Fish Flicking

[Paul]

Hi all,

I have a 21 (uk) gallon / 95 litre tank with 2 small comet goldfish, 2
small red capped orandas and a coldwater plec (chinese hillstream
loach).

For several weeks now I have noticed the fish flicking against
ornaments and the gravel. It seems to occur a couple of times a day
and all but the hillstream loach show signs of flicking. I have
checked each fish closely to try to spot any parasites, but nothing!
The fish act fine most of the time, only occassionally do I spot one
of the goldfish with his fins down. All have a good appetite and seem
active enough.

I have checked the water quality:

Ammonnia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 60
KH 3-4
GH 6-7
PH 7.2

The KH was lower than this originally, but I have put bits of corel in
the filter and the KH + GH is slowly rising.

I have had several fish die over the last few weeks and I'm ripping my
hair out trying to figure out what it could be due to. Each fish that
has died hasn't shown any obvious signs of illness (apart from the
flicking). In fact the last fish looked perfectly healthy until I
realised he wasn't breathing and had got stuck to the filter. In
desperation I have removed everything from the tank (gravel,
ornaments, plants) so now there is just the filter, fish and water. I
have even made sure that there are no air fresheners or plants near
the tank just incase they could be the cause!

In the past I have tried a does of eSHa Exit and eSHa 2000 over 3 days
which I believe is supposed to be very good at curing most diseases,
but I do not like to use loads of treatments because I know this can
stress the fish even more.

I would be greatful if anyone has any ideas or suggestions to what
could be causing the problem??

Many thanks,

Paul

[Geezer From The Freezer]

Paul wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I have a 21 (uk) gallon / 95 litre tank with 2 small comet goldfish, 2
> small red capped orandas and a coldwater plec (chinese hillstream
> loach).
>
> For several weeks now I have noticed the fish flicking against
> ornaments and the gravel. It seems to occur a couple of times a day
> and all but the hillstream loach show signs of flicking. I have
> checked each fish closely to try to spot any parasites, but nothing!
> The fish act fine most of the time, only occassionally do I spot one
> of the goldfish with his fins down. All have a good appetite and seem
> active enough.
>
> I have checked the water quality:
>
> Ammonnia 0
> Nitrites 0
> Nitrates 60
> KH 3-4
> GH 6-7
> PH 7.2

Your nitrates are far to high, how often do you do water changes and how often?
You do realise that you should have about a 70gallon tank for these fish? You
are
overstocked.

[[email protected]]

start doing 50% water changes every day for a week. you cant "see" most parasites
without a microscope, but you can try this.
http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/DIAGNOSI/scrape-fakefish.mpg
http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/DIAGNOSI/scrape-realfish.mpg
you do a gentle scrape and if there is a big glop of stuff on the card, then treat
with Quick Cure or other formalin based medications.
but first, do a fish physical and make SURE the gills are bright red before doing
medications.
http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/disease/technique/technique.html#Jo_Ann's_Fish_Physical

get the plec out of the tank, he could be sucking on the slime coat of the GF and
causing the problem. INgrid

(Paul) wrote:

>Hi all,
>
>I have a 21 (uk) gallon / 95 litre tank with 2 small comet goldfish, 2
>small red capped orandas and a coldwater plec (chinese hillstream
>loach).
>
>For several weeks now I have noticed the fish flicking against
>ornaments and the gravel. It seems to occur a couple of times a day
>and all but the hillstream loach show signs of flicking. I have
>checked each fish closely to try to spot any parasites, but nothing!
>The fish act fine most of the time, only occassionally do I spot one
>of the goldfish with his fins down. All have a good appetite and seem
>active enough.
>
>I have checked the water quality:
>
>Ammonnia 0
>Nitrites 0
>Nitrates 60
>KH 3-4
>GH 6-7
>PH 7.2
>
>The KH was lower than this originally, but I have put bits of corel in
>the filter and the KH + GH is slowly rising.
>
>I have had several fish die over the last few weeks and I'm ripping my
>hair out trying to figure out what it could be due to. Each fish that
>has died hasn't shown any obvious signs of illness (apart from the
>flicking). In fact the last fish looked perfectly healthy until I
>realised he wasn't breathing and had got stuck to the filter. In
>desperation I have removed everything from the tank (gravel,
>ornaments, plants) so now there is just the filter, fish and water. I
>have even made sure that there are no air fresheners or plants near
>the tank just incase they could be the cause!
>
>In the past I have tried a does of eSHa Exit and eSHa 2000 over 3 days
>which I believe is supposed to be very good at curing most diseases,
>but I do not like to use loads of treatments because I know this can
>stress the fish even more.
>
>I would be greatful if anyone has any ideas or suggestions to what
>could be causing the problem??
>
>Many thanks,
>
>Paul



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[Paul]

Geezer From The Freezer > wrote in message >...

