Tetra injury or ...?
Dear Crew,
As you may recall, I've written in a few times with long-winded questions about the 55-gallon freshwater community tank we have, and its progression from fake plants to all real plants and DIY CO2. We've added a 20 gallon tank to receive all of our livebearing fishes from the big tank, using water and a Bio-wheel from the big tank. Everything is going well on that front, and we're in the process of gradually lowering the pH in the big tank down into the 6.5 range for the remaining denizens. We bought a pair of Golden Rams (Microgeophagus ramirezi) earlier this week, which make the last two fish in the community tank. Ammonia and nitrites are always zero, and the plants and water change regimen keep the nitrates well below 10ppm - if they go much lower, I'm going to have to start supplementing nitrates for the plants (which seems really backwards...)
I got home last night to find my wife and daughter looking closely at one of our Black Neon Tetras in a small glass bowl. He had a strange-looking patch at the front of his underside, and was obviously heavily distressed. My wife said he didn't even try to get away when she netted him. With the
distortion of the glass, we couldn't tell what the heck the patch was. He continued to decline, and I euthanized him (I always knew I'd find a use for
the zillion-year-old vodka, though in reviewing the FAQs today I see I misremembered and should have gone with the freezer method - dang!) After finding my reading glasses (darn these short arms!) I discovered that he had a big swatch of skin gone from the belly area, starting just behind the gill covers. In a 22mm fish, the patch was an easy 3x5mm - no wonder he was hurting! I took a series of pictures of what I perceived to be a physical injury, in case it'll help with the analysis. The flesh underneath the wound was smooth and what I considered to be a "healthy-looking" pink, with two tiny scratch-type marks, each about 2mm long. The skin around the wound was a bit tattered in areas, with no non-fish-skin-looking growths or attachments. There wasn't any real apparent swelling, or any out-of-the-ordinary marks elsewhere on his body. We spent the next hour or so scrutinizing the remaining fish, and none of us saw anything wrong with any other fish. My daughter dissected the victim, and his internal organs didn't exhibit any obvious problems (wow, the swim bladder was tiny, not to mention the heart!)
Based on the description, and without benefit of pictures, would you guess he'd been attacked by someone? (Seems pretty obvious, but as opposed to some strange skin-patch-disappearing disease, that is. (Maybe he tripped and fell...)
< Your fish may have been nipped but more likely it was a bacterial infection.>
The Rams have only been in the tank a couple of days, and as of lunchtime today still haven't established an obvious territory. Other occupants are Tetras (Black Neons, Lemons, Glowlights, and Cardinals), a couple of male Dwarf Gouramis, a few Corydoras, a trio of Otos, and a trio of small Siamese Algae Eaters, so nobody has a solid reputation for being belligerent. Other than one of the Lemon Tetras (who chases two others for
an hour or so every morning), everyone has been pretty serene. We all spend quite a bit of time staring at the tanks' occupants, and I'm certain the
fish was fine yesterday morning (and probably at lunchtime, too). Also, with that kind of injury, was there much chance of his surviving? 
Guess I'm looking for reassurance that I did the right thing in euthanizing him...  As always, thanks for the help you give me and all the rest of us. Tomorrow is payday, and my wife said I can contribute to the site's Amazon Honor System link this weekend.  Glen
< These gram negative bacteria are pretty bad. If there was no fungus on the wound and the infection never got to the internal organs then with treatment it may have survived. In the future I would recommend getting a quarantine tank to treat any new fish before they have a chance to infect your established tank.-Chuck>

