fish bumping against sunken ship?

My tiger barbs have been bumping themselves against their plastic sunken ship. I've looked at their scales and they don't look red or have any strange markings. They are acting normal, and their color is bright. Why are they doing this?

Also after doing a partial water change, new filter cartirdge, and vacuuming gravel, how long does it take for the nitrate to go down. I tested it and it was still high the next morning?

 

well, I guess your barbs are just weird...j/k keep checking them for disease, one of the sr. members will probably be ale to answer this better

I dk about the nitrates...just as long as they are under 10 or 20, you should be okay

 

Just keep a close eye on them for a few days. Rubbing up against things is sometimes a sign of a parasite, like velvet or ich. If that is the case, you should start to see little spots on them...white for ich, yellow or possibly grey for velvet. What temp is your tank? Not sure about velvet, but ich can not survive long in higher temperatures. Consequently, you could gradually raise your tank temperature to about 82-83 degrees.

As for your nitrates : following a water change, you want to wait a few hours for the new water to fully circulate before retesting. It sounds like you did that. Therefore, if your nitrates are still high, you will need to do another change. Depending on how high your readings are, and how much water you are changing, you may need to do several changes to get the level down where you want it. I would recommend doing 50% changes anytime you are actively trying to reduce a water parameter. 20-25% once per week is fine once your water levels are where you want them and you are just maintaining them. Unless your tank is overstocked, then you sometimes have to change more water, more often to stay ahead.

 

Thanks that's some great advice, I will do another water before Friday. I will also turn the heat up.

 

Are they bumping (problem with their eyesight) or rubbing (itching)?

 

once my fish start to do that stuff I try ich treatment even though I don't see it on them. usly works and I salt them down too

 

is a good product for ich, although going to 82-84 for a couple weeks alone will usually kill it off.. are there any other things they could rub against in the tank and if so, are they? would you have a pic of them?

 

For some reason the tiger barbs only rub against the ship. They just float by it, the bam!, one will throw himself into it. Yesterday when I got home from work, I did see white spots on the biggest of my barbs, and he was being very aggressive to all the other fish. At first I thought two of my other barbs were looking pale pale because they were stressed, but now I think it may have been a nasty film on them. I ran right out to the store and got medicine is says it treats ick and other parasites. I took the carbon out of the filter and treated the water. They all made it throught the night and ate vigourously this AM. I am still worried about them, especially because I'm going on vacation for a week, and I don't if other people will know if something is wrong.

Question should I do a PWC after the medication is there for 24 hours?

If the symptoms seem better should I do more than one ick treatment?

I'm leaving for a week and I have a week long feeding block, do these actually work?

 

In general if they get ich and something else (like that film you're talking about). It means they have a secondary infection, which happens very often. Sick fish are weakened and more prone to disease. Also, some bacteria have a symbiotic relationship with each other, whereby one type of infection needs the other type of infection to occur. It sounds like the meds you got are designed for ich + secondary infection, but you need to determine the nature of that secondary infection (bacterial or fungal). If you're unsure, I'd treat with meds that claim they deal with both, increase the tank temp and add salt for ich (see below).

Ideally, you should do a water change before putting the meds in.

You should also UNDERmedicate if your pH is > 7.0, or you risk poisoning your fish.

Is there any way you can isolate the 3 sick fish in a tank of their own, so 1/ risk of contaminated healthy fish is less, 2/

If it's just ich (which it isn't anymore, seen as you've seen that white film), increasing the temperature and using aquarium salt (provided all the fish in your tank can resist a bit of salt. You'd need to do some research on that) would have been enough. Now that you see a white film, it could be that they have a fungal or bacterial infection as secondary infection, so the meds seem the right way to go (IMO).

As for how long to leave the meds in and how often to treat. It depends from med to med. You should read the notice on the packet.

After treating a tank for medication, I would run your filter on activated carbon for a week.

 

Thanks--great advice. I'll put a new filter in tonight since it will be 24H since the meds have been added (that's what the package says). I have some aquarium salt I can add too. I'll have to go out and by a new heater though, because mine is preset to 78 degrees, and you can't change it. The package says you can do up to 3 treatments of the med 48H apart. I'm leaving for a week tomorrow, I have a friend who is willing to come over to check on the fish, but I don't want to ask her to do any real maintenence. With everything that's going on with my fishies, I'm nervous about what can happen in a week. Should I do a PWC before I leave tomorrow? last one was Tuesday. Medication went in last night? My Nitrite is high, it's been high even after PWC's. That's why I'm doing PWC's 2x a week.....is this bad, is it causing my fish to be sick? I need to get a bigger tank when I get back.