> Your nitrates are far to high, how often do you do water changes and how often?
> You do realise that you should have about a 70gallon tank for these fish? You
> are
> overstocked.

I really appreciate your reply. I know that goldfish require a LOT of
space but by my calculations, a 70 gallon tank for 5 small fish
(average 1 inch each) would be about 6' - 7' long?

I have always been a bit unsure about what the nitrate should be.
According to my eSHa test kit, it recommends a range between 25 and
100, although a value of 30 and above can cause problem with algae
growth. What do you recommend nitrates should be and is simply
replacing the water the best way of reducing it?

I change the water every 2-3 weeks. My only concern is that where I
live (Birmingham, England), the water is very very soft. In fact the
test results showed a KH and GH of 0 hence why I have been using corel
to increase the hardness.

Paul

[Geezer From The Freezer]

Paul wrote:
>
> Geezer From The Freezer > wrote in message >...
>
> > Your nitrates are far to high, how often do you do water changes and how often?
> > You do realise that you should have about a 70gallon tank for these fish? You
> > are
> > overstocked.
>
> I really appreciate your reply. I know that goldfish require a LOT of
> space but by my calculations, a 70 gallon tank for 5 small fish
> (average 1 inch each) would be about 6' - 7' long?
>
> I have always been a bit unsure about what the nitrate should be.
> According to my eSHa test kit, it recommends a range between 25 and
> 100, although a value of 30 and above can cause problem with algae
> growth. What do you recommend nitrates should be and is simply
> replacing the water the best way of reducing it?
>
> I change the water every 2-3 weeks. My only concern is that where I
> live (Birmingham, England), the water is very very soft. In fact the
> test results showed a KH and GH of 0 hence why I have been using corel
> to increase the hardness.
>
> Paul

Paul,

I have a 63 gallon tank that is about 4 feet long - its reasonably tall....
Remember your fish are small now, but your commons will likely grow to 10" or
even more....

I'd suggest keeping nitrates lower than 40ppm, 20ppm if possible. Replacing
the water is the best method - I typically do 25-40% changes on my 63 once
a week. Goldfish are dirty so nitrates will elevate. If you get a bigger tank
you will be able to control the nitrate build easier. Coral is a good idea
to up your hardness. Some people use dolomitic limestone and others have
used baking soda too.

[[email protected]]

at 1 inch your fish are just out of being "fry". that size fish is exquisitely
sensitive to water quality and more than 20 ppm nitrates would definitely contribute
to problems and death. replacing water is the way to reduce nitrates.
1 inch fancy GF have a high mortality rate no matter what you do.
Ingrid

(Paul) wrote:
>(average 1 inch each) would be about 6' - 7' long?
>
>I have always been a bit unsure about what the nitrate should be.
>According to my eSHa test kit, it recommends a range between 25 and
>100,
>I change the water every 2-3 weeks. My only concern is that where I
>live (Birmingham, England), the water is very very soft. In fact the
>test results showed a KH and GH of 0 hence why I have been using corel
>to increase the hardness.
>
>Paul



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[sophie]

>I change the water every 2-3 weeks. My only concern is that where I
>live (Birmingham, England), the water is very very soft. In fact the
>test results showed a KH and GH of 0 hence why I have been using corel
>to increase the hardness.

ok, I'm in Birmingham too and our water is WEIRD. I had a discussion
about it in re.aquaria.freshwater.misc with NetMax a few weeks ago, in
fact.

The water here is soft and alkaline, which is a very strange and very
unstable combination. At the moment Severn Trent is adding a temp.
buffer to it, but once out of the tap the pH drops rapidly. You're doing
the right thing by buffering, but even with buffer you are not going to
hold the initial pH for long. (I was talking to the man in the aquatics
shop about this a couple of days ago). So the trick with water changes
is little and often, especially in a small tank. A big water change is
going to result in your pH bouncing initially up and then straight back
down, which the fish will hate. Leaving the water to age overnight will
help, too.

