Plan Of Action For Sick Fish. Advice Needed Please.

HI all,

I really need some help. Ok so I've got a tank with a school of wcmm, a Bn pleco and 2 paradise fish. Everything was fine.

I have a serious problem with the paradise fish. They are called jack and Jill. When I purchased them they were both the same size. I put them in my tank. Everything was fine, for weeks.

It came to my attention that Jill was hiding a lot and on inspection it appears that jack enjoyed chasing Jill. I added some more hiding places and kept an eye to make sure Jill wasn't being hurt. Jill has no signs of physical injury.

Over time, jack has grown and Jill has not. I started to watch closely at feeding time and Jill will put the food in her mouth and spit it out. It doesn't matter what I offer (flakes, blood worm, pellets, vegetables) she takes it into her mouth and spits it out. She has started to get smaller and smaller.

Last week just before I went on holiday I decided to quarantine her to be on the safe side. Something clearly isn't right she is half the size of jack and refusing food. I thought she might be stressed because jack likes to chase.

So I arrived home today and my ma who kindly fed my fish whilst I was away has said that she still isn't eating. I've been watching her today and Something happened. Something came out of her anus. I will try to get a picture if it happens again. It was white stuff, thicker than the usual strand of poo. Is this an internal parasite????

If so, how do I treat it? Is it too late? How do I treat it if she doesn't eat? Would it be fairer to euthanise her? If so how do I do that? Should I treat my main tank as a precaution?

In terms of her behaviour she pretty much spends all her time hovering in one part of the tank. She responds still to people coming to her tank. She looks ok just very thin.

Many thanks for any responses.

 

If the poo is white and not the color of the flakes, like orange and brown then your fish might have an internal parasite or bacteria.

You might want to head to the LFS and look at what medication you should try and perhaps try to change the water.

Kudos for putting her in a safe place. Hopefully you can rehab Jill back to health. Might take some time though.

 

Awful photo, can you see that coming out? It's not like the usual strand I've seen from others. It's like blobs of white ish stuff.

I need advice!!!!
The stupid car broke so today I got 2 trains and walked miles to a generic pet store to find it stocked minimum fish products. Nightmare. The only thing they had was melafix. So I've brought it (horrified by the price!!) and dosed the tank. Is this a waste of time? They had nothing for parasites. I can order online but don't know what to order.....?

I feel awful for Jill. I don't want to see her suffer. Can someone tell me what to do. I can't believe she is still alive she has not eaten for weeks. I tried to call the store I got her from for advice but they are not answering the phone. Ive looked online but can't find anything matching her symptoms. Why is she ill?!?! Everyone else is fine!!!

 

I'm sorry Jill appears to have internal parasites.

I've never had to treat for internal parasites, but I did a Google search and it appears Tetra Parasite Guard will treat for them. I've had good luck using Tetra LifeGuard to treat ich, so I see no reason Parasite Guard wouldn't work well also.

Best of luck!

 

Thank you jdhef, shall I dose my main tank also as a precaution? I have shrimp in there?


Just read on another post, can I just up the temperature to treat parasites?!????

 

I've never kept them, but aren't paradise fish like bettas and gouramis in the sense that they shouldn't be housed with their own kind for aggression issues? I know some species of gourami (like my sparklers) do okay but just wondering if you shouldn't maybe separate them.

 

do you have a hospital tank? craiglist is a good place to scout for a cheap used complete 10 gallon setup. dosing the main makes it difficult to account for any unintended side effects. a hospital tank makes it easier to maintain a controlled environment

 

Apparently not according to bloke in aquatic centre. They had a tank full of them all together. Saying this, jack has been a terror to Jill. I was warned to not put minnow and paradise together but they don't bother each other at all. I would take jack back but he is stunning.
As for Jill, if she pulls through, she will be getting her own tank! Maybe I just got unlucky with jack being a meanie or maybe the man gave me the wrong information.

Jill is in a hospital tank already. And I'm uk based, no craigslist!!

 

bummer. what's the UK alternative for craigslist if you don't mind out of curiousity

 

Bloke in aquatic centre isn't super reliable, just saying. Gouramis are usually kept together in store display tanks and they must not kill each other or they'd be sold in cups - but if you bring two home they'll harass each other to death eventually. What happens in store tanks stays in store tanks - as in just because they keep fish a certain way at the store, does not mean you should ever do it that way at home. It's not permanent in the store, and only meant to hold them long enough to be sold. It's good you're prepared to give Jill her space, I think she needs it. Do you know what sexes they are for sure? I don't know how to sex them but I imagine it's similar to gouramis. That would be helpful. Jack definitely might just be a jerk, but if that's how he is now then I doubt it'll change in the future.

 

I think it would probably be gumtree and it's rubbish!

However I did get my bn pleco from gumtree and he is a beaut!!

 

Shpock or gumtree
Got all my tanks off these I have 3 beautiful tanks that were cheap also had a fluval 306 for £40 mint condition.

 

Jill is in a hospital tank already. And I'm uk based, no craigslist!!

