- Have you tested your water?
- Yes
- If yes, what is your ammonia?
- 0 - 0.25 ppm
- If yes, what is your nitrite?
- 0 ppm
- If yes, what is your nitrate?
- 20 ppm
- 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?
- 41-50%
- 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.
I'm getting concerned about my Dovii & really need some experienced advice here. Sorry for the long post but I want to give as much detail as possible to give a clear 'bigger' picture of the situation & hopefully get back some detailed suggestions or answers.
I've had him for a few weeks now, he's 17in long. Came from a tank where he had lived with his girl for about 5-6 years, until he killed her. Apparently they bred quite alot in that time & he was always really aggressive towards people.
Before I was able to pick him up he had been moved from his tank into a round plastic tub due to previous owner wanting different fish in his main tank. Apparently he had been in the tub for a week or so, but obviously I'm not 100% sure of the time period or water parameters during this time.
When I got him home he was put in a temporary 4ft tank for a few days until my 6 x 2.5 x 2.5 had finished cycling. He has been in this larger tank for about 3 weeks now.
He also came with 4 very juvenile Dovii from the same tank (his offspring), only 2 of them left now, they are also in his big tank with him (hiding in rock caves).
Water parameters: using API test kit.
pH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0 - 0.25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm
Temp: 28*C / 82F.
WC's: 50% every 4-5 days. 1x cup salt added each time.
Substrate: Black iron sand.
Furniture: Driftwood & hard basalt rock.
Filtration: 5 x 1.5 x 1.5 ft sump with fine wool, sponge sheets, jap mat, k1, ceramic noodles, sponge filters, airstones.
Tank mates: 2 young/small female dovii.
Light: Blue Planet LED Track system.
Ok so here are the issues I've been trying to deal with....
1. He has hardly eaten since I've had him & looks to have a very sunken belly now. His previous owner gave me some Hikari Cichlid Gold pellets but he is not interested in them, has grabbed a couple but spat them back out. I fed him thawed raw prawns soaked in garlic & crushed up pellets, he ate some but it was super messy so I tried putting some pellets into the prawn, he spat them out once he realised I had tried to trick him. He will take an occasional raw prawn but not many. I have dropped a few live freshwater crays/lobbys in & he has eaten them, but again leaves quite a mess & you never know if they have parasites or not. Today I bought Northfin Carnivore 10mm pellets hoping he would smash them, still not interested.
About 2-3 weeks ago I mentioned it to the guy at LFS & he suggested worm treating him so I treated his tank with Wormer Plus. Still no improvement in eating.
2. About a week or so after I got him I noticed a small hole forming in his head, I upped WC's (50%) to daily for a good week or so & that seemed to stop any further holes forming.
A week ago I was also told by LFS to do a PP dip for 30mins at 4ppm.
I did this & the hole does seem to look like it's slowly healing with no secondary infection.
When I removed him from PP dip & put him back into his tank he just sat on the bottom for the rest of the day breathing heavy, by the next day he was back up & swimming slowly but has seemed a little off since that dip &I have noticed that his eyes also now seem to be cloudy as if damaged from the PP.
The lack of eating & occurrence of HITH, I initially thought could have been due to the stress of moving.
3. Just today I have noticed what looks to me like an Anchor Worm on his side. I would have thought the PP dip &previous working would have prevented this, the only thing added to his tank since these 2 treatments was a few live crays to try & get him to eat, so I'm guessing they may have some into the tank with them.
So, to sum all that up.... (Thanks if you're still reading this far!)
- He's still not eating well, refusing pellets & has sunken belly. Any suggestions to get him eating or thoughts on why he isn't eating?
- Behaves kinda sluggish (for a Dovii) & hides as much as he swims around.
- Has cloudy eyes after PP dip (pic attached). Does it look damaged/blind?
- HITH hole seems to be healing but has patches of 'spongey' looking skin around his head (see pic). Is this early signs of new holes?
- Appears to have Anchor Worm (see pic). What is the best treatment for this?
I really hope to get this guy back to 100% health & I appreciate any advice & help here.
I've had him for a few weeks now, he's 17in long. Came from a tank where he had lived with his girl for about 5-6 years, until he killed her. Apparently they bred quite alot in that time & he was always really aggressive towards people.
Before I was able to pick him up he had been moved from his tank into a round plastic tub due to previous owner wanting different fish in his main tank. Apparently he had been in the tub for a week or so, but obviously I'm not 100% sure of the time period or water parameters during this time.
When I got him home he was put in a temporary 4ft tank for a few days until my 6 x 2.5 x 2.5 had finished cycling. He has been in this larger tank for about 3 weeks now.
He also came with 4 very juvenile Dovii from the same tank (his offspring), only 2 of them left now, they are also in his big tank with him (hiding in rock caves).
Water parameters: using API test kit.
pH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0 - 0.25 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm
Temp: 28*C / 82F.
WC's: 50% every 4-5 days. 1x cup salt added each time.
Substrate: Black iron sand.
Furniture: Driftwood & hard basalt rock.
Filtration: 5 x 1.5 x 1.5 ft sump with fine wool, sponge sheets, jap mat, k1, ceramic noodles, sponge filters, airstones.
Tank mates: 2 young/small female dovii.
Light: Blue Planet LED Track system.
Ok so here are the issues I've been trying to deal with....
1. He has hardly eaten since I've had him & looks to have a very sunken belly now. His previous owner gave me some Hikari Cichlid Gold pellets but he is not interested in them, has grabbed a couple but spat them back out. I fed him thawed raw prawns soaked in garlic & crushed up pellets, he ate some but it was super messy so I tried putting some pellets into the prawn, he spat them out once he realised I had tried to trick him. He will take an occasional raw prawn but not many. I have dropped a few live freshwater crays/lobbys in & he has eaten them, but again leaves quite a mess & you never know if they have parasites or not. Today I bought Northfin Carnivore 10mm pellets hoping he would smash them, still not interested.
About 2-3 weeks ago I mentioned it to the guy at LFS & he suggested worm treating him so I treated his tank with Wormer Plus. Still no improvement in eating.
2. About a week or so after I got him I noticed a small hole forming in his head, I upped WC's (50%) to daily for a good week or so & that seemed to stop any further holes forming.
A week ago I was also told by LFS to do a PP dip for 30mins at 4ppm.
I did this & the hole does seem to look like it's slowly healing with no secondary infection.
When I removed him from PP dip & put him back into his tank he just sat on the bottom for the rest of the day breathing heavy, by the next day he was back up & swimming slowly but has seemed a little off since that dip &I have noticed that his eyes also now seem to be cloudy as if damaged from the PP.
The lack of eating & occurrence of HITH, I initially thought could have been due to the stress of moving.
3. Just today I have noticed what looks to me like an Anchor Worm on his side. I would have thought the PP dip &previous working would have prevented this, the only thing added to his tank since these 2 treatments was a few live crays to try & get him to eat, so I'm guessing they may have some into the tank with them.
So, to sum all that up.... (Thanks if you're still reading this far!)
- He's still not eating well, refusing pellets & has sunken belly. Any suggestions to get him eating or thoughts on why he isn't eating?
- Behaves kinda sluggish (for a Dovii) & hides as much as he swims around.
- Has cloudy eyes after PP dip (pic attached). Does it look damaged/blind?
- HITH hole seems to be healing but has patches of 'spongey' looking skin around his head (see pic). Is this early signs of new holes?
- Appears to have Anchor Worm (see pic). What is the best treatment for this?
I really hope to get this guy back to 100% health & I appreciate any advice & help here.
