Emergency, Please Help

[Colin_T]

Metroplex contains Metronidazole, which is normally used to treat internal protozoan infections and does not normally work on fish with dropsy or external bacterial infections. You can try it but monitor the water quality for ammonia and nitrite and do a massive water change any day you have a reading above 0ppm.

 

[Pichi]

I have ordered some kanaplex from america, I don't know if it will get here in time but it's worth trying I think. It has a broad spectrum antibiotic in it.

He is a lot more active today and I think the swelling has gone down slightly. For now I will continue using eSHa 2000 (for 3 more days) and 3ppt aquarium salt. I don't know if what i'm doing is right.

I did a 30% water change today, I want to do a larger one but I have to let the water sit overnight because eSHa says not to use water conditioner with it. How fast can I remove the chorine/ chloramine if I use an aerator? It might also dilute the medicine but will be ok if I replace the medicine I take out?

I noticed a slug like glob in the filter media when rinsing it. No idea what that was but I took a picture incase anyone knows.

Parameters today before the water change were PH 6.6 - 7, Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, Nitrate 0, not sure why Nitrates are 0 though. Could it be that he is not releasing ammonia properly? Could the plant or the filter be taking care of the Nitrates? Really not sure about that one, the test drops are in date.

 

[Pichi]

Sorry Sharky is ill but I would like to say firstoff that the goldfish in 100L is not right; that's about 26 US gallons for what is really a pond fish. I see you have a strong filter however that fish need a lot of room to move and a lot more water than you can give him/her in that tank.

I hope Sharky gets better; and he may since he still has an appetite, but it has been my experience that dropsy is usually a sign of the end (organ falure due to fluid retension). I hope I am wrong though.

Once he gets better I'm going to try and build him a pond outside and move him in, in the spring.

 

[Rocky998]

have ordered some kanaplex from america

... Sorry to say but uhhh our cargo ships are all lined up near San Francisco still trying to UNLOAD... I dont even know if were shipping to other countries... Unless your doing an air service, your not getting your stuff for a few months...

 

[Rocky998]

Once he gets better I'm going to try and build him a pond outside and move him in, in the spring.

That'll be great!

 

[Pichi]

... Sorry to say but uhhh our cargo ships are all lined up near San Francisco still trying to UNLOAD... I dont even know if were shipping to other countries... Unless your doing an air service, your not getting your stuff for a few months...

Oh dear I'm not sure how it is being shipped. I've looked and looked but no one in the UK sells it

 

[Rocky998]

Oh dear I'm not sure how it is being shipped. I've looked and looked but no one in the UK sells it

Yah, we're also running low on truck drivers which means an even slower wait time... BUT, you may be able to change the shipping option to an air service where they fly it out... It'll probably cost more though

 

[Colin_T]

Kanaplex contains an anti-biotic called Kanamycin. It can wipe out filters so monitor the water quality.

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If you have safe normal levels of chlorine in the tap water, it should all come out within 24 hours with vigorous aeration, longer with little or no aeration. If you have higher than normal safe levels of chlorine in the water, it can takes days or even a week to get it all out.
I think the safe level is 2ppm (mg/l)

If you have chloramine in the tap water, you need to add something to break the chlorine ammonia bond and neutralise the chlorine. Chloramine does not come out of water by itself and can only be removed/ neutralised with a dechlorinator.

Dechlorinators should not make any difference to medications.

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When treating fish with any medication, wipe the glass down, do a massive water change, complete gravel clean, and clean the filter before treatment and before re-treating the tank. This provides a cleaner environment with less gunk so the medication works on the sick fish instead of the micro-organisms in the gravel, filter and tank.

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I don't know what is in Esha2000 but if that and the salt seem to be helping, continue using it. Hopefully you won't need the Kanaplex.

 

[Essjay]

I don't know what is in Esha2000

Ethylacridine lactate, copper sulphate, proflavine hemisulphate.

 

[ClownLurch]

Has the charcoal in filter question been asked yet?

 

[Pichi]

Kanaplex contains an anti-biotic called Kanamycin. It can wipe out filters so monitor the water quality.