I have had real problem keepiomng pH stable in my small tank, even with
huge quantities of coral gravel, and this is my best solution - little
and often with the water...

--
sophie

[Paul]

sophie > wrote in message >...
> ok, I'm in Birmingham too and our water is WEIRD. I had a discussion
> about it in re.aquaria.freshwater.misc with NetMax a few weeks ago, in
> fact.
>
> The water here is soft and alkaline, which is a very strange and very
> unstable combination. At the moment Severn Trent is adding a temp.
> buffer to it, but once out of the tap the pH drops rapidly. You're doing
> the right thing by buffering, but even with buffer you are not going to
> hold the initial pH for long. (I was talking to the man in the aquatics
> shop about this a couple of days ago). So the trick with water changes
> is little and often, especially in a small tank. A big water change is
> going to result in your pH bouncing initially up and then straight back
> down, which the fish will hate. Leaving the water to age overnight will
> help, too.
>
> I have had real problem keepiomng pH stable in my small tank, even with
> huge quantities of coral gravel, and this is my best solution - little
> and often with the water...

I'm really keen to get my nitrate levels down to 20ppm. As a
compromise between Ingrids 50% daily water changes and your 'little
and often' solution should I go for 25% daily water changes for 2
weeks or even 12.5% daily water changes for 4 weeks?

Paul

[Paul]

wrote in message >...
> start doing 50% water changes every day for a week. you cant "see" most parasites
> without a microscope, but you can try this.
> http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/DIAGNOSI/scrape-fakefish.mpg
> http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/DIAGNOSI/scrape-realfish.mpg
> you do a gentle scrape and if there is a big glop of stuff on the card, then treat
> with Quick Cure or other formalin based medications.
> but first, do a fish physical and make SURE the gills are bright red before doing
> medications.
> http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/disease/technique/technique.html#Jo_Ann's_Fish_Physical
>
> get the plec out of the tank, he could be sucking on the slime coat of the GF and
> causing the problem. INgrid

After plucking up the courage, I did the scrape test on 2 of my fish.
Both produced a small amount of 'stuff'. At first I thought it was
just water as it was clear, but it was slightly sticky and thicker
than water. Is this normal or is it a sign of infection?

The only other thing I would like to point out is that I have noticed
the tiny bubbles of air produced from my internal power filter
sometimes stick to the fish. They are definately air bubbles because
they eventually disappear as the fish swim around. Would this be due
to the sticky stuff on them?

Also, in preparation for the treatment, can anyone tell me of some
formalin based medications that are available in the UK as I think
Quick Cure is only sold in the US.

Once again, thanks to everyone who is helping me and my fish!

Paul

[[email protected]]

your water isnt a problem if you add dolomitic limestone as a buffer. I was using
softened water I just tossed a couple tablespoons into the water before running the
soft water in. something like "RO Right" will put the correct buffer into acidic
water. water is usually acidic because it is soft with no buffer and even a drop of
acid pushes the pH below 5. buffers resist changes in pH. Ingrid

sophie > wrote:
>>I change the water every 2-3 weeks. My only concern is that where I
>>live (Birmingham, England), the water is very very soft. In fact the
>>test results showed a KH and GH of 0 hence why I have been using corel
>>to increase the hardness.
>
>ok, I'm in Birmingham too and our water is WEIRD. I had a discussion
>about it in re.aquaria.freshwater.misc with NetMax a few weeks ago, in
>fact.
>
>The water here is soft and alkaline, which is a very strange and very
>unstable combination. At the moment Severn Trent is adding a temp.
>buffer to it, but once out of the tap the pH drops rapidly. You're doing
>the right thing by buffering, but even with buffer you are not going to
>hold the initial pH for long. (I was talking to the man in the aquatics
>shop about this a couple of days ago). So the trick with water changes
>is little and often, especially in a small tank. A big water change is
>going to result in your pH bouncing initially up and then straight back
>down, which the fish will hate. Leaving the water to age overnight will
>help, too.
>
>I have had real problem keepiomng pH stable in my small tank, even with
>huge quantities of coral gravel, and this is my best solution - little
>and often with the water...