Fish tank problem
Good afternoon. <Hi Lisa, MacL here with you tonight.>   I’m hoping you might be able to help me figure out what’s going wrong with my tank. I have a 29 gallon freshwater setup at the office. Somehow, when we decided to get the fish tank, I ended up being the person responsible for it <Sounds like fun, fish tanks are great>  (except for the stocking – no matter what I tell the bosses, they seem to think they have absolute control over what fish go in the tank. I have to threaten them to keep fish from magically appearing over the weekend). We have a Whisper Power Filter 30, thermometer set for about 78-ish (with the hot
weather we’ve been having, the actual temp is more around 80-82) and an aeration stone.  We have only fake plants with two grotto-like structures for all of the pretty, expensive fish to go hide in. <Sounds lovely> The system has been running for approx. 6 months now. After a rough cycling period (learning the hard way JUST how rough it can get…), the ammonia and nitrite levels have remained at 0.  We gradually began stocking the tank.  Through the process, we’ve lost some fish due to one reason or another, perhaps at the rate of about one fish a month.  
I change about 3-4 gallons of water once every week or two.  I only recently learned of the wonder of the gravel vacuum, which I’ve done twice now. <The secret to that is doing part of that tank at a time. For instance doing about half at a time.> The only thing I add is some tap water conditioner and about ½ aquarium salt 1-2 times per month. <I would stop with the salt, it can truly irritate some  fish. >
As of two weeks ago, our tank looked like this:  
3 Harlequins
2 Pristellas
6 neon tetras (which survived the cycle)
2 rainbow tetras
1 small pleco (a real trooper)
2 Cory cats
1 medium angel
1 small angel
1 Betta
1 tiny African frog (he survived the cycling, too)
1 gourami
1 loach of some kind (don’t remember which one exactly, but labeled by the
LFS as a community one)
1 Dalmatian molly (LFS said he would be fine in normal fresh-water salinity,
and so far seems to be doing well enough) <You are adding salt pretty frequently so he's probably happier than the rest of the fish>
1 platy
I’ve tried to maintain the fish inch/gallon rule. <You have to use that rule thinking about the ultimate size of the fish. The angels will eventually outgrow the tank. The gourami will as well unless its one of the dwarf gourami types.>  This is a bit difficult considering the bosses and their attempts at weekly fieldtrips. <Why not sit down with the bosses and create a plan.> I realize that we have quite a few fish, but it is a decently-sized tank and most of the fish barely make an inch and I’m told most of them shouldn’t get any bigger than they are now. One of the Harlequins has lost an eye. <That could have been the loach or one of the angels>  He seems okay though, considering he’s now blind on one side. We think it might be the larger angel, as he appears to be the only one even remotely aggressive. About two weeks after the addition of the molly, gourami, and loach, things seemed to start going downhill. The loach promptly went into hiding and we haven’t seen anything of him since about day two of adding him. I’ve tried gently rocking the grotto in which he was last seen, with no sign of him. <If he's a Kuhli loach he's probably buried in the rocks>  He is assumed dead.  About two weeks after the introduction, the gourami died.  When I found him, he was covered in fuzz (he died over the weekend. I don’t know if the fuzz was pre- or post-mortem). <More than likely after death.>  When I arrived at work yesterday, two of the Neons were missing. <If they were small enough they could have been eaten>  No bodies have yet turned up. And then this morning my pleco died. <With the pleco, did you by any chance look at his belly? Pleco's can starve without algae to eat. If so they get a sunken in belly>
Water quality as of yesterday morning (and it’s really stayed pretty steady for the past 4 months or so – I keep track in a notebook):  Using a Mardel test strip kit  pH 7.2, Alkalinity 80, Hardness 120, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 40 <Nitrates are way to high>  and Ammonia (with an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit) is 0. Nobody appears to be ill.  The pleco was ecstatic yesterday to be fed, and quickly became lethargic this morning.  He didn’t appear to be missing any fins or have any scars/wounds, so I don’t think someone beat him up. <If I had to guess without algae which is their natural food he's starved, hard to tell without actually seeing the fish and/or the tank. Pleco's also get irritated by salt added to the water.>  Any thoughts as to what might be causing the death? <Most of what you have talked about is pretty normal with the mix of fish you have and the adjustment of a new tank. I'd suggest several things. My first thought is that you are probably over feeding your tank with nitrates that high. Once a day and tiny amounts is important. Now you are probably thinking, overfeeding? and she thinks the pleco starved? Its pretty simple, pleco's eat algae and without it they generally starve. Certain fish require certain foods. Is it possible that other people are feeding the tank as well?> Any help you can give is greatly appreciated! <Lots of people overfeed especially new people to the hobby. The fish always look hungry. One way to tell is if when you vacuum you find lots of yucky stuff in the gravel, if so there is too much food going into the tank. solution is simple on the bright side though, just cut back on the food. Don't feed on weekends for sure. They will be fine. Hope this helps, MacL>
--Lisa.

Fish Cancer?
Hi....attached is a picture of my 5 year old Shubunkin, she has what appears to be a tumor just next to the top of her left gill. It is whitish-yellow in color, is not symmetrical, it appeared when she was about 2 years old, and I've always told myself that it is a fat deposit. It continues to grow larger, and today I noticed it has small grey dots on it. 
<first I would like to say that the fish is beautiful colors, I'm sorry to see a fish like that with medical problems. I would guess that the fish does have a tumor, and the problem with tumors is that after a while as it becomes quite large, and secondary skin infections happen.> 
Are tumors common? 
<Sadly they seem more common in goldfish than many other fish.> 
Are they commonly cancerous? 
<Most are, but I've known many fish to live quite a long life with seemingly painful tumors.> 
I lost a shubunkin with a tumor last summer. But hers was different, it simply appeared to be a very round, symmetrical bump under her skin. It was on the top of her head, and she died within a year after it appeared. It continued to grow, and then in the last week of her life, it appeared to break open and the flesh turned grey and dead looking. 
<That is what often times happens with goldfish tumors. the fish lives fine until the tumor should rupture. at which point the fish either the fish dies from the damage or due to secondary bacterial or fungal infections.> 
Is there anything I can do to prolong this fish's life? 
Diane Virginia, USA 
<If you wish to keep it, then you can add medicines to the water to prevent secondary infections from getting to the fish. Use Maracyn-Two, Maracyn, Tetracycline or TriSulfa to prevent secondary infections from bacteria. Good luck -Magnus.>