 

Glad to help. Why do fish ALWAYS get sick before a holiday. It's sys-te-ma-tic. Never fails. I can set my clock to it!

Right:
Nitrites unfortunately are really quite toxic. It does mean your fish sitter will have to do a water changed during that week. How unlucky to be cycling while you're away! I've asked my fish sitter to do it and she managed. She's totally inexperienced. She just came by my house when I did one so I could show her, and I left the bucket, the watering can (yes, I use a watering can to put the water back in!), and my water conditionner together next to the sink.

When you say you'll change the filter, do you mean the filter pad? I wouldn't do that right now (change the filter, or filter pad). It means a new colony of cycling bacteria will have to grow again in your filter, thus playing havoc with your cycle if your gravel isn't established.

I'd definitely do another water change as close as possible to the time of your departure. A very large one at that. I'd then add the meds again, being sure to factor in the fact that there's been a water change in previously treated water when you calculate the concentration.

If the meds say you need to treat again every couple of days, again, I'd ask your fish sitter. I'd show them how you do it, and be extra clear to them about the required doses. Overdosed fish = :;a fish.

When you're back from your holidays, you'll have two choices regarding the medications:
1/ you could get rid of them through an activated carbon filter pad for a week. Take care to leave your other filter pad in the water (on the substrate is good enough) to not kill the bacteria in there. You could take that opportunity to rinse the old filter pad off from excess stuff (in tank water in a bucket, not in tap water adn obviously not in your tank with the fish it it).

One note with carbon: the package will indicate how long you can keep it in for. Some are a week, some are two weeks. If you leave it in for longer than that, it will spit all the substances it had absorbed back in the tank.

2/ you could do a series of water changes and hope that there's no residues of the meds. That's what I did for a while and had no problems.

 

Okay now I'm a little confused. I have a biowheel and I thought my filter pad already has carbon in it, that's the filter I normally use. I took the filter pad out for the medication, but I left the water cycling so the fish had Oxygen. Okay there is like a green spongy part that is attached to the carbon part. You can't separate them. Do I have to buy a different filter, or will this work to clear the meds? Also my tank has been up for a month now, shouldn't it already be cycled, or have I done to many things to it (meds, new fish, Ph adjustors) for it to be normalized?

When should my Nitrites go down? My tester says that the Nitrate level is okay, but Nitrites are high.

I will do a large PWC tonight, and ask my friend to do one this week. While I am away---which is unfortunately not for holiday, but for work.

How about the weekly feeders? Are they okay?--unfortunately I'll be traveling a lot for my job, which is why I got fish and not a dog. Although I love my aquarium and am definetely upgrading soon, I didn't realize how complicated they can be.

 

I think I see where our confusion is: when you say that you left the water cycling, do you mean you left the wheel turning? We might be confusing two words. I was talking about cycling as in the nitrogen cycle. Could that be the confusion?

Ooooh, you have a biowheel? You can check in the instructions that came with it which compartment has the carbon in it. There should also be instructions about how often to change the carbon pad. It's crazy that they're attached, as it's better to rinse off a mechanical filter (to stay cycling), whereas a carbon pad needs changing (or it'll spit stuff back in the water). If you somehow find the one that has the activated carbon from your instructions, that's the one to take out (if you can) before putting meds in (otherwise it may suck the meds right back up).

Seen as you've removed the pad (if I understand well), does this mean there is no filter pad at all right now? You definitely need to have filtration or you'll increase the nitrite problem. If that one is inseparable from the other one, then there's not much more you can do than leave it on or buy another filter, which is a bit of an expensive option. When the course of meds is over, you can put the activated carbon in your filter for a week or so (if there is a compartment to do that in), and then you can run on your normal pads, whatever these are (as I read that your normal pads are actually partly carbon pads).

