arowana better but still on the bottom of the tank

[SANLYNN]

Thanks to Sorrell for the guidance. I have o ammonia and the ph & nitrates are fine, the arowana is in its own tank. This is one hardy little fish. I have been keeping watch over this little guy for the past 4 days. He was laying on his side on barely moving, just lifting his head ever so slightly. I would either swirl the water or put him in the net so that he would move and not just lay there . Each day he has seemed stronger in appearance. I also got some plankton from the fish store and even though he didn't appear to be eating , I figured some of the nutrients had to be absorbed in the water. I have also been changing about 10 percent of the water every day. Today I am happy to report that he has been swimming in a circle on the bottom of the tank all day. He seems to be one sided with his left fin drawn up but when he gets a little elevation the fin comes out. He is also eating, by chance I happen to catch him snapping up some plankton. He even looks much stronger. The only thing is that he is on the bottom of the tank. Is he still suffering the effects of the ammonia?? Does it take time for him to be able sustain himself at the top of the tank?? Is there something I should be doing?? I am amazed that he has not only lasted but that he seems to be recovering. I feel like I have been up with a newborn for the past few days.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Hi Sanlynn,

It sounds like your little guy is experiencing ammonia poisoning. I scrolled through your previous posts so I'm somewhat up to date. You say the arowana is in it's own tank....is it a new tank? When did you set it up?

Ok question overload...

You say the ammonia is at 0, this could be because ammonia hasn't had a chance to build up yet if it's a brand new tank. When you have an established tank (your 20 is established since it's over 6 months old,but it experienced an ammonia spike when you added the new fish) you can remove a few cup fulls of gravel and some filter media (from your filter) and put those in the new tank, when you stock slowly this will create an instant cycle in your new tank which would equal 0 ammonia. Is that what you did? Or is it all fresh clean gravel,water,filter media?

Not sure how stable your 20 is at the moment though, it experienced an immense overload the previous week so it may not have caught up yet. Your best bet may be to run out and buy some beneficial bacteria in a bottle, Bio-spira is the best, Cycle and NitroMax are also good, everything else is just a waste of money IMO. Also look for something called Prime, it's a dechlorinator but it helps break down ammonia and nitrite quickly. Keep on top of your water changes

 

[SANLYNN]

Well It's been one week , my arowana who I now call Hercules seems to be better but he is still swimming on the bottom of the tank. Hercules is swimming on his own and he look as if his bablance is back. He is no longer leaning over to the side when he's at rest. He is almost constantly in motion. I have see him snap up a little plankton occasionally. The ammonia is low like about 1.0. Whe I first purchased the new 10 gal tank, I did put in gravel & water from my 20 gal tank, what i didn't realize at the time was it was loaded with ammoina, So much that when I moved Hercules in and added fresh water the ammonia was still through the roof. Any way, for the moment the levels seem to be good for him and I am carefully watching the ammonia level, nitrate and ph levels. Why has he not moved to the srface. I know arows normally swim at the top of the tank?? Is he still too weak?? What should feed him ?? Hercules has come back from the brink of death and I have really bonded with this little guy. I also noticed that he is keeping his head erect when ever he's takes a rest. To me it appears that he is waiting for a plankton particle to float his way. I know he's is definitely not 100 % recovered. Any advice & help

 

[ryan]

I may be missing something here but fo you have an Arowana in a 10 gallon? They need 180 gallon minimum and they will out grow that in 18 months eventually needing 300 gallons.

 

[SANLYNN]

I am planning on putting in Hercules in a 150 gal tank. At this stage his egg sac has been dried up for only so this is a very young fish. He is in the 10 gallon because I had to isolate him and try to treat him because he was near death from ammonia poisoning. Does anyone know why he still cannot stay afloat. He is on the bottom of the tank swimming but he can seem to propel himself to the top of the tank. If I try to assist him moving him to the surface he very gracefully floats back down to the bottom. Is he still weak from not eating??


Help!!!!! Today Hercules is once again on his side, when he swims he is leaning over to the side. My ammonia is 0.5- 1 , the PH is 6.4 and I don't know what else to do or what might be causing this. Yesterday he seemed on the road to recovery but I still had big concerns about his eating and the fact that he could not sustain himself at the surface. Today he is really not swimming that much. He is keeping his head up and still has a vey good response when he moves to a differnet spot but when he gets there he falls over to the side. Please can someone tell me what I am doing wrong. Yesterday I did change about 1/3 of the water because the ammonia was about 2.0. Should I add EMT tablets to the water??

 

[SANLYNN]

Help!!!!! Today Hercules is once again on his side, when he swims he is leaning over to the side. My ammonia is 0.5- 1 , the PH is 6.4 and I don't know what else to do or what might be causing this. Yesterday he seemed on the road to recovery but I still had big concerns about his eating and the fact that he could not sustain himself at the surface. Today he is really not swimming that much. He is keeping his head up and still has a vey good response when he moves to a differnet spot but when he gets there he falls over to the side. Please can someone tell me what I am doing wrong. Yesterday I did change about 1/3 of the water because the ammonia was about 2.0. Should I add EMT tablets to the water??

 

[G_Sharky]

get yourself a bag of nitro-zorb to help eliminate ammonia. I don't wanna discourage you but at the ph 6.4, 0.5 could be quite deadly, your not using any meds right???...Good Luck i hope the little guy makes it..

 

[ryan]

It is a very bad idea to buy Arowanas with their egg sacks still attached and I would never advise it. This is likely to have something to do with the problems you are suffering from.

 

[SANLYNN]

Thanks for all the help. It's been 9 days now and Hercules is still hanging in there. I now know I really was not experienced enough to own an arow. However, we've hung in there and I an hooked. I know he's still not out of the woods but today was a good day. He now is extending both his fins and is not leaning over to the side. He has been quite active today. Last night I purchased some brine shrimp and put a few in his tank(rinsed off) and he started eating them!! I purchased Cycle, do I add it directly to the water or put in in the filter?? I still puzzled that my ammonia & ph are not stable. The ammonia is at 0.5.-1.0, the pH became very akaline and I neutralized it. I've read the arowanas thrive in a slightly acidic ph , Does anyone know if that's correct. Lastly, this fish is still on the bottom of the tank, he is swimming back and forth quite strongly, but he can't sustain himself at the top of the tank. He floats rather gracefully down and it almost looks as if he'll make back up because his tail and fins are looking perfect but ALAS Hercules always winds back at the bottom of the tank. This really has me worried. Is this swim bladder?? Is there anything that I can do or will he have to improve on his own. No medicines have been added to Hercules' tank.