Re: white patches: ich, velvet, both, neither?
Before I start, here's the background:
Two 5-6" Oscars, one 5" pleco, 39 g tank (which I now know is wayyyy too small and am diligently saving toward obtaining a 120 g tank ASAP).  Two HOB filters (Penguin 125 w/BioWheel & a Millennium 1000).  Biweekly 25-50% water changes depending on the amount of crud. Try to keep Ph no higher than 7.0 and ammonia is at a "safe" level according to the ammonia alert card in the tank (can those be trusted?).  I put in 1 Tbls of aquarium salt for every 5 gallons of water I add during water changes. I use tap water treated with aqua safe & try to get it as close to the tank temp as possible.  1 or 2x daily feedings of Oscar pellets, dried brine shrimp &/or occasional live earthworms (rinsed).  
Please see the attached pics of my Lilo's spots and tell me if this looks more like ich or velvet or just injuries from fighting.
<After reviewing the photo it looks like wounds from fighting>
It doesn't look fluffy like velvet or pinpointy like ich.  Stitch has recently started ramming Lilo's sides and I noted a scale pop off yesterday.  Obviously I need to get a much bigger tank ASAP.  In the meantime, I put a plastic screen in to separate them, which unfortunately only makes the habitat smaller for each, but at least they aren't tormenting each other at the moment. The pic has a greenish tint because I added 3 tabs of Tank Buddies Fungus Clear (nitrofurazone, Furazolidone, potassium dichromate) and per the instructions, took out the carbon cartridges from the filters.
< You should have removed the BioWheel from the penguin filter too. Medications can kill the bacteria on the wheel sometimes.>
  How soon before I can put them back in?  The box says do another treatment and 25% water change in four days if it hasn't cleared up. Does that mean the cartridges stay out for that long? I don't want to poison them!  They are each quite lethargic right now & didn't swim up
to greet me at feeding but did each eat a red wiggler this morning.  Thanks in advance for your assistance.
< Do a partial water change and try using a conditioner with some wound control in it. The Oscars will recover from the wounds since they don't look too serious and Oscars are pretty tough customers to begin with. I would not remedicate if the fungus does not reappear. The fungus likes to live on dead tissue. Watch you ammonia levels since the bacteria may have been harmed by the medication. Add the carbon back after 24 hours to clear things up and get you tank back on track.-Chuck>

Fish in distress
Hi ,I have 3 cherry barbs in a 37 gallon tank with 4 C. melini and 3 Otos. One of the cherry barbs is a big full grown female. When I got home today, the cherry barbs were all in the top right corner but not packed in, they were in there own spaces. The male and female seem to be okay, but the big female is swimming against the glass and up toward the top, staying within the top six inches, but not going to the surface. When I fed them freeze dried shrimp, which they usually love, she didn't eat but a couple then kept up her weird behavior. There are also 6 Amano shrimp in the tank. The Corys and Otos seem fine. The male cherry seems to chase the other two sometimes. She almost looks as if she's trying to swim past the glass. I have no clue if this is bad or not, but it looks like she is in distress. Any ideas? Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks in advance, Marc
>>Hello Marc :D How often to you do partial water changes? Erratic swimming could mean many things, anything from spawning to illness. Do any of the fish have white spots on them? Split fins, or fungus? Also, do you test your water? It would be most helpful if you could tell us your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate readings. Do you add any products, and if so, which ones? Is this a newly set-up tank? If so, for how long? -Gwen <<

Fish In Distress
Gwen,
Sorry to leave out the details...My ammonia and nitrites were at zero. I tested it when I noticed the swimming. She did that for about 4 hours, and she was swimming directly against the current from the filter water. I have not noticed any white spots...in fact there are none. The only thing I can think is that she is hungry, because that's where I usually feed her. The male has been chasing the other fish, even the Corys. I fed them earlier, though. This is pretty strange behavior and the water quality seems to be fine. The substrate is Eco-Complete, there are several plants, and I don't know what could make her act this way. The only explanation I can come up with is that they want some bloodworms. I just added the Corys and Otos last week. I forgot to mention that I added Bio-Spira when I added the new fish. The cherry barbs were the first fish and in the tank for three weeks. Marc
>>Okay, good. What about nitrates? You need to start measuring those, also. I assume you have fed them by now, how is she looking? My advice is to just keep an eye on her, watch closely for any spots, fungus, flashing behavior, etc. Hope everything works out. -Gwen<<

New tank, Bio-Spira, and fungus problem - II
Thanks Gwen, I appreciate your help. I didn't use the old media because for the new tank because the old tanks were 5 gallon hex's with the carbon/floss cartridges and bio-wheels incorporated in the top. I can't really think of a way to use the old media's with the Fluval, unless I just suspend the whole filtration unit above the tank somehow. I vacuumed, and am now treating an ick outbreak on two of my fish, using aquarium salt. :^( Will do water changes, and try to bump the salt up to .3% over the next 24 hrs. I hate to use the chemical ick products as my filtration biology is on shaky ground as it is. The ick reared it's awful head today....had never seen it before this at all.
Thanks! Any other ideas or suggestions would be very appreciated. I hope you all had a great weekend.
Laura Swenson
>>Ah, I understand! Sorry to hear about the ich, Laura...what a pain! Okay, I guess all you can do at this point is keep testing the water and performing the water changes necessary to keep your levels low. What is the tank temp? Since you have goldfish, I hesitate to advise raising the temperature, so I guess you will have to battle the ich with salt. Best of luck to you. -Gwen<<

Nuking Components Form An Infected System
Hi guys!
<Hi there! Scott F. here tonight>
Got this nasty in my tank and eventually had to destroy my remaining stock.  The tank is 125 gallon fresh with undergravel filter, two mechanical filters and a wet/dry filter.  Please advise as to the best way to clean my tank to insure that my new fish do not become infected.  My husband was all for throwing some bleach in but I don't want to do something that will mess up my wet/dry filter for life. HELP! Kim
<Actually, your husband is correct. I'd use some bleach, then rinse very, very thoroughly, with baking soda. Then, rinse again, fill the sump with Dechlor, and let it sit, Wash it thoroughly again. That should do the trick. Make sure that there is no residual chlorine smell before using again. That's what I'd do! Have fun! Regards, Scott F>