It's very possible that even a 15 year old tank goes through a mini-cycle as a result of meds/pH adaptors/new fish, so I think as yours had barely cycled, for sure it's possible that these things upset the cycle. I'd steer clear of pH adaptors but that is a matter of personal preference. I have really alkaline water (8.0) out of the tap, and still won't use chemicals to change my pH. I figure as long as it's stable, the fish will be OK.

What tester do you have? Paper strips or liquid? If paper strips the good news is that they tend to be very inaccurate so you may actually have no nitrites at all (or a lot of it...). It's an unfortunate reading as nitrites are more toxic (by far) than nitrates.

I also need to travel every week for work. Commiserations! I hate the travel so much. I can't wait to find another job. And I made the same mistake as you thinking I'll get fish as I travel a lot. They're turning out to be REALLY high maintenance. But the good news is if you get a bigger tank and therefore relatively less fish per gallon, it kind of runs for itself. Much less disease, fighting, water changes.

We're testing a whole bunch of automatic feeders and I am quite appalled frankly. The most expensive ones don't drop any food! They just spin, open the little door, then close it again. I'd definitely test yours for a week or so before going, as ours were working fine for one day, before we went on holidays for a week (I know it's not an option for now, of course, as you're going tomorrow).

 

Okay, yep makes more sense now. So the green spongy part of my filter is called the substrate---got it, nope you can't separate the two, so my tank is not being filterd right now. I will put the filter cartride back in as soon as I get home today. It came together in a kit with the tank. Right now it's sitting out wrapped in paper towels because I was worried if left to air, it could get other contaminates like mold. Should I still use this one?

Yes I have been using paper test strips to check the water. I also have very alkaline water from the tap. I orderd a new master tester from API, and a bunch of books to hopefully help me figure this aquarium thing out. The longer I have it, it seems like I'm becomming obsessed, and need to have it perfect. Which is not un common for a nurse.

I am definetly getting a bigger tank when I get home from my trip, especially if it's better for my fish.

 

The substrata is the gravel/marbles/rocks that you have as the base layer underneath your decorations at the bottom of the tank.

With a biowheel filter system, the wheel that rotates is where your good bacteria is colonizing. Keep this wet at all times by keeping it moving. If it stops you either have the water too low in the tank or the intake might be clogged or the thing might just need primed (in which case a cup of tank water poured slowly over the filter cartridge should get the filter primed). I check ours each day to make sure it's going alright.

Anyway.. the filter cartridge has 2 parts. the top part of the cartridge is to catch particles & debris, the bottom part is the carbon. I hate how they do them together like that and if you are so inclined you can buy: and cut it to fit the area the filter cartridge would. Then you can put carbon inside of it when you wanted and change the carbon weekly unless you get this carbon: which is much better than regular carbon and lasts a month or more.

The API kit will be a great help to you and cycling can take more than a month, or 2, sometimes so don't worry - you're on the right track.

What are you using to treat your tap water? If you can find: it is what we use and could be helpful in limiting the effect of ammonia and nitrites in the water while you're on vacation.

For the fungus that's probably in the tank, this: might work well. I'd treat all of the fish with it.

- tetra makes some great vacation food blocks that can save you the expense of an auto-feeder and the worry of it not working.

 

Okay, yep makes more sense now. So the green spongy part of my filter is called the substrate---got it, nope you can't separate the two, so my tank is not being filterd right now. I will put the filter cartride back in as soon as I get home today. It came together in a kit with the tank. Right now it's sitting out wrapped in paper towels because I was worried if left to air, it could get other contaminates like mold. Should I still use this one?

Yes I have been using paper test strips to check the water. I also have very alkaline water from the tap. I orderd a new master tester from API, and a bunch of books to hopefully help me figure this aquarium thing out. The longer I have it, it seems like I'm becomming obsessed, and need to have it perfect. Which is not un common for a nurse.

I am definetly getting a bigger tank when I get home from my trip, especially if it's better for my fish.

I think BettaCouple covers all your latest questions. Just a couple of things:

- it's a steep learning curve, and it's fabulous that you're asking all those questions. You obviously care lots about your fish.
- bigger tank is better for the fish, but also for you. it really makes maintenance much easier because the tank is less subject to large unwanted fluctuations of any parameters like temperature, nitrates, etc.
- the obsession thing doesn't seem to have left me in 4 months yet!

 

we're not obsessed.. I don't think 10 tanks is obsessed.. :;a Best of luck to you and your fish Tiff14RN