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| Re: Fish Scales are starting to peel. any help? [message #9577] |
Sat, 19 April 2008 00:18   |
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It's pretty obvious that your tank is not cycled. The more water changes you do the longer it will take to cycle but if you do enough water changes you keep your fish closer to life.
Most likely the fish in reference are suffering from stress due to the water values. They may very well get even sicker. All you can do is keep doing the water changes and start with an antibiotic such as sulfa. These fish may be very sensitive. More so then the others. If the water values continue the same way, you may see others starting to get sick as well.
Follow the directions on the sulfa. From water values being up and water changes frequently, the fish become stressed and it lowers the immune system which leaves them wide open to infection from all the bacteria swimming around in your tank. If you use a regular antibiotic, you will kill all the bacteria in the tank including the good ones that are creating your biosphere. So make sure you use Sulfa. It won't harm the biosphere already in progress. Problem is, you have to take the charcoal out of the filter. If you have an HOB filter, this is a real problem because most of your biosphere is being held up in the mesh around the charcoal, unless you have one of those black sponges that goes in with the charcoal media to hold biosphere, then you are safe with an HOB. In a canister filter, you only need remove the charcoal and your biosphere will still be safe because of the bio wheels. They hold the biosphere. Continue the water changes as ammonia is at .75 But know with eatch water change, you are stressing out the fish and taking away from biosphere that is just starting to create making the cycle take longer. That's why it's so important to cycle the tank completely before putting your good show or breeding fish in. When your ammonia is at .50 slow the water changes down to every few days. As long as it doesn't go any higher. It should start declining here really soon and nitrites should be picking up or lulling down as well. In any case, when your nitrates get really high do a 50 percent water change and then that should be the last for a week. If the nitrates are above 15 after the first water change for nitrates, then you may have to do another 25 percent water change. Get it down to 15 and leave it for as long as your ammonia and nitrates stay where they belong. As far as the strips verses the liquid test, the strips are not as accurate as the liquid test. They can be off by .01-.05 ppms. To some people that is not a big enough difference to keep them from using the strips, but to others, even .01 is putting their fish in danger. You have to decide for yourself. good luck and hope you understand what I was saying about water changes and sulfa.
Please come visit me at www.atozthatsme.com
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| Re: Fish Scales are starting to peel. any help? [message #9578] |
Sat, 19 April 2008 00:23 |
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Sorry, I didn't see your second message til after I replied to the first one. Yes your nitrites are high because they are supposed to be. That's the biosphere creating. You are half way there. In a few day to maybe a week, you will see your nitrites decline and your nitrates incline. This is all perfectly normal and predictable.
Please come visit me at www.atozthatsme.com
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