Sick Fish
Hi, great website you have here, it is so helpful! So I'm hoping you'll be able to help me with my problem. I have a 46 Gal. Freshwater tank, two long aeration sticks connected to an air pump, Aqua Clear 500 filtration with carbon and foam. I'm new at this hobby so I've made and learned from some mistakes already. I had a huge ich outbreak due to buying sick fish from a large chain store, bad choice I will not be buying my fish from there anymore.
<The moral here:  Quarantine Tank!  So many, many problems can be prevented with a simple quarantine method.>
So I was treating them for 8 days with Kordon's Ich treatment. (Carbon filter out). I did a small water change, as I try to do them weekly, yesterday.  My fish were getting better before my water change, all of them clear of ich.
<More info on ich here, please read:  http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwich.htm .>
3 Bala sharks, 1 Guppy, 1 Swordtail, 2 Mollies, 1 Silver Dollar, 1 Rainbow, 1 Glass fish.
<Yikes!  A very incompatible mix, I'm sorry to say; the mollies and glassfish are brackish animals (though mollies will thrive in anything from saltwater to freshwater), and the glassfish are schoolers, really do better in groups; the rainbow is a schooler, as well; the silver dollar will one day be large enough (and aggressive enough!) to eat the guppies, glassfish, and whatever else it decides is food (and it's a schooling fish, as well)....  It would definitely benefit you greatly to research your fish prior to purchase, and decide what kind of tank you want (fresh, brackish, large predators, small, colorful fish, etc.), and go from there.  20/20 hindsight, I know.  On to the problem at hand.>
Well the day before my water change I noticed my Bala's took a nosedive and broke out in ich all over. I thought this odd so I checked my water levels and noticed my nitrite level was quite high.
<Many meds will kill your nitrifying bacteria; it's a good idea to do hefty water changes while medicating/re-cycling the tank.>
I decided to stop treatment and put my carbon filter back in that night. The next day I made a small water change.
<Larger water changes will serve you well in this time of illness; test your water (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH) and do water changes as needed to keep ammonia and nitrite at zero, and nitrate low.>
Here is what may be one of my problems. I was having my mother save gallon milk jugs for me so I could use them to store water. The very first jug she saved she cleaned out with soapy water. I know, I know, bad move. I guess my brother, who keeps fish as well, told her this was a no-no. Trying to rectify the situation she used very hot water and cleaned out the jug many times, thinking this would clean out any residue left by the soap.
<Although there is the ghost of a chance that there was some residue left, I would not think this was the source of your problem, to be honest.  Though, I do strongly recommend purchasing a couple of new, clean buckets for aquarium use; label them as such and never use them for anything else.>
Without knowing I used that jug, along with some others. They had been sitting for at least two weeks. Well after my water change yesterday my fish seemed fine, a few of them a little on edge, but I figured this was from my nitrite levels, not knowing about the milk jug.
<I would suspect the elevated nitrite - nitrite is very toxic to fish.>
One of my Bala's was completely covered in ich and not moving around and not eating so I was keeping a close eye on him. I got up this morning same situation, everyone ate breakfast except the one Bala, and everyone seemed to be ok considering. Well upon my return home this evening sure enough the one Bala was dead. Since then I have been watching my other fish closely and they are very active. I know I have poisoned them, one way or another, and I can't express how awful I feel about this.
<We all make mistakes; as long as you learn and grow from them, that is what matters.  But again, I do not believe the milk jug caused this; rather, I suspect the elevated nitrite (and likely ammonia, as well).>
Most of my fish have nips in their tails, not caused from one another, and they are in a frenzy darting about the tank. This is behavior from all of them something I've never seen, and so I'm wondering if it was from the milk jug.
<All of this as you have described is classic reaction to ammonia and/or nitrite in the water - some big water changes may be in order, please test your water, change as necessary; that should help the issue a lot.>
I have a feeling I will wake up in the morning and have no fish. I have turned my aerator pump up all the way, hoping this may be of some help to them.
<It should, good move.>
Do you think this is soap poisoning? Or a combination of that and my toxic nitrite level?
<The toxic nitrite level alone will cause everything you have described, but again, I suspect there is ammonia present, as well.>
And if it is soap poisoning how do I clean my tank of this?
<Water changes, in either case.>
I wish I had a QT tank, but I do not, but am getting one shortly as I see how important it is to have one.
<Ahh, good!  I'm *very* glad to hear this!>
What suggestions can you give for my surviving fish ,if any, tomorrow?
<Water changes, water changes, water changes, until there is zero ammonia and zero nitrite.  This should help tremendously, if not resolve the problem altogether.>
Thanks so much!  Stacie Lawrence
<You're quite welcome, Stacie!  Thank you for being so attentive to your fishes' needs, please enjoy the road ahead, learning more about your fish!  -Sabrina>

