Cnspots
01-30-2021, 02:51 AM
Hi everyone! I spend so many hours reading nearly everything here and you guys are great! I've tried problem solving based on all the great advice here but I lost a fish this morning (Scarlett) and I feel like I'm doing everything right but I keep having problems. So ... if it's okay, I'll try to keep it short but any advice would be great. There is so much conflicting information, I'm getting nervous.
I have a 70-gallon tank with (now) seven Discus. I lost one this morning. The filter is beautifully established. Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates aboouot 5PPM. I do about a 30% water change daily, bare bottom tank and vaccuum up everything every evening. I have two HOB filters, an AquaClear 110 and a TopFin rated for 75G.
I posted here several weeks ago about a Hex problem. I followed all advice to the letter. I raised the temp to 90, I treated the tank with metro, though I didn't really feel it was dissolving. The one fish that had stopped eating, started again and everyone seemed to be feeling better. I did the Ph test suggested and there was no swing in the Ph. After everyone started feeling better, I started lowering the temp by 1 degree every other day. Then the white, stringy poop came back. At that point, the fish were eating, so I started adding it to their food with Focus and raised the temp again. They seemed great and energetic, so I brought the temp back down to 88 but kept the meds in their food. They were all eating it but maybe I wasn't giving them enough. Scarlett was always facing the back of the tank and unhappy. I keep up with daily water changes and daily water testing.
Having lost Scarlett now, I have raised the temp to 91, dosed the tank with 3/4 teaspoon of metro, and added aquarium salt. I am determined to solve this problem and raise them to be happy and healthy. Now, I do have one fish who is just a huge bully (Biff). He goes after every fish in that tank except the runt. He is OUT OF CONTROL, attacking like crazy nowo. But, all of them are fighting. And not their usual pushing one another around. They are fighting mouth to mouth. Three separate fights at one time beating their mouths against each other. I read that the higher temp will cause them to fight. If they will all be okay, I can put up with that for 10 days.
I guess I'm just worried that they will feel better and then this will happen again. I do think I may have been under-dosing them but the required dosage of 1 gram per 20 gallons was just WAY too much medicine to fit into their food. I was giving 1.5 scoops of metroplex, 1 scoop of focus, a few drops of Garlic Guard to enough food for a feeding, once a day.
I read everything I can and I'm trying SO hard. I feel like I'm doing everything right but failing.
Sorry for the long post and for being emotional but I really, really want to save the rest of these fish and it seems the solution to the parasite is causing them all to attack one another and I'm beside myself trying to figure out all the different treatments. KUDOS to all of you who have this down. MUCH respect and many thanks for any advice.
I have a 70-gallon tank with (now) seven Discus. I lost one this morning. The filter is beautifully established. Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates aboouot 5PPM. I do about a 30% water change daily, bare bottom tank and vaccuum up everything every evening. I have two HOB filters, an AquaClear 110 and a TopFin rated for 75G.
I posted here several weeks ago about a Hex problem. I followed all advice to the letter. I raised the temp to 90, I treated the tank with metro, though I didn't really feel it was dissolving. The one fish that had stopped eating, started again and everyone seemed to be feeling better. I did the Ph test suggested and there was no swing in the Ph. After everyone started feeling better, I started lowering the temp by 1 degree every other day. Then the white, stringy poop came back. At that point, the fish were eating, so I started adding it to their food with Focus and raised the temp again. They seemed great and energetic, so I brought the temp back down to 88 but kept the meds in their food. They were all eating it but maybe I wasn't giving them enough. Scarlett was always facing the back of the tank and unhappy. I keep up with daily water changes and daily water testing.
Having lost Scarlett now, I have raised the temp to 91, dosed the tank with 3/4 teaspoon of metro, and added aquarium salt. I am determined to solve this problem and raise them to be happy and healthy. Now, I do have one fish who is just a huge bully (Biff). He goes after every fish in that tank except the runt. He is OUT OF CONTROL, attacking like crazy nowo. But, all of them are fighting. And not their usual pushing one another around. They are fighting mouth to mouth. Three separate fights at one time beating their mouths against each other. I read that the higher temp will cause them to fight. If they will all be okay, I can put up with that for 10 days.
I guess I'm just worried that they will feel better and then this will happen again. I do think I may have been under-dosing them but the required dosage of 1 gram per 20 gallons was just WAY too much medicine to fit into their food. I was giving 1.5 scoops of metroplex, 1 scoop of focus, a few drops of Garlic Guard to enough food for a feeding, once a day.
I read everything I can and I'm trying SO hard. I feel like I'm doing everything right but failing.
Sorry for the long post and for being emotional but I really, really want to save the rest of these fish and it seems the solution to the parasite is causing them all to attack one another and I'm beside myself trying to figure out all the different treatments. KUDOS to all of you who have this down. MUCH respect and many thanks for any advice.