is a parasite spreading?

Hi.

I've had a few fish losses that I chalked up to stress from the move
(Otos, pygmy corys). Unfortunately, I'm starting to think that I may have
a more serious problem developing. I've seen a few of my fish who look
like they are scratching themselves on the substrate & plants, which I
have heard is a symptom of parasites.

I have aquari-sol, and I put a dose of that in last night. I have started
getting water ready to do a 30-40% water change, but I'm thinking that I
should consider medicating my tank. Any suggestions about what I should
try? Other than the scratching, I haven't seen any other symptoms yet --
no ich, no fungus.

Should I do a major gravel vac, that is, remove all of the driftwood & big
rocks and gravel vac all of the hard to reach places? I'm torn between
worrying that the additional stress of mucking around with all of their
hiding places / territories vs. missing some debris that might be
contributing to any developing illness.

Any advice?

Thanks.

--chris

Chris Palma wrote:

Hi.

I've had a few fish losses that I chalked up to stress from the move
(Otos, pygmy corys). Unfortunately, I'm starting to think that I may have
a more serious problem developing. I've seen a few of my fish who look
like they are scratching themselves on the substrate & plants, which I
have heard is a symptom of parasites.

I have aquari-sol, and I put a dose of that in last night. I have started
getting water ready to do a 30-40% water change, but I'm thinking that I
should consider medicating my tank. Any suggestions about what I should
try? Other than the scratching, I haven't seen any other symptoms yet --
no ich, no fungus.

Should I do a major gravel vac, that is, remove all of the driftwood & big
rocks and gravel vac all of the hard to reach places? I'm torn between
worrying that the additional stress of mucking around with all of their
hiding places / territories vs. missing some debris that might be
contributing to any developing illness.

Any advice?

Thanks.

--chris


What're your water parameters? Flicking can be ammonia irritation as
well as a disease.

You're right to think that a major hoovering exercise will place
additional stress on the fish - you really want to work out what's going
on first.

Test the water for ammonia/nitrate/nitrite etc before water change.
Doing a water change won't hurt at this point - use something to get rid
of the chlorine in the stuff you put in again of course.

Post the water params, and have a good look at the fish before you do
the water change to see if you can see *anything* at all - clamped fins,
loss of colour, specks, anything.

--


Velvet

On Fri, 21 May 2004, Velvet wrote:

Chris Palma wrote:

Hi.

I've had a few fish losses that I chalked up to stress from the move
(Otos, pygmy corys). Unfortunately, I'm starting to think that I may have
a more serious problem developing. I've seen a few of my fish who look
like they are scratching themselves on the substrate & plants, which I
have heard is a symptom of parasites.



What're your water parameters? Flicking can be ammonia irritation as
well as a disease.

You're right to think that a major hoovering exercise will place
additional stress on the fish - you really want to work out what's going
on first.

Test the water for ammonia/nitrate/nitrite etc before water change.
Doing a water change won't hurt at this point - use something to get rid
of the chlorine in the stuff you put in again of course.


Thanks for the advice. I have slowed down the frequency of my water
testing now that it has cycled. The last time I checked was two weeks
ago, and ammonia & nitrites were both at 0ppm, pH is 7.2. The only
significant change I noticed last time was that my water hardness had
creeped up -- my water out of the tap is pretty hard so I mix with RO
water to bring it down before doing a water change. I think evaporation
led to the higher hardness readings, so I'm upping my mixture of RO water
for the change I'm planning on doing tonight. I still don't have a
nitrate test kit -- I guess it is time to get one.

My procedure for doing water changes has been to fill a plastic container
at least a day before, add tap water conditioner, then agitate it with
either an air pump or powerhead until I'm ready to do the water change.
I'm hoping tonight's water change will help with the mild symptoms I've
been seeing.

--chris

"Chris Palma" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 21 May 2004, Velvet wrote:

Chris Palma wrote:

Hi.

I've had a few fish losses that I chalked up to stress from the
move
(Otos, pygmy corys). Unfortunately, I'm starting to think that I
may have
a more serious problem developing. I've seen a few of my fish who
look
like they are scratching themselves on the substrate & plants,
which I
have heard is a symptom of parasites.



What're your water parameters? Flicking can be ammonia irritation as
well as a disease.

You're right to think that a major hoovering exercise will place
additional stress on the fish - you really want to work out what's
going
on first.

Test the water for ammonia/nitrate/nitrite etc before water change.
Doing a water change won't hurt at this point - use something to get
rid
of the chlorine in the stuff you put in again of course.


Thanks for the advice. I have slowed down the frequency of my water
testing now that it has cycled. The last time I checked was two weeks
ago, and ammonia & nitrites were both at 0ppm, pH is 7.2. The only
significant change I noticed last time was that my water hardness had
creeped up -- my water out of the tap is pretty hard so I mix with RO
water to bring it down before doing a water change. I think
evaporation
led to the higher hardness readings, so I'm upping my mixture of RO
water
for the change I'm planning on doing tonight. I still don't have a
nitrate test kit -- I guess it is time to get one.

My procedure for doing water changes has been to fill a plastic
container
at least a day before, add tap water conditioner, then agitate it with
either an air pump or powerhead until I'm ready to do the water change.
I'm hoping tonight's water change will help with the mild symptoms I've
been seeing.

--chris


Aquarisol and Lifebearer are different, but both mild anti-parasitic.
Water changes will dilute any nasties in the water column, so that's
always good. Some fish tend to flash more than others, but imo, your
fish are not the type, so there is something going on. Something I've
found effective is to move the fish into a different bare-bottom
aquarium. All they bring are the parasites which are directly on them.
Treat both tanks, but without hosts, the remaining parasites die off, and
the ones they carried can be in the same life stage, so the medication
gets them when the enter the water column together, or there is just such
a lower concentration, that the fish are far less stressed while the
medication does its job. This requires having cycled tanks lying around,
which in some homes is not a problem ;~).
--
www.NetMax.tk

"Chris Palma" wrote in message
...
Hi.

I've had a few fish losses that I chalked up to stress from the move
(Otos, pygmy corys). Unfortunately, I'm starting to think that I may have
a more serious problem developing. I've seen a few of my fish who look
like they are scratching themselves on the substrate & plants, which I
have heard is a symptom of parasites.

I have aquari-sol, and I put a dose of that in last night.



One of my most basic rules of fishkeeping is *not* to medicate with anything
if you don't know what the problem is. That is a really bad habit to get
into.


--
Toni
http://www.cearbhaill.com/discus.htm