medication
- Thread starter Cait07
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If the fish only started doing this after you added the medication, do a large (over 75%) water change and run some carbon in the filter. And don't add any more. Pimafix contains bay oil, and some fish may be sensitive to it.
As most conditions are caused by poor water quality, I need to check with you -
what are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?
how often do you clean the tank?
how much water to you change at each water change?
How bog is the tank (volume and dimensions) and what fish do you have?
As most conditions are caused by poor water quality, I need to check with you -
what are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels?
how often do you clean the tank?
how much water to you change at each water change?
How bog is the tank (volume and dimensions) and what fish do you have?
My Nitrite is 0
Nitrate is 40
I cant test for ammonia
clean every 2-3 weeks with 50/60% water change
its a 61 litre ran with sponge filter
I have rumynose/cardinal/neon/ember tetras with 5 sterbai Corydora and 3 barbs
one of my corydoras had cottonwool disease
The first thing (after removing the Pimafix from the water) is to start doing the 50 to 60% water changes every week, and clean the bottom of the tank as well each time - if you have gravel, make sure you push the siphon tube right down into it.
Your nitrate at 40 ppm is too high, it should be kept below 20 ppm. Your level could be either because your tap water has a lot of nitrate ( you can check that easily) or because you have too many fish for 61 litres coupled with water changes being too infrequent.
After the big water change to remove most of the Pimafix, I suggest doing 50% water changes every day for a week. Not only will the fresh water help the fish in general but cleaning the substrate will remove a lot of disease organisms.
All the fish you have are shoaling fish so there should be at least 6 of all the species - and that's a lot of fish for 61 litres/16 gallons. With this amount of fish the water quality can deteriorate very quickly, so weekly water changes are very important.
As Guppy10 asked, besides the Pimafix you've just added, what else do you add to the tank - presumably a water conditioner/dechlorinator, but anything else?
Your nitrate at 40 ppm is too high, it should be kept below 20 ppm. Your level could be either because your tap water has a lot of nitrate ( you can check that easily) or because you have too many fish for 61 litres coupled with water changes being too infrequent.
After the big water change to remove most of the Pimafix, I suggest doing 50% water changes every day for a week. Not only will the fresh water help the fish in general but cleaning the substrate will remove a lot of disease organisms.
All the fish you have are shoaling fish so there should be at least 6 of all the species - and that's a lot of fish for 61 litres/16 gallons. With this amount of fish the water quality can deteriorate very quickly, so weekly water changes are very important.
As Guppy10 asked, besides the Pimafix you've just added, what else do you add to the tank - presumably a water conditioner/dechlorinator, but anything else?
the only thing that goes in my tank is catfish pellets and aquarian tropical flake plus tap conditioner
Do you think an undergravel filter would be beneficial?
Good water and good food will make fish resistant to disease. So as essjay said, more and better water changes for what you have will be beneficial. Stocking is a big issue these days and there is no stock answer, anyone who says different is dreaming. All depends on water changes, filter capacity, plant life, feeding etc. My fish should all be dead on those old rules but can't stress too much, water water water is the answer
Essjay covered most of it.
It sounds like you overdosed the Pimafix and a big water change is the quickest way to fix it. The easiest way to treat fin rot is by cleaning up the tank conditions.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a couple of weeks.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
----------------
You can also add some salt to help treat fin rot. Add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt, or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of tank water. Keep the salt in there for 2 weeks.
When you do the daily water changes, add salt to the new water before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salinity (salt level) in the tank stabile.
-----------------
Before you treat an aquarium, do the following things.
Work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.
There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.
Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.
Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.
-----------------
The following link has information about what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth a read when you have some spare time. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help you fall asleep.
www.fishforums.net
It sounds like you overdosed the Pimafix and a big water change is the quickest way to fix it. The easiest way to treat fin rot is by cleaning up the tank conditions.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a couple of weeks.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
----------------
You can also add some salt to help treat fin rot. Add 2 heaped tablespoons of rock salt, sea salt, or swimming pool salt for every 20 litres (5 gallons) of tank water. Keep the salt in there for 2 weeks.
When you do the daily water changes, add salt to the new water before adding it to the tank. This will keep the salinity (salt level) in the tank stabile.
-----------------
Before you treat an aquarium, do the following things.
Work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.
When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.
There is a calculator/ converter in the "FishForum.net Calculator" under "Useful Links" at the bottom of this page that will let you convert litres to gallons if you need it.
Remove carbon from the filter before treating or it will adsorb the medication and stop it working.
Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge.
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water changes and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the fish to recover in.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.
Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn.
Increase surface turbulence/ aeration when using medications because they reduce the dissolved oxygen in the water.
-----------------
The following link has information about what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth a read when you have some spare time. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help you fall asleep.
What to do if your fish gets sick
If your fish ever looks sick or unwell, then the following steps might help. Test the Water and Clean the Tank. Test the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH and write the results down in numbers. Check it for general hardness (GH) and carbonate hardness (KH) too if you can, but...
www.fishforums.net
I agree with others recommending significant water changes to get rid of the Primafix, and regular (once each week) water changes of 50-70% permanently.
I used Primafix several years ago, and had exactly the same reaction. Throw it out. Characins (tetras) and Corydoras are especially sensitive to chemicals and medications to begin with.
I used Primafix several years ago, and had exactly the same reaction. Throw it out. Characins (tetras) and Corydoras are especially sensitive to chemicals and medications to begin with.
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