Please help....

[krislewis3]

All of a sudden, my ammonia is up to .50...... Im finishing up with metro, and so kept my tank half I'll to make the med stretch. I ran two sponge filters, but discontinued mt HOB, sine there wasn't enough water to run it. This am, after wc, I started to fill my tank back up to full, and I noticed my fish huddling in the corner. I checked, and found the spike in ammonia.
I quickly took half of the water out. What advise can you give me for removing the ammonia, and if that's successful, how do I reestablish the full tank of water?? Please help!!!

[Elliots]

Run your HOB filters 24/7 except when changing water. I assume you left your tank half full to stretch medication. How long was your HOB off? Did your HOB water level expose any media or go to zero? That may have caused thew ammonia reading. Of course your test kit is current and you are using liquids not strips? Strips may not be as accurate as liquids I have read that somewhere. I use liquids.

[Eddie]

Also check your water straight from tap to see if the ammonia readings are similar. If your water is treated with Chloramines, you will get ammonia readings. If there is no ammonia reading from the tap. Just bust out water changes to balance an acceptable level of ammonia (0 is best). Make sure you are using a good dechlor like Prime or Safe to neutralize the ammonia and make it safe for the fish.

[krislewis3]

Run your HOB filters 24/7 except when changing water. I assume you left your tank half full to stretch medication. How long was your HOB off? Did your HOB water level expose any media or go to zero? That may have caused thew ammonia reading. Of course your test kit is current and you are using liquids not strips? Strips may not be as accurate as liquids I have read that somewhere. I use liquids.

I left the HOB off for 10 days to stretch the med. I totally emptied the HOB, took it out completely!

[krislewis3]

I just checked the tap water, and you are right...it test high for ammonia. And, I just tested the 60 gallon tank (that now has 40 gallons of water in it) and it is 0 ammonia! So what happened to cause my fish to act strangely, huddled in a tight group in the corner bottom of tank? I was blaming it on the ammonia! I thought that when I refilled the tank, the sponge filter didn't have enough BB in it to cover the entire 60 gallons, although it was handling the 40 gallons that I was medicating. They began acting normal when I took 20 gallons of water out! What could the problem be, and how do I handle filling my tank up, and incorporating my HOB, that no longer has BB in it!





Also check your water straight from tap to see if the ammonia readings are similar. If your water is treated with Chloramines, you will get ammonia readings. If there is no ammonia reading from the tap. Just bust out water changes to balance an acceptable level of ammonia (0 is best). Make sure you are using a good dechlor like Prime or Safe to neutralize the ammonia and make it safe for the fish.

[Tommy Saville]

Sorry to be stupid, but I haven't yet learned all the short-forms.. What is HOB, please?

[Orange Crush]

Sorry to be stupid, but I haven't yet learned all the short-forms.. What is HOB, please?
Hang on back filter. There is a thread somewhere that lists all the abbreviations.

Found it....http://www.simplydiscus.com/library/misc/articles/abbreviation.shtml

[mikula fronts]

Sorry to be stupid, but I haven't yet learned all the short-forms.. What is HOB, please?Hang on back

[simplepso]

Feel, you might have to go thru a new cycle process again... I am not sure, but as you have removed the HOB filter which did have also the BB.
Your sponge filters might not have all the BB required, and even if it was there it might have also been erased of due to the medication. And, check the water temp,pH that you are adding which can also be the cause. Check the tap water parameters matches with the tank water... which can be the major cause.

Generally metronidazole is used for the treatment of flagellates, the most common internal ailment of discus fish and angelfish, when discus will not eat and white feces are present. what was your cause to use the medication?

[krislewis3]

It all began when 1 discus stopped eating. I wrote in for advise, and the conclusion was that I had a breeding couple, that stressed the non eater. After trying various methods with no luck, I finally saw the fish poop, and it looked normal, except the color, which was light yellow. Sooo, the advise changed to medicate with lavamisole, thinking it was worms. Then I was advised to cover all bases, and treat for flaggeletts and tapeworm first, then treat with lavamsole, which I began 10 days ago. I lowered the water level to stretch the meds, which ment that my HOB couldn't run. Soooo, when I filled the tank up and connected my HOB , the fish started acting strangely, which caused me to check the parameters. The ammonia was high, so I figured I didn't have enough BB in the HOB, and I panicked and wrote in. The advise was to test the tap water, which tested high for ammonia. I now know that the reason my tank tested high, is because I had just done a wc, and the tap water tests high....sooooo, I never really had a high ammonia level in the tank. After a couple of hours, The tank ammonia tested 0. I still don't know why the fish were, and still are acting a little strangely.
Any how...I'm giving them a few days of fresh water, before starting the lavamisole treatment. I'm not convinced that the fish has these issues, because the symptoms aren't really there. The feces was yellow, but the fish hadn't eaten in several weeks, which could have caused that. It was not slimy, it was not stringy at all...just normal looking, but the color. After two days, the color changed to a med. Brown, which it continues to be. But, for some reason, she is not eating. Hopefully, the lavamisole will solve the riddle. I am confused on how often to treat with the lavamisole. I know the amount to use, but should I treat just once, or every day for 3 days.....I would appreciate it if someone would advise me on that........thanks for listining!!!


Feel, you might have to go thru a new cycle process again... I am not sure, but as you have removed the HOB filter which did have also the BB.
Your sponge filters might not have all the BB required, and even if it was there it might have also been erased of due to the medication. And, check the water temp,pH that you are adding which can also be the cause. Check the tap water parameters matches with the tank water... which can be the major cause.

Generally metronidazole is used for the treatment of flagellates, the most common internal ailment of discus fish and angelfish, when discus will not eat and white feces are present. what was your cause to use the medication?

[simplepso]

thanks for listining!!!


hi again.
I might not be able to advise you on the dosage of lavamisole as i have never used the same.

FYI Starts*** As you know....
Well, In acidic conditions ammonia, NH3, will convert to more ammonium ion, NH4+. Ammonium is safer.
But in an alkaline fish tank, less ammonium will exist and will begin to form NH3. NH3 is highly toxic to fish.
Which is why i requested to check the pH as well. Keep a regular track on the pH,kH before and after WC and also tap water.
FYI Ends***

And, most importantly acclimate your fish to the tap pH parameters as any chemicals used to lower or higher pH will be temporary. The flactuation will also cause a stress which the discus reacts to different ways...

NOTE#
The strange behaviour from discus can also be due to the HOB filter, the turbulance caused newly after 10 days of silence.
They will get accustomed to it in a short while.

I would opt away from medication for a while and feed them sparingly with Seachem Garlic Guard mix - which will help in getting them to eat...
I would personally NOT opt for medication on the first instance of Discus not eating. They tend to go off food for a while and return is what i know.

Please dont take this for granted as me too am a novice, these are just my personal opinions.

Please do wait for the experts to share their knoweldge and experience.


All the best.

[krislewis3]

hi again.
I might not be able to advise you on the dosage of lavamisole as i have never used the same.

FYI Starts*** As you know....
Well, In acidic conditions ammonia, NH3, will convert to more ammonium ion, NH4+. Ammonium is safer.
But in an alkaline fish tank, less ammonium will exist and will begin to form NH3. NH3 is highly toxic to fish.
Which is why i requested to check the pH as well. Keep a regular track on the pH,kH before and after WC and also tap water.
FYI Ends***

And, most importantly acclimate your fish to the tap pH parameters as any chemicals used to lower or higher pH will be temporary. The flactuation will also cause a stress which the discus reacts to different ways...

NOTE#
The strange behaviour from discus can also be due to the HOB filter, the turbulance caused newly after 10 days of silence.
They will get accustomed to it in a short while.

I would opt away from medication for a while and feed them sparingly with Seachem Garlic Guard mix - which will help in getting them to eat...
I would personally NOT opt for medication on the first instance of Discus not eating. They tend to go off food for a while and return is what i know.

Please dont take this for granted as me too am a novice, these are just my personal opinions.

Please do wait for the experts to share their knoweldge and experience.


All the best.



Thank you for your experiences.....this course of treatment is what the experts here at SD advised me to do, after trying other methods, such as waiting, trying to separate her form the bully, and other things.

[simplepso]

Thank you for your experiences.....this course of treatment is what the experts here at SD advised me to do, after trying other methods, such as waiting, trying to separate her form the bully, and other things.

Please do go ahead with what the experts have advised to do so.
I too, have joined this forum to get valuable advises from experts as this is one of the best discus releated sites on the net till date...

I did not see any related post to the topic, that is that only reason i shared my experience.
Do share the outcomes...

[lipadj46]

Thank you for your experiences.....this course of treatment is what the experts here at SD advised me to do, after trying other methods, such as waiting, trying to separate her form the bully, and other things.

Sick fish don't always just snap back right away after treating with meds, it sometimes takes a week or more. After I treat with metro or any meds I always make sure my water is really clean (even more clean than normal). I try to do 2 water changes a day with a daily tank wipe down and make sure my filters are rinsed.

[Eddie]

I just checked the tap water, and you are right...it test high for ammonia. And, I just tested the 60 gallon tank (that now has 40 gallons of water in it) and it is 0 ammonia! So what happened to cause my fish to act strangely, huddled in a tight group in the corner bottom of tank? I was blaming it on the ammonia! I thought that when I refilled the tank, the sponge filter didn't have enough BB in it to cover the entire 60 gallons, although it was handling the 40 gallons that I was medicating. They began acting normal when I took 20 gallons of water out! What could the problem be, and how do I handle filling my tank up, and incorporating my HOB, that no longer has BB in it!

If your tap has chloramines, it will read positive for ammonia and it will take time for the nitrifying bacteria in your tank to convert the ammonia. You tank will show 0 when the nitrifying bacteria have finished converting the ammonia.