Dead clown loach - 'skinny disease', or worms?
me again....
<Sabrina, here>
answers to your questions....I do a 20%-30% water change once a month...ph 6.6, no ammonia, no nitrites,
<Excellent.>
I feed them a variety of things...zooplankton, Tubifex worms,
<Tubifex - live, frozen, or freeze-dried?  Live Tubifex are pretty well known for their tendency to transmit disease; probably not the best option....>
shrimp pellets, tropical flake food, gammarus...frozen shrimp....a good mix of things I thought.
<Yes.>
Like I said in my previous email...everyone seems to think it was skinny disease....a parasite that they say can be in the loach already and 6 months to a year or more kill them....
<I've found some conflicting information on this - some sources say 'skinny disease' is a bacteria, as Jason said previously, and some say it's a Microsporidean - a protozoan parasite - and is difficult to treat.  However....  As I read this, I'm rather certain that, whichever way it is, you're not looking at this 'skinny disease', but at an internal large-type parasite (rather than a protozoa or a bacteria), like nematodes.  This is common in wild fish.>
because they come from the wild....I had read that you can treat  prophylactically with Levamisole hydrochloride to keep this from happening...but did not find out where to get it or how much..... is this true?
<I would agree with this advice - Levamisole or piperazine are the route to take for internal wormies.  Look into "Discomed" or, if you can find it, "Dewormer", both by Aquatronics.  The former is administered via food, and contains Levamisole.  The former is already *in* food, and contains piperazine.  Either route should do the trick.>
You had mentioned medicated pellets with erythromycin....I have medicated pellets but it is tetracycline...for bacteria...would that be sufficient if this happens again?    
<I'm rather convinced that you're dealing with a parasite, not a bacteria.  I'd suggest, if you're considering getting in more wild-caught fish, first and foremost set up a quarantine tank so you can nail illnesses before they get into the main system.  Secondly, keep good antibacterial meds on hand, as well as anthelminthic (worm killin') meds on hand.  Medicated food is probably the best route.>
In regards to that, I read that loaches with skinny disease do not always eat and by feeding with the pellets it might do more harm than good by damaging bacteria in filter and gravel... throwing ammonia and nitrites up therefore hurting other fish........
<Unlikely.  If the loaches don't eat the food, the other fish will, most likely.  I don't see much likelihood at all of causing harm to the tank going this route.>
Sorry so many questions...
<Don't apologies - it's totally understandable.>
I always find conflicting info on the net....& never know what to believe....
<Conflicting info - yes, indeed.  And there are many ways to skin a cat - and everyone you talk to will give you a different way.  -Sabrina>
any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance,  Monica     