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[[email protected]]

get a proper buffer in there and you wont have any problems. Ingrid

(Paul) wrote:
I'm really keen to get my nitrate levels down to 20ppm. As a
>compromise between Ingrids 50% daily water changes and your 'little
>and often' solution should I go for 25% daily water changes for 2
>weeks or even 12.5% daily water changes for 4 weeks?
>
>Paul



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[[email protected]]

almost any amount of "stuff" on the edge means thickened slime coat (really thick
slime coat on a fish looks gray and comes off in strips). if you do a 5-6 inch long
fish you will come up with some normal slime coat. but on smaller fish this means
parasites of some kind.
no.. air bubbles dont do anything.
Ingrid

(Paul) wrote:

wrote in message >...
>> start doing 50% water changes every day for a week. you cant "see" most parasites
>> without a microscope, but you can try this.
>> http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/DIAGNOSI/scrape-fakefish.mpg
>> http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/DIAGNOSI/scrape-realfish.mpg
>> you do a gentle scrape and if there is a big glop of stuff on the card, then treat
>> with Quick Cure or other formalin based medications.
>> but first, do a fish physical and make SURE the gills are bright red before doing
>> medications.
>> http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/disease/technique/technique.html#Jo_Ann's_Fish_Physical
>>
>> get the plec out of the tank, he could be sucking on the slime coat of the GF and
>> causing the problem. INgrid
>
>After plucking up the courage, I did the scrape test on 2 of my fish.
>Both produced a small amount of 'stuff'. At first I thought it was
>just water as it was clear, but it was slightly sticky and thicker
>than water. Is this normal or is it a sign of infection?
>
>The only other thing I would like to point out is that I have noticed
>the tiny bubbles of air produced from my internal power filter
>sometimes stick to the fish. They are definately air bubbles because
>they eventually disappear as the fish swim around. Would this be due
>to the sticky stuff on them?
>
>Also, in preparation for the treatment, can anyone tell me of some
>formalin based medications that are available in the UK as I think
>Quick Cure is only sold in the US.
>
>Once again, thanks to everyone who is helping me and my fish!
>
>Paul



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[sophie]

In message >,
writes
>your water isnt a problem if you add dolomitic limestone as a buffer. I
>was using
>softened water I just tossed a couple tablespoons into the water before
>running the
>soft water in. something like "RO Right" will put the correct buffer
>into acidic
>water. water is usually acidic because it is soft with no buffer and
>even a drop of
>acid pushes the pH below 5. buffers resist changes in pH.

Yes, I appreciate what a buffer is/does; I was trying to make the point
that as we have dead soft but alkaline water here which is held at that
high pH with a temporary buffer by the water company, I have found that
the easiest way to cope with it is to buffer the tank and hold it at
about 7.5 and do smallish water changes, which don't mess with the
tank's established pH too badly. If the tank isn't buffered the pH
crashes pretty rapidly.

Why is dolomitic limestone a better buffer than the coral (or shells)?

> Ingrid
>
>sophie > wrote:
>>>I change the water every 2-3 weeks. My only concern is that where I
>>>live (Birmingham, England), the water is very very soft. In fact the
>>>test results showed a KH and GH of 0 hence why I have been using corel
>>>to increase the hardness.
>>
>>ok, I'm in Birmingham too and our water is WEIRD. I had a discussion
>>about it in re.aquaria.freshwater.misc with NetMax a few weeks ago, in
>>fact.
>>
>>The water here is soft and alkaline, which is a very strange and very
>>unstable combination. At the moment Severn Trent is adding a temp.
>>buffer to it, but once out of the tap the pH drops rapidly. You're doing
>>the right thing by buffering, but even with buffer you are not going to
>>hold the initial pH for long. (I was talking to the man in the aquatics
>>shop about this a couple of days ago). So the trick with water changes
>>is little and often, especially in a small tank. A big water change is
>>going to result in your pH bouncing initially up and then straight back
>>down, which the fish will hate. Leaving the water to age overnight will
>>help, too.
>>
>>I have had real problem keepiomng pH stable in my small tank, even with
>>huge quantities of coral gravel, and this is my best solution - little
>>and often with the water...
>
>
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
>http://puregold.aquaria.net/
>www.drsolo.com
>Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
>compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
>endorsements or recommendations I make.