Gumtree & preloved would be similar to Craigslist here

 

Bloke in aquatic centre isn't super reliable, just saying. Gouramis are usually kept together in store display tanks and they must not kill each other or they'd be sold in cups - but if you bring two home they'll harass each other to death eventually. What happens in store tanks stays in store tanks - as in just because they keep fish a certain way at the store, does not mean you should ever do it that way at home. It's not permanent in the store, and only meant to hold them long enough to be sold. It's good you're prepared to give Jill her space, I think she needs it. Do you know what sexes they are for sure? I don't know how to sex them but I imagine it's similar to gouramis. That would be helpful. Jack definitely might just be a jerk, but if that's how he is now then I doubt it'll change in the future.

This isn't your typical pet store. He wouldn't let me have many other fish I wanted as it wasn't suitable. He promised me they would be ok together but clearly he was wrong. I'm so annoyed at him and will phone when they are open for an explaination. It's a proper high end store that is 3 times more expensive than the chain pet shops. They hold advice days and have various experts and events happening so I'm so surprised he gave me the wrong advice. If I remember right he advised me to not have just 1 on their own.

Not a clue on sexes. I have no intention of putting them back together. I just don't want my minnows getting sick. Jack ignores the other fish. What is his problem with poor Jill!!

 

Thank you jdhef, shall I dose my main tank also as a precaution? I have shrimp in there?


Just read on another post, can I just up the temperature to treat parasites?!????

As far as I know, the only parasite that can be treated with elevated temperatures is ich. I'm pretty confident that for internal parasites you need to dose with meds.

I had always heard that Paradise fish could not be kept with others of their own kind, just like betta's and DG's. You will see DG's kept together in stores, but generally, while juvi's DG's are fine with others of their own kind. But as they reach sexual maturity they will start to fight with one another. Often to the death. I'm assuming Paradise fish behave the same way.

 

As far as I know, the only parasite that can be treated with elevated temperatures is ich. I'm pretty confident that for internal parasites you need to dose with meds.

I had always heard that Paradise fish could not be kept with others of their own kind, just like betta's and DG's. You will see DG's kept together in stores, but generally, while juvi's DG's are fine with others of their own kind. But as they reach sexual maturity they will start to fight with one another. Often to the death. I'm assuming Paradise fish behave the same way.

Yeah I think I've been mis informed from the store. That makes me really sad for poor Jill. I will do my best to nurse her back to health and then try to find a new home for her. I feel so responsible.

Thank you for replying, really appreciate it.

I suppose this is all a learning curve. At least if anyone else has this issue I can maybe be of some help as I now have first hand experience.

People take note: paradise fish do not like each other!!!

 

Don't feel responsible. Especially with better stores, the employees are real convincing and usually believe what they're saying, so when you're new it seems legit. My one good LFS is full of pretty knowledgeable people, tanks are clean and fish are healthy... but they have given me some shifty advice. I used to ask test questions that I knew the answers to to feel them out... now I just don't ask and come here instead.

 

Don't feel responsible. Especially with better stores, the employees are real convincing and usually believe what they're saying, so when you're new it seems legit. My one good LFS is full of pretty knowledgeable people, tanks are clean and fish are healthy... but they have given me some shifty advice. I used to ask test questions that I knew the answers to to feel them out... now I just don't ask and come here instead.

Yeah lesson learned. Thank you for your kind words and thank you to everyone who has replied. Jill is still alive, but for how long I don't know. Slowly starving to death. Fingers crossed for her.

 

Yeah lesson learned. Thank you for your kind words and thank you to everyone who has replied. Jill is still alive, but for how long I don't know. Slowly starving to death. Fingers crossed for her.

Aww. I hope she pulls through. I just read back through everything and realized that you didn't really get a clear answer about parasite meds - paraguard, prazipro and general cure by API are good things that I know of, though I'm not sure which would be more appropriate. General cure and paraguard are combination meds so they have a wider scope of indications than prazi, but I'm not an expert. I've only had to medicate once (knock on wood) and prazI worked for me. CindiL is the expert on this stuff, maybe she could help you out with what to get, since you'll have to order online and won't want to waste any time trying things out and possibly having to order something else.

 

What does this even mean? ...I'm starting to think you're just trying to up your post count by posting random one liners that don't always make sense...



Aww. I hope she pulls through. I just read back through everything and realized that you didn't really get a clear answer about parasite meds - paraguard, prazipro and general cure by API are good things that I know of, though I'm not sure which would be more appropriate. General cure and paraguard are combination meds so they have a wider scope of indications than prazi, but I'm not an expert. I've only had to medicate once (knock on wood) and prazI worked for me. CindiL is the expert on this stuff, maybe she could help you out with what to get, since you'll have to order online and won't want to waste any time trying things out and possibly having to order something else.

Have you seen my other post from last night? The other paradise fish is showing signs of parasite now. Seriously could cry. I've dosed melafix in both tanks for now as that's all I have. I will call the lfs as soon as it opens, hope they answer the phone, and see what they stock. Luckily I have the day off work today, meant to be resting as I'm 6 months pregnant but animal life comes first!!!
On another positive note, I have found someone with a pond who is willing to take in 2 goldfish that are currently sat in a filthy unfiltered 10 litre tank I discovered tucked in a corner at my partners mums house. I was horrified, her other son left them there and other than her feeding them way too much flake food, that's the only attention they get. But even they have been alive for 3 years with no illness so maybe fish thrive on neglect!!

 

Hi, you need to pick up some medication that will treat internal worms, nematodes etc. You can get HikarI PrazI Pro, or a generic praziquantel if you have one there or API General Cure. I would go ahead and dose both tanks since your other fish is showing symptoms too.