Flowerhorn Pop Eye and Turning Grey

[MH2046]

PH 7.4, Ammonia 0.25, Nitrate 40, 20 Gallon, filtration at 100l per hour. 28 degree C. There are 5 much smaller tiger barb that r very active.
My flowerhorn is suffering from mutilple conditon. It has pop eye, some white spots and turning grey. I was treating it for white spots when it start to develope popeye. The fish stop scratching so i take it the white spot has weaken. i put melafix for few days. It keep stay near the heater and pump area without moving. Only coming out to eat. But today it stop eating and responding. Please help.

 

[Kyle E.]

There are many things wrong with this situation. It sounds like you have this flowerhorn in a 20 gallon tank? If so it is WAY too big for that tank. Flowerhorns need at least a 75 gallon tank to themselves.

You ammonia you said was at 0.25ppm. Ammonia needs to be at 0 at all times so you need to do a BIG water change, or perhaps several until it becomes 0.

You didn't list nitrite but I am going to guess that it is above 0 as well and it also needs to be kept at 0.

40 nitrates is way too high. The highest you should let nitrates get is 20.

The reason these numbers are out of whack is because that fish is WAY too much bioload for a 20 gallon tank system to handle and the bacteria in your filter just aren't capable of the waste your fish is producing.

How long have you had this fish in that tank? It needs to be rehomed or moved into a 75 gallon tank AT LEAST.

This an urgent situation so I would immediately advise you to do several big water changes. These will be necessary to do VERY frequently until you can get the fish out of that tank and into a new home. That is the first priority here. The diseases will not be treatable in those water conditions. Those numbers are why the fish has those diseases. It is good that it is still eating.

 

[Fish4dawin]

As said above, this flowerhorn looks very big and will most likely eat the tiger barbs at some point. The white spot is caused from stress usually and is usually a disease/illness that spreads to the other fish. If that is what it is. The grey colouring could be a wide variety of things but it could be that he's old, or that he's stressed. It could be a lot of things but as @Kyle E. said this tank is way too small for a flowerhorn. Even the tiger barbs need more room. A flowerhorn needs a 60 gallon+ tank and tiger barbs need a 30 gallon and above.

 

[MH2046]

Hi this flowerhorn is not a full grown one although may look big in the photo. But noted on the tank size requirement. Test kit says 40 and below is fine so i thought 40 is ok. My bad. Have done the water change and will monitor. Thanks for advises. Really appreciate. Condition has been deteriorating for awhile before i post this n look bad today

 

[Fish4dawin]

Hi this flowerhorn is not a full grown one although may look big in the photo. But noted on the tank size requirement. Test kit says 40 and below is fine so i thought 40 is ok. My bad. Have done the water change and will monitor. Thanks for advises. Really appreciate. Condition has been deteriorating for awhile before i post this n look bad today

Even though it's not fully grown, unfortunately you'll most likely need to get rid of it soon.

 

[Essjay]

It used to be thought that nitrate in the hundreds was OK, then it was realised that it is not OK that high. The maximum safe level has been reducing over the years and it is now recommended that 20 ppm is the highest safe level. Manufacturers haven't kept pace with recent thinking which is why your test kit says 40 ppm is OK.

 

[mark4785]

40 ppm of nitrate is absolutely fine. It’s not a toxic chemical like ammonia or nitrite. It is a fertiliser for plants. I’ve kept Koi, goldfish, tench, orfe and all manner of tropical fish in 30-40 ppm of nitrates without issue.

As for the OP, the flowerhorn needs a larger aquarium, perhaps 50-60 gallons. It’s either that or daily 100% water changes for you to ensure ammonia and nitrite never rises.

To treat the white spot put the temperature slowly up to 27 degrees C and complete a course of white spot treatment ideally containing malachite green, formaldehyde and copper sulphate.

 

[Essjay]

The best treatment for whitepot is heat alone. All medications contain chemicals that are hard on fish and heat does them less harm. Even temperate fish cope better with two weeks of heat than they do with meds.

Clean the tank to remove as many whtiepot cysts as possible. Refill the tank with water warmer than usual and turn up the heater to get the water to 30 deg C (86 deg F). leave the temperature at that level for 2 weeks, then turn the heater down and allow the temperature to drop slowly. When doing a water change, refill with water at 30 deg so the tank temperature does not drop.

 

[MH2046]

Unfortunately it didnt make it☹ But
I learn alot from u all and during this time. Thanks all.