--
sophie

[[email protected]]

soft water = little to no alkalinity at all. alkalinity is not same thing as pH.
soft is the removal of calcium.
the temporary pH boost may be sodium bicarbonate. it is ephemeral as it blows off as
CO2. yes, dolomitic limestone is better. first, coral is endangered (this excludes
coral deposits) but both coral and shells are not optimal as they are marine... good
for salt water tanks tho. they are better than nothing if dolomitic limestone cannot
be found (try garden centers). always try the limestone out in a bucket of tap water
to make sure the pH stabilizes. A few years ago somebody suggested "pH pills" out of
plaster of paris and loads of pond owners down in the soft water south started
tossing them in and had pH swinging around wildly killing their fish. Ingrid

sophie > wrote:
>Yes, I appreciate what a buffer is/does; I was trying to make the point
>that as we have dead soft but alkaline water here which is held at that
>high pH with a temporary buffer by the water company, I have found that
>the easiest way to cope with it is to buffer the tank and hold it at
>about 7.5 and do smallish water changes, which don't mess with the
>tank's established pH too badly. If the tank isn't buffered the pH
>crashes pretty rapidly.
>
>Why is dolomitic limestone a better buffer than the coral (or shells)?
>


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

[sophie]

In message >,
writes
>soft water = little to no alkalinity at all. alkalinity is not same
>thing as pH.

it's been far, far too long since I did chemistry... I meant alkalin as
in high pH; opposite of acid. Must revise terminology...

I'm horrified to think that the coral gravel sold in aquatics shops
might come from live reefs, if that's the case I'll be avoiding it like
the plague.


>soft is the removal of calcium.
>the temporary pH boost may be sodium bicarbonate. it is ephemeral as
>it blows off as
>CO2. yes, dolomitic limestone is better. first, coral is endangered
>(this excludes
>coral deposits) but both coral and shells are not optimal as they are
>marine... good
>for salt water tanks tho. they are better than nothing if dolomitic
>limestone cannot
>be found (try garden centers). always try the limestone out in a
>bucket of tap water
>to make sure the pH stabilizes. A few years ago somebody suggested "pH
>pills" out of
>plaster of paris and loads of pond owners down in the soft water south started
>tossing them in and had pH swinging around wildly killing their fish. Ingrid
>
>sophie > wrote:
>>Yes, I appreciate what a buffer is/does; I was trying to make the point
>>that as we have dead soft but alkaline water here which is held at that
>>high pH with a temporary buffer by the water company, I have found that
>>the easiest way to cope with it is to buffer the tank and hold it at
>>about 7.5 and do smallish water changes, which don't mess with the
>>tank's established pH too badly. If the tank isn't buffered the pH
>>crashes pretty rapidly.
>>
>>Why is dolomitic limestone a better buffer than the coral (or shells)?
>>
>
>
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
>http://puregold.aquaria.net/
>www.drsolo.com
>Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
>compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
>endorsements or recommendations I make.

--
sophie

[Ray Martini]

QuickCure is by far the best one. Order it online from the US. May be worth
the couple od extra $$$


"Paul" > wrote in message
om...
> wrote in message
> >...
>> start doing 50% water changes every day for a week. you cant "see" most
>> parasites
>> without a microscope, but you can try this.
>> http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/DIAGNOSI/scrape-fakefish.mpg
>> http://puregold.aquaria.net/pg/DIAGNOSI/scrape-realfish.mpg
>> you do a gentle scrape and if there is a big glop of stuff on the card,
>> then treat
>> with Quick Cure or other formalin based medications.
>> but first, do a fish physical and make SURE the gills are bright red
>> before doing
>> medications.
>> http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/puregold/disease/technique/technique.html#Jo_Ann's_Fish_Physical
>>
>> get the plec out of the tank, he could be sucking on the slime coat of
>> the GF and
>> causing the problem. INgrid
>
> After plucking up the courage, I did the scrape test on 2 of my fish.
> Both produced a small amount of 'stuff'. At first I thought it was
> just water as it was clear, but it was slightly sticky and thicker
> than water. Is this normal or is it a sign of infection?
>
> The only other thing I would like to point out is that I have noticed
> the tiny bubbles of air produced from my internal power filter
> sometimes stick to the fish. They are definately air bubbles because
> they eventually disappear as the fish swim around. Would this be due
> to the sticky stuff on them?
>
> Also, in preparation for the treatment, can anyone tell me of some
> formalin based medications that are available in the UK as I think
> Quick Cure is only sold in the US.
>
> Once again, thanks to everyone who is helping me and my fish!
>
> Paul