Eskielvr

We just got back home after being gone for 4 days since Spartacus's last water change. His fin rot has gotten worse. He's starting to resemble a Crown tail a little bit. However, I finally got a Nitrite reading! My 5 gallon tank is finally starting to cycle!!! biggrin.gif

I'm convinced it started cycling because of the lack of water changes during the last 4 days. Someone told me to change 50% daily, but I feel now that is what prolonged the cycle. So, is there a way I could still treat Spartacus without doing any more water changes until the tank cycles and I start getting Nitrate readings? Are there any meds I can use that won't upset the biological cycle?

Ammonia reading is .50 ppm
Nitrite reading is .50 ppm
Nitrate is still 0ppm

I also noticed today that it looks like he either lost a few scales on his head, or has hole in head, not sure.

Phloxface

The reason you are doing the 50% water changes is to prevent ammonia or nitrite poisoning for the fish. If you were cycling without fish you could do it without water changes. It is not fair to expose the fish to toxic ammonia and nitrite just to get your tank cycled faster. You will have to be patient and think of the fish's well-being first. Exposure to ammonia and/or nitrite will only worsen his finrot so daily changes are needed. The fish should not be exposed to ANY ammonia or nitrite if possible. Daily water changes will keep the levels down enough so he has a chance of surviving the cycle and being cured of finrot. All my fish cycled their own tanks but I made sure I did the water changes to reduce the stress on them. The first two tanks took a long time to cycle. The other two went faster because I had cycled filter media to "seed" the tanks with.

Eskielvr

Well what could I do? I was gone over the weekend so I couldn't change the water everyday. In fact, I think if I do 50% changes every day the tank will never cycle and I'll have to med him his whole life. I called Aquarium adventure, and they told me I can do a 30-40% daily change with the meds and that should help.

I also put filter media in to "seed" the tanks, so it's not like I just stuck him in there for the heck of it. All I asked was if there was a way I could do enough water changes without disturbing the cycle, and if there are meds that can be used that won't hurt the good bacteria. I get tired of always having to defend myself on here. If I didn't care about the well being of Spartacus then I would never have joined these lists to begin with! I get tired of always being made out as the bad guy. I figure he'd have a better chance of recovering the disease if the tank finally gets started. If the tank had been cycled in the first place, I probably wouldn't be battling fin rot to begin with.

poefox

Please don't 'if' yourself to death. The main cause of finrot is STRESS. I had almost healed Rusty but then I had to move, he got the finrot back and I'm sure that exhausted him and did for him in the end.

What you DO need to do is check out the links above and carefully look over his symptoms and double check with more than one disease chart. What it really sounds like is that he has finrot which unfortunately they get easily and possibly a parasite too.

I also am skeptical of the 50% daily changes. I found that doing big water changes often seems to stress fish out more than otherwise and I only do them when I'm actually cleaning the tank out. I would bring that down to maybe 20% at most and keep careful track of your filtration.

I hope Spartacus does well. Understand: fish even in wild conditions get diseases and parasites. You are giving him care and that's important. Check him out carefully and take notes if you have to: read the charts in comparison. I'm sure it will help.

Good luck and prayers for his recovery.

Phloxface

You asked for advice and I gave it to you. There is no need to get hostile and defensive! Do whatever % water changes it takes to keep the ammonia and nitrites from further harming him. You can disagree without getting defensive. Everyone here is trying to help one another. I'm starting to wonder if I should just stop bothering to answer your posts anymore since you seem to take offense at everything suggested even though none was intended. If you insist on doing things your own way anyways then why bother asking us?

genie

Try getting some Bio-Spira to speed up the cycle. It is expensive, but will reduce the stress of your fish. Once he can "breathe easy" so to speak, he will start to heal. Also, the bacteria doesn't live in the water, it lives in your substrate and filter media. The ammonia in the water feeds it, so yes water changes slow it a bit, but it is not stopping the cycle, it is just keeping your fish alive.