Follow Up: Dying Fish in Freshwater System
>Thank you very much Marina for the information.  
>>Quite welcome.  Another crewmember, Ananda, was kind enough to send me a link to a discussion on our board, as well, with even more.  It is specific to Amquel.
>I didn't think it was enough information, but had I provided more at the time, I would have been lying, as I didn't know specifics.
>>No worries.
>I will attempt to answer the questions you asked me to clarify and give you specific information.  I also did some more checking on what I *ADD* to my water when making changes, and I think that is where my problem is.  Problem is I have asked several people and out of ignorance (my story, I'm sticking to it), combined some things that I actually only need one of.
>>Heh.. don't be sorry for not automatically knowing who's got the good information and who doesn't.
Here are the details:  The water filter system I use is a tank model (hangs off the back), a TetraTec PF300.  Uses 4 filters at a time which are cycled (2 removed and 2 new per month).  The type of carbon I am using in the filters is Ammo Carb.  Most people I talked to stated that undergravel filters were more trouble than they were worth and so I never put one in.  
>>That's actually a matter of opinion, you can run a tank with 'em, or without 'em.
>I am not sure how they work, but after seeing your FAQ pages, it appears that most people are using both undergravel and hanging filters.  Can you confirm if this is best?  
>>I'm sorry, but I can't.  Honestly, my own best tank was run with a canister (Fluval 403) and a hang-on filter.  The issue is providing a substrate for nitrifying bacteria (there are two species that oxidize ammonia to nitrite and then nitrate--remember those last two!), not as much how you achieve it.  I know of one person with an OUTRAGEOUS planted tank who uses a sump.
>I don't want a ton of fish, although I like variety and want more than what I currently have.
>>Understood!
>My test kit is from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, it is the Master Test Kit.  It allows me to test Ammonia, Nitrite, General Hardness, Alkalinity, and pH.  
>>Odd that it doesn't test the full ammonia oxidation cycle.  Hrm.  In any event, it's a fairly decent test kit, though not my favorite.  
>I ran my tests last night and this is what I came up with.
pH: 7.1
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
GH: 30
KH: 6
>Some people recommended that I use two kits to test the hardness, so I went out and bought a Jungle Hardness/Alkalinity Quick Dip strips.  
>>Strips = BAD (cheap, poor quality).  Also, please!  STOP worrying and messing about with your hardness.  If you're experiencing pH bounce, *then* you have reason to, but otherwise leave it be.  Your fish will be much happier for it!
>According to this strip, my water is HARD and the alkalinity is LOW, which according to the card is not ideal.  Alkalinity shows about 0-1, and the recommended is 120 to 300 for freshwater.  (Not sure what that means, can you help me understand?).  
>>Truthfully, I have a hard time wrapping my own brain around having HARD water with a poor buffering capacity.  Must find old books!  In any event, hard water simply means that you have a relatively high amount of dissolved minerals in the water.  USUALLY they're calcium (lime leach), magnesium, and iron (lots more, too many to list).  Alkalinity speaks to the buffering capacity of the water.  Basically, alkalinity means that the water either is or isn't resistant to pH change.  Low alkalinity means that the water will very easily change pH.  This could very easily explain your fish deaths.  
>I would think that low alkalinity would be best.  
>>Alkalinity has two different meanings, one is regarding high pH (not necessarily a bad thing, either), the other is in regards to the buffering capacity of the water I spoke of above.
>How do I kick the alkalinity up?
>>A common method in freshwater is baking soda, but that is temporary.  Another common method is to place a bag (or pantyhose) of crushed coral in the tank, usually under the gravel somewhere, or in a filter.  This is the method I would use.  Do know that your pH will be bumped up, as well.  This is NOT a problem for the fish, just let it happen.  However, know that your source water will bring the alkalinity back down, and along with it the pH.  One method to deal with this is to use a trash can, place either a hang-on or canister filter filled with the coral and let it circulate for a day.  Or, you can just fill it with water and a bag/pantyhose full of the crushed coral, and make sure it's circulating well.
>I also went and got a NITRATE tester as the LFS people said that NITRITES are only when the tank is new.  
>>No offense, but these people are doing a piss-poor job of explaining things to you.  No WONDER you're becoming so frustrated.  If you need, I can link to you a site with a brief synopsis of the nitrification/nitrogen cycle.  Though it's written in regards to marine systems, it is just as applicable to fresh.
>Since my tank has been established for some time, to test the NITRATES.  So, I got a Hagen NO3 Test Kit.  According to the test kit, Nitrates are between 50 and 110 mg/L.  The card states that
this is supposed to be good.  Can you confirm?
>>No, this is relatively high, but not so high as to explain the fish DEATHS.  It can, however, promote disease.  Water changes are the best way to get this under control, but do be sure to test your source water, first.  Nitrate levels as high as 40ppm are acceptable for potable water in many water districts.  Also, when it comes time to replace the kit, try getting the same brand as what you're using for the other tests (Aquarium Pharm.).
>That all being said, I may have left something important out.  On the outside of the tank (on the light hood and tank cover) there has been a constant buildup of what I think is salt or scaling like the buildup I get on my faucets.  I attribute this to the water hardness.  Is that correct?
>>Absolutely.  A vinegar solution will quickly and easily clean this up.
>What is the best way to soften the water?  I saw something about Water Softener Pillows.  Do you recommend those?
>>They can work, but are expensive.  I personally prefer a combination of peat moss and carbon to remove the tea-colored stain it tends to impart.  However, I would strongly suggest you DON'T do this, let it be.
>OKAY. here is where the problems MAY be:  When I change water, here are the things that I am adding to the water and the quantities.  
Amquel - 3 tsp
Stress Coat - 3 tsp
Stress Zyme - 3 tsp
Ammo Lock - 3 tsp
Dr Wells Salt - 3 tbls
Tap Water Conditioner (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals) 1 drop per gal of tap H2O, typically 5 drops for 5 gals.
>>Oh good lord, my dear, talk about redundancy!  Did you know that if your water source is only using chlorine you can eliminate ALL of these products and simply let it sit overnight to allow the chlorine to dissipate?  Stop with the salt (this is another reason for the "scale", we call it salt creep, too), stop with the Ammo Lock, the Amquel.. all of it.  Here is the link the kind Ananda sent me, too --
http://wetwebfotos.com/talk/thread.jsp?forum=31&thread=12025
>I hope that gives you more ideas about my water and what may be causing the fish to die.  I didn't know what kind of fish, I only asked if they were compatible with each other and bought ones that looked good.  
>>And they couldn't even give you a better combination.  Shame on them.
>Not knowing much about fish, I have tried different species: platys, mollies, and such, all of which have died.  I have resorted to finding fish that I think are hardy and not really looking at types.  Which is why I asked for a good mix after the water problem is cleared up.  Since I don't know the specifics, I am sending photos.  I don't think the "goldfish" are really
goldfish, but I chose that name as it is the only one that fits.  There are actually two.
>>Alright.  The orange fish is DEFINITELY a goldfish.
>So that you know, I did a 25% water change today and will start with a water change every 2 weeks.  Hope that will help.  Since I am there (I have to admit that while I looked, I was trying to find other answers first, so did not specifically look this up) can you give me the straight scoop on water changes and gravel cleaning?  Again, when I bought the tank, I was told to clean the gravel at the same time I do the water change, once a month.  I
have been following that rule.  Is there a better way?  What do YOU recommend?
>>Just be sure to vacuum only 1/3 - 1/2 the gravel with each change.  This is the best way to ensure you don't disturb your nitrifying bacteria too much.
>I saw your reference to "Nessler's reagent" but after doing a Google search on this, see that there are a ton of things that are associated with this.  Can you be more specific?  Is this the name of the test kit that I should use?  Do you have a known source where I can get this?
>>No, I'm afraid I don't, and it's something you DON'T want. It's a type of reagent that is easily skewed by the products you're using, so it's in truth something you'd be better off avoiding like the plague.  j/k, but still, avoid those test kits that use it.  If it's not listed, then contact the manufacturer.
>I won't address the messing with pH, as everything that I have done probably has.  Maybe nerds (I'm a programmer) should only be allowed to have fish screensavers and leave the real fish to others. :)
>>Not at all!  I'm progressing even further into nerddom, as I'm a hardcore fish geek (yes, we DO exist), and I've got a bf who's a computer geek and has me with a partitioned drive for "Winblows", Red Hat 9 (a custom kernel install), and a shared partition for both.  Wheee!!!  However, do know that by addressing the alkalinity (buffering capac.) of the water, the pH very well may be affected.  But!  Don't worry about it.
>Hope you can help with the new information I have provided.  I await your post.
>>Do read that thread (it's a shorty), and I am SO pleased that you're making such good use of the information we have on this site!  I'm having trouble opening up some of the pics, but the first one is DEFINITELY a gold fish, I saw a Cory cat, and a platy, with what appeared to be a couple of gouramis.  A decent mix if the goldie were left out.
>Thank you again for the great source of information and the wealth of information that is on your site.  Iley
>>You are MOST welcome, Iley.  When you get things under control please feel free to come a-knocking and we'll sort out a good group of stock for you, too. Marina  

