Apologies if I seem like an unprepared novice.
Sorry for the essay, I have just found that posting on forums like this seems to be the most useful source of information.
Thankyou anyone in advance for any help.
aimee
/www.flubenol.co.uk/
