- Have you tested your water?
- Yes
- If yes, what is your ammonia?
- 0
- If yes, what is your nitrite?
- <0.5
- If yes, what is your nitrate?
- <40ppm
- If I did not test my water...
- ...I recognize that I will likely be asked to do a test, and that water tests are critical for solving freshwater health problems.
- Do you do water changes?
- Yes
- What percentage of water do you change?
- 21-30%
- How frequently do you change your water?
- Every week
- If I do not change my water...
- ...I recognize that I will likely be recommended to do a water change, and water changes are critical for preventing future freshwater health problems.
sorry for the super long post. Its a bit of rambling but I want to give any and all info possible in case of any causes outside what im guessing.
Background: I normally have these various fish in different setups, but a few months ago lost my apartment and so am living temporarily with family until I can find a new place that I can afford. Since I am currently in between places ive had to reduce the amount of set ups to smaller setups kept out in the garage. Because of this i had to give away many and then put the remaining fish in temporary holding tanks.
a couple of weeks ago I noticed a few fish itching and few cardinalfish getting white around the fins and one getting a tad bit thinner. While to me it looked like bacteria, I dosed ich medicine first as a few fish I had at the time showed signs of ich or some form of white spot like illness. At first the spots went away, though the cardinals seem to be having the white on the face. There seemed to be this one worm like thing near the dorsal fin on one of the cardinalfish. Since some fish are not true brackish I keep the salinity low but have some for PH buffering and to help with any potential bacteria/ parasites
Some things
-The fish are still feeding well and all including the cardinalfish eat the pellets and frozen
-Some small injuries are possibly due to the warmer weather causing the sunfish to get in a spawning mood a bit (have removed the fastest growing one and placed in a temporary tank for now)
- the sea bass do have a strong feeding response so im guessing if any of these signs are due to aggression they or the sunfish are the most likely cause.
I have not seen any fighting other than a couple minor squabbles between
-seabass seem the least affected and cardinals the most. Other than a couple of the cardinals none really show any issues at all (other than occasional itching)
I know I said this before but these are only temporary until I can get their main setups back up and be in a more permanent housing situation.
1. Size of tank?
Temporary holding tank/hospital tank
Overstocked
40 gallon breeder
2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia? Last tested at 0
b. Nitrite? <0.5ppm
c. Nitrate? Last tested around ~40ppm
d. pH, KH and GH? PH tends to sit around 7.5 give or take 0.3
e. Test kit? Recently ran out and having to resort to strips (waiting on liquid test kits)
3. Temperature? ~75-78°f
4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)?
Technically freshwater though salinity kept from 1.000 to 1.002 usually though at 1.001
(Aquarium salt added and a little reef salt for buffer a while ago, but very little)
5. How long the aquarium has been set up?
About half a year, but most equipment and decor has been transferred from old tanks to help with cycle including some filter media. Have lots of media to support beneficial bacteria growth.
6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?:
they vary a bit, but right now it’s an archerfish, some mouth almighty cardinalfish, 2 juvinile japanese sea bass, some freshwater sunfish (sac perch obtained from a hatchery) all less than 5”
Have had most for 1-3 years, though most are within the past year.
7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)?
The cardinals yes, though they have been exposed to new fish once without quarantine (which wasn’t smart of me but the tank had to be taken down
)
8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants?
Used to have live plants but have removed them and replaced with fake when treating for ich and adding salt
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom?
Bare bottom
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors?
Right now a few fake plants, driftwood, pvc elbows and Ts, a rock
9. a. Filtration?
a couple of HOB filters rated for over 30 gallons each
b. Heater?
Yes, but I set it to I think 73 or 75 since most of the fish dont like it hot and if anything during the summer I try to keep tenps low
10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used?
Right now a basic dim LED since plants are gone and set on a 10 hour schedule
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long?
No sunlight exposure
11. a. Water change schedule?
1-2x 20%- 25% a week depending on how much they are fed and how messy they are
b. Volume of water changed?
20-25%
c. Well water, tap water, RO water?
Tap dosed with dechlore
d. Water conditioner used? Prime
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? N/A
12. Foods? Vibra bites, market shrimp, frozen krill, frozen bloodworms
How often are they fed?
Vibra bites daily to every other day. Frozen random but usually not more than once a week. Food soaked in vitachem
13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms?
Scratching, faded white areas on face/body. Some might have possible bacteria issues or more slime coat. ich like spots previously. possibly parasite but not sure.
b. Appearance of poop?
Looks normal color and healthy
c. Appearance of gills? Most look healthy savw one cardinal that seems to have a bit of a red gill pla
14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis?
yes
b. What meds were used?
Aquarium salt, pima and mela fix combo, super ich cure,
15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.