Follow Up: Dying Fish in Freshwater System
>Thank you ALL very much for all your help.  
>>You're very welcome, Iley.
>I checked the links that you provided and they helped a lot, although I am sure that there will be more questions later on.
>>Most assuredly.
>Just a couple more things, after reading your reply online.  I went out and bought some crushed coral and a large trash can to run the water through.  I happen to have an old pump that will work great for this.  You [Ananda] state that the test kit I have is not the best.  It still has a bit to go before I will need to replace it, but when I do, what is your recommendation?  At this point, replacing fish is costing me more than I think the test kit will.  Might as well get one that the PROs recommend.
>>Whoa there!  I don't know about Ananda, but even while I've earned something resembling a living with this "stuff", I am hardly a pro..  but thanks anyway.  I happen to like SeaChem's kits, but I can't remember right now if they either put one out for freshwater, or if their salt kits "swing both ways", so to speak.  I'll suggest you sign up for our forum, though, and put it to the many users who are current in the latest/newest.  http://www.wetwebfotos.com/talk
>That way, should there ever be trouble, we will know that I am giving you readings that are consistent with what you would expect.
Let me see if I comprehend everything that you have told me.  I should forget about everything except pushing my changing water through the crushed coral.  I should change my water twice monthly and clean 1/3 to 1/2 the gravel monthly.  (Something else that they told me wrong at the LFS.  They instructed me to clean up all the mess in the gravel.  Have to admit it was rough to do and still keep the majority of the water.)
>>You CAN do the gravel vac with each water change, but in a new, unstable system I wouldn't.
>Is that the down and dirty version of all our messages?  I just want to make sure that I am not leaving something out or forgetting an important detail.
>>Pretty much.  That, and READ everything you can get your hands/eyes on.
>The other bad thing about being a programmer...need some method of debugging my daily communications.
>>Heh, gotcha.
>If I got it all correctly, then my next message will be to see what a good combination of fish will be.  So that you know, I lost both guppies.  The goldfish and the unknown yellow fish went to my grandson and so he is happy and maybe they will be better off there.  They have a goldfish tank.
>>Sounds good.  Just to let you know, I am currently FIGHTING a problem with furunculosis with my mother's koi.  We ALL have problems, no matter how long we've been at it.
>THANK YOU very much for all the help.  Your words of encouragement and wisdom will make things much easier on me and my wallet (those chemicals the LFS says I need are expensive).  To the whole crew, THANK YOU for your great service.  Iley Pullen
>>You are MOST welcome, again.  It can indeed get expensive.  For instance, I can get a 5lb. bucket of sodium thiosulfate (dechlorinator--Google it!) from an online chemical retailer for just a few dollars, and this is in its granular/most pure form.  Yet if I go to my local I'll pay that, plus possibly a few dollars more for the same thing in its dilute form (probably going to get the bucket since my koi q/t is 100gals.).  Waiting for more (but may steer you towards Sabrina or Ananda, depending), Marina.

Follow Up: Dying Fish in Freshwater System
>Thank you ALL very much for all your help.  
>>You're very welcome, Iley.
>I checked the links that you provided and they helped a lot, although I am sure that there will be more questions later on.
>>Most assuredly.
>Just a couple more things, after reading your reply online.  I went out and bought some crushed coral and a large trash can to run the water through.  I happen to have an old pump that will work great for this.  You [Ananda] state that the test kit I have is not the best.  It still has a bit to go before I will need to replace it, but when I do, what is your recommendation?  At this point, replacing fish is costing me more than I think the test kit will.  Might as well get one that the PROs recommend.
>>Whoa there!  I don't know about Ananda, but even while I've earned something resembling a living with this "stuff", I am hardly a pro..  but thanks anyway.  I happen to like SeaChem's kits, but I can't remember right now if they either put one out for freshwater, or if their salt kits "swing both ways", so to speak.  I'll suggest you sign up for our forum, though, and put it to the many users who are current in the latest/newest.  http://www.wetwebfotos.com/talk
>That way, should there ever be trouble, we will know that I am giving you readings that are consistent with what you would expect.
Let me see if I comprehend everything that you have told me.  I should forget about everything except pushing my changing water through the crushed coral.  I should change my water twice monthly and clean 1/3 to 1/2 the gravel monthly.  (Something else that they told me wrong at the LFS.  They instructed me to clean up all the mess in the gravel.  Have to admit it was rough to do and still keep the majority of the water.)
>>You CAN do the gravel vac with each water change, but in a new, unstable system I wouldn't.
>Is that the down and dirty version of all our messages?  I just want to make sure that I am not leaving something out or forgetting an important detail.
>>Pretty much.  That, and READ everything you can get your hands/eyes on.
>The other bad thing about being a programmer...need some method of debugging my daily communications.
>>Heh, gotcha.
>If I got it all correctly, then my next message will be to see what a good combination of fish will be.  So that you know, I lost both guppies.  The goldfish and the unknown yellow fish went to my grandson and so he is happy and maybe they will be better off there.  They have a goldfish tank.
>>Sounds good.  Just to let you know, I am currently FIGHTING a problem with furunculosis with my mother's koi.  We ALL have problems, no matter how long we've been at it.
>THANK YOU very much for all the help.  Your words of encouragement and wisdom will make things much easier on me and my wallet (those chemicals the LFS says I need are expensive).  To the whole crew, THANK YOU for your great service.  Iley Pullen
>>You are MOST welcome, again.  It can indeed get expensive.  For instance, I can get a 5lb. bucket of sodium thiosulfate (dechlorinator--Google it!) from an online chemical retailer for just a few dollars, and this is in its granular/most pure form.  Yet if I go to my local I'll pay that, plus possibly a few dollars more for the same thing in its dilute form (probably going to get the bucket since my koi q/t is 100gals.).  Waiting for more (but may steer you towards Sabrina or Ananda, depending), Marina.

Thanks For Help With Dying Fish
>Hello All,
>>Hello Iley.
>I don't really have a question.  The subject line is what I had asked earlier, about 3 weeks ago.  
>>That helps those of us placing queries.
>Since then, I have been following what several people had responded with and my tank is doing well.  
>>Excellent!
>I know that most people writing are asking questions.  Me, I just wanted to thank you for helping me get my tank in order.  
>>You are very welcome.  We want folks to succeed, and for their animals to live.
>Following [Ananda's, I think] recommendation, I started to run my hard water through crushed coral.  
>>That was me, but no worries.
>I have been running it through for 48 hours before my water changes.  I changed the cycle I was using to changing water every two weeks, and change 20% per change.  At the end of two cycles, I change half the filters in my hang-off-the-back TetraTec and do a vacuum of 1/2 the sand.  Since following this regime, my water has been great, except that I have a low pH.
>>Very odd, since you're running the crushed coral.  I suggest, if the pH is too low for your fishes' liking, you place a bag of it in the tank, too.
>Nitrates = < .5
pH=6.6
Ammonia=0
KH=7
Nitrites=0
Alkalinity=120 (Kit says that is ideal)
>>And, while your pH is on the low end, it's certainly nothing the animals can't deal with.
>I did lose all my guppies, 1 skirted tetra, and found a family for my goldfish (that I didn't know were goldfish) before all this took effect.
>>Sorry to hear it, but now you have a clean slate with which to start.
>Right now the tank is doing great and all the fish are active and
thriving.
>>Perfect!  
>Just wanted to give you all my heartfelt THANKS for providing such an invaluable service to the fish-keeping community.  Iley Pullen
>>Again, most welcome, Iley.  Your success is our reward.  Marina

Freshwater Fish Missing - 8/20/03
Hello, 
<Sorry for the delay> 
My name is Tara and I have had a 10 gallon freshwater tank for 3 weeks now, with 3 neon's, 2 sliver mollies, 1 male guppy, 1 gold dusted molly, and I had 2 sunset fire platy's but one disappeared. <Tara, you have a quite a few fish for a newly set up tank. I suspect there might be some problems with water quality.> 
I believe the other fish ate her. 
<Only after the fish died would these type of fish likely consume another fish and even then it is very unlikely. It might be best to do a thorough check of the tank which may include moving stuff around.> For what reason I do not know but I searched for the fish inside and outside the tank and she is still missing. 
<Maybe the filter?> 
My other sunset fire platy fish I believe is pregnant but I'm not sure because I don't know much about fish. 
<Could be a sign of disease.> 
When I first got her she was small and thin. Now on my 3 week of having this fish tank my fish has become longer and her belly is very round and low. Could she be pregnant or is she just one fat fish? <Maybe pregnant as this is not unheard of but could also be a sign of problems.> 
Plus my male guppy has been by her side all the time and he's been nipping at her back-end. 
<Well, possibly pregnant> 
I feed all my fish 2 times a day. (I read in a fresh water tank book that you should feed about 2 times a day is that too much?) 
<No, just enough for all fish to eat with little to no waste, two times a day is fine> 
All my fish seem to be very happy. 
<Very well> 
I went out today and bought a breeder trap and put the pregnant fish in it. 
<Should be fine>
Although she doesn't seem too happy and neither is my guppy. I believe she has 2 weeks to go. 
<Not sure myself> 
Should I leave her there until she has the babies or take her out and put her back in the trap in few days before she has the babies? 
<No need to move her again as this might stress her out and she might lose the clutch. Leave her be. Please read through the freshwater section on our site. So much knowledge to be gained. Keep us posted. -Paul> 
It would be a really big help in hand of what to do with my fish that would be great.  Sincerely,  Tara

I need help fast for my zebra danio
I'm not really sure what the problem is.
<Sabrina here, to try and help>
He or she, I can't tell, has just over the past few days shown any of the listed symptoms. swollen belly, hunchback tail, head pointed upward, won