-------------------
If you have safe normal levels of chlorine in the tap water, it should all come out within 24 hours with vigorous aeration, longer with little or no aeration. If you have higher than normal safe levels of chlorine in the water, it can takes days or even a week to get it all out.
I think the safe level is 2ppm (mg/l)

If you have chloramine in the tap water, you need to add something to break the chlorine ammonia bond and neutralise the chlorine. Chloramine does not come out of water by itself and can only be removed/ neutralised with a dechlorinator.

Dechlorinators should not make any difference to medications.

-------------------
When treating fish with any medication, wipe the glass down, do a massive water change, complete gravel clean, and clean the filter before treatment and before re-treating the tank. This provides a cleaner environment with less gunk so the medication works on the sick fish instead of the micro-organisms in the gravel, filter and tank.

-------------------
I don't know what is in Esha2000 but if that and the salt seem to be helping, continue using it. Hopefully you won't need the Kanaplex.

I'm not sure what levels of chlorine are in my tap water, it doesn't smell very strongly of it but that probably doesn't mean much. The good thing is I tested the water for ammonia and it was 0 so there is no chloramine in my water YET. Do pool testing strips work well to measure the amount of chlorine in the water?

Apparently dechlorinators will bind the active ingredients in eSHa (Ingredients are as Essjay said: per 1ml Ethylacridine lactate 6.3mg, copper sulphate 8mg, proflavine hemisulphate 1mg in water. I also read that the one I use (API stress coat) creates a slime coat that prevents it from working as well. And I can't remember the exact details now, but it interacts with aloe vera in some way.

Thank you I will keep that in mind whenever I use medication in the future. I'm not sure how to do a big water change without using dechlorinator though, I think I will just have to use it.

It is his last treatment of Esha 2000 today and there is still white stuff coming out of the lump on his side. He doesn't look any better than he did a few days ago, i'm quite worried about what to do next. Someone suggested I should treat him for internal parasites. I do have some medication for that to hand but I don't know if I should use it or not.

I have also been reading about salts, and people keep saying to use epsom salts and not aquarium salts, because aquarium salts will make bloating/ dropsy worse. But in almost every anecdote I can find about using epsom salts the fish die so i'm terrified of using it.

Has the charcoal in filter question been asked yet?

Yes, I removed the charcoal from the filter before treating, thank you for mentioning it I do have a question about other filter media though; can the ceramic looking tubes actually be made from resin and if so should they also be removed?

 

[Colin_T]

the filter media can remain in the filter, with the exception of the carbon, that should be removed if using medications.

 

[Essjay]

Salt, plain salt not epsom salt, is a mild antiseptic and can be used in the tank.
Epsom salt is used in a bath outside the tank to draw fluid from the body. When the fish shows symptoms of severe dropsy is usually when epsom salt baths are used, but by this time the underlying disease is so far advanced that nothing works and the fish dies. Your fish does not have severe dropsy yet - that's when the body looks like fish swallowed a golf ball with scales sticking out everywhere. But there does look like an infection of some sort as the area is red and the scales are sticking out in that same area.

 

[Pichi]

Salt, plain salt not epsom salt, is a mild antiseptic and can be used in the tank.
Epsom salt is used in a bath outside the tank to draw fluid from the body. When the fish shows symptoms of severe dropsy is usually when epsom salt baths are used, but by this time the underlying disease is so far advanced that nothing works and the fish dies. Your fish does not have severe dropsy yet - that's when the body looks like fish swallowed a golf ball with scales sticking out everywhere. But there does look like an infection of some sort as the area is red and the scales are sticking out in that same area.

Should I give him a 5 minute epsom salt bath then? Is it going to be safe to put him back into his tank with 3ppt aquarium salt in it afterwards? Is it a good idea to release fluid when he has a bacterial infection? It seems counter intuitive.

 

[Essjay]

No I don't think it would be helpful at this stage as the fish doesn't have dropsy - that's when the scales stick out all over the body. The scales which are sticking out are very localised, and they show red beneath them suggesting a localised infection at this stage not a body wide infection.

But I'm afraid I don't know which medication to suggest as I've never had to deal with this