(sorry pictures aren’t great. The white doesn’t show up that well with my camera, but pic 2 and 3 somewhat show what I’m talking about. 4 has the worm like thing on the dorsal spine which i just noticed this morning
let me know if any clarification is needed. Hopefully im just worrying too much about most of the stuff and there isn’t too much issue.
Background: I normally have these various fish in different setups, but a few months ago lost my apartment and so am living temporarily with family until I can find a new place that I can afford. Since I am currently in between places ive had to reduce the amount of set ups to smaller setups kept out in the garage. Because of this i had to give away many and then put the remaining fish in temporary holding tanks.
a couple of weeks ago I noticed a few fish itching and few cardinalfish getting white around the fins and one getting a tad bit thinner. While to me it looked like bacteria, I dosed ich medicine first as a few fish I had at the time showed signs of ich or some form of white spot like illness. At first the spots went away, though the cardinals seem to be having the white on the face. There seemed to be this one worm like thing near the dorsal fin on one of the cardinalfish. Since some fish are not true brackish I keep the salinity low but have some for PH buffering and to help with any potential bacteria/ parasites
Some things
-The fish are still feeding well and all including the cardinalfish eat the pellets and frozen
-Some small injuries are possibly due to the warmer weather causing the sunfish to get in a spawning mood a bit (have removed the fastest growing one and placed in a temporary tank for now)
- the sea bass do have a strong feeding response so im guessing if any of these signs are due to aggression they or the sunfish are the most likely cause.
I have not seen any fighting other than a couple minor squabbles between
-seabass seem the least affected and cardinals the most. Other than a couple of the cardinals none really show any issues at all (other than occasional itching)
I know I said this before but these are only temporary until I can get their main setups back up and be in a more permanent housing situation.
1. Size of tank?
Temporary holding tank/hospital tank
Overstocked
40 gallon breeder
2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia? Last tested at 0
b. Nitrite? <0.5ppm
c. Nitrate? Last tested around ~40ppm
d. pH, KH and GH? PH tends to sit around 7.5 give or take 0.3
e. Test kit? Recently ran out and having to resort to strips (waiting on liquid test kits)
3. Temperature? ~75-78°f
4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)?
Technically freshwater though salinity kept from 1.000 to 1.002 usually though at 1.001
(Aquarium salt added and a little reef salt for buffer a while ago, but very little)
5. How long the aquarium has been set up?
About half a year, but most equipment and decor has been transferred from old tanks to help with cycle including some filter media. Have lots of media to support beneficial bacteria growth.
6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them?:
they vary a bit, but right now it’s an archerfish, some mouth almighty cardinalfish, 2 juvinile japanese sea bass, some freshwater sunfish (sac perch obtained from a hatchery) all less than 5”
Have had most for 1-3 years, though most are within the past year.
7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)?
The cardinals yes, though they have been exposed to new fish once without quarantine (which wasn’t smart of me but the tank had to be taken down
)8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants?
Used to have live plants but have removed them and replaced with fake when treating for ich and adding salt
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom?
Bare bottom
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors?
Right now a few fake plants, driftwood, pvc elbows and Ts, a rock
9. a. Filtration?
a couple of HOB filters rated for over 30 gallons each
b. Heater?
Yes, but I set it to I think 73 or 75 since most of the fish dont like it hot and if anything during the summer I try to keep tenps low
10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used?
Right now a basic dim LED since plants are gone and set on a 10 hour schedule
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long?
No sunlight exposure
11. a. Water change schedule?
1-2x 20%- 25% a week depending on how much they are fed and how messy they are
b. Volume of water changed?
20-25%
c. Well water, tap water, RO water?
Tap dosed with dechlore
d. Water conditioner used? Prime
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? N/A
12. Foods? Vibra bites, market shrimp, frozen krill, frozen bloodworms
How often are they fed?
Vibra bites daily to every other day. Frozen random but usually not more than once a week. Food soaked in vitachem
13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms?
Scratching, faded white areas on face/body. Some might have possible bacteria issues or more slime coat. ich like spots previously. possibly parasite but not sure.
b. Appearance of poop?
Looks normal color and healthy
c. Appearance of gills? Most look healthy savw one cardinal that seems to have a bit of a red gill pla
14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis?
yes
b. What meds were used?
Aquarium salt, pima and mela fix combo, super ich cure,
15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.
(sorry pictures aren’t great. The white doesn’t show up that well with my camera, but pic 2 and 3 somewhat show what I’m talking about. 4 has the worm like thing on the dorsal spine which i just noticed this morning
let me know if any clarification is needed. Hopefully im just worrying too much about most of the stuff and there isn’t too much issue.
