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Diagonosising Problems

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Ta Lu

High-functioning Lunatic

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:00 am


I have a small comet fish. And please read everything before you make a guess on what is the matter with my fish please. Some parts may sound like neglect but I assure you it's not done on purpose since I left my fish in my brother's hands when I went off to college.

Several weeks ago I noticed that my comet has sluggish and I decided to do a slight water change, thinking maybe the water was poor. It seemed to liven up a bit, but its appetite was little to nothing even with the water change. It was then a few weeks later, I found that my brother hadn't changed the filter for two months. I changed it along with another clean tank, leaving just a little bit of the old water sp the water was not just water with a running filter. Even with the water change and filter it was still sluggish. Then someone told me that purhaps the water was too cold. That I suppose was the problem also so I bought a heater. It livened up my fish for another few days. Its appetite grew a little. But now that I look into my tank my comet is still sluggish but it is alot more active than it was.

Now the problem was this. Two days ago I noticed something odd about its eyes as they seemed bigger to me. I made a guess of Popeye and I chated with a member of this guild whos fish also had popeye and she gave me some advise. Currently I'm treating it with Melafix to slow down the infection until I have the time and the chance to get to the pet store for some antibotics. But today, while looking in the tank I noticed several scales floating in the tank. And it belonged to my comet. (there are three other tank mates but they don't seem aggressive) I took my comet out of the tank it is in holding. It seemed bloated to me, even though its appetite isn't large, its fins aren't down and it doesn't seem sick other than some of its physical changes and lost of appetite swimming is slow but it doesn't stay in the corner all the time like it use to.

So here are the symptoms
arrow Larger eyes *which I've guessed popeye*
arrow loss of apetite * will only eat once the food is in the water and not at the surface and will only eat a little*
arrow lost of active activity, there is still some it still swims about the tank.
arrow Scales are falling off *I thought dropsy but the scales aren't sticking out
arrow Seems bloated *Which I'm also assuming dropsy, but my brother is just saying its just growing and filling in stare *
arrow It moves its eyes around often.

Here are some photos not the best quality but its the best I could do.
Body
head
back
above
PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 3:47 pm


Yay my turn to help you!
It seems to me that this is a problem with your nitrogen cycle, i researched alot about this before i got my fish, plus it was a topic in science. An imbalance can include infections such as popeye (which by the way is a symptom not an actual disease caused by many types illnesses). Changing the filter was probably not the best thing to do because that sometimes means you need to kick start the nitrogen cycle again, especially because you went as far as to change the tank. Usually just rinsing the filter - squishing the sponge a little in a bucket of water you got from the tank is enough, you shouldn't ever clean it with just plain tap water especially if you have weaker/sick fish.
Basically the nitrogen cycle is this: The fish pee/poop ammonia which is toxic and can make the fish sluggish, cause infections, loss of appetite etc... and therefore needs to be broken down into nitrogen which is still toxic but much less so. Another bacteria then is needed to break down the nitrogen into nitrate which is pretty much harmless and can help nurture growth of plants so if you have algae growth it can be a good sign. So weaker fish would have disastrous effects and would most likely die whilst other stronger fish can live it out.

What you can do for now:

1. I'm pretty sure you've already done this? but just to be safe i hope you're not putting tap water directly into the tank. The chlorine needs to be removed before adding into the tank. Although i'm not so sure about the water conditions in other countries. Australia's tap water is considered one of the healthiest in the world and contains a bit of chlorine but it might not be so in other parts of the world.
2. no more than 25% water changes so you can keep as much bacteria as possible.
3. to lessen the ammonia DAILY water changes of about 10-15% of the tank until the nitrogen cycle has fully kicked in. You can get some water tester kits from the local pet store and check the levels of ammonia in the water. It should be jumping up and then returning to 0.
4. Feed the fish less so they don't pee/poop as much for the time being... not that it's eating much anyway... you might want to bribe it a little with some live fish food instead of boring old flakes. Also fish can live for weeks without eating but still it's good that you get the sick one to eat something to help it recover, the other ones can eat a little less XP
5. You might want to think about quarantine-ing it so nothing spreads to the other fish but it seems that they've probably already built up an immunity to whatever it is.
6. "Stress Zyme" worked pretty well for me. Add a few drops once a week and it helps to regulate the nitrogen cycle. You can actually use it to start the nitrogen cycle for new aquariums (before the fish is added of course)
7. "stress coat" used for removing chlorine but also to help repair damaged tissue and replace the slime coating around the fish... sounds like your fish might need some of that.

Anyway i hope i helped a little~
And i hope your fish gets better =)

The Urban Elf


Ta Lu

High-functioning Lunatic

PostPosted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:25 pm


That's what I usually do with my filter but the fact was it was EXTREMELY dirty. When I took it out I had to scold my brother because it had turned a nasty brown. So it had to be changed anyway.

My comet was not responding well with my brother's "cleaning" the existing filter(rinse), that is why I replaced the filter.

I age my water for several days before I add to the tank. In addition I also add stress zyme and stress coat, a few drops every week or so. My other fish seem fine. Just this one doesn't seem to want to do anything.

I READ SOMEWHERE THAT FISH CAN GE BORED OF OLD SURROUNDINGS SO i EVEN CHANGED MY TANKS DECOR AROUND A BIT. i CHANGED THE COLOR GRAVEL AND ROTATED THE SILK PLANTS THAT i HAD. *ah...caps lock...opps sorry*

I did leave some of the older water in the tank when I cleaned it to have that remains of the bacteria, in place of keeping the dirty filter.

Ah I would bribe it with some live food but ah...ahaha...its only an inch big.
PostPosted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:35 pm


Just thought, maybe these might help you out<3

Loss of appetite:
Enviromental - inspect for any manifestations of disease, and get a basic water tester (Ammonia etc). The same with stress. Be patient with them. Look for other signs of disease.
Scale Loss: If your fish are losing scales for no apparent reason then it is commonly found to be caused from Myxosporidiosis. The only treatment for this is to keep doing water changes and get rid of the parasites.
Symptoms: Fish gasping, pale gills
Dropsy or Malawi Bloat: (Bloated fish, scales are raised, possible loss or lessening of body coloration)
This is not really a disease, but a symptom of a bacterial infection and possibly malnutrition. There are medications available but try to increase the quality of the water by performing a 25% water change every other day and increase the quality of fish food given. If your fish's condition doesn't improve, try the medication. Your local pet store should have medication for this disease. Remove any carbon filtration before using medication because the carbon will remove the medication from the water.

Sweetange

Invisible Poster


Ta Lu

High-functioning Lunatic

PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 11:40 am


Thank you I will do that. It seems as though my fish is getting better as of late. I will continue to moniter my little fishy. It's still aloof but it seems to be taking part in some of "fishy" activities like picking at the gravel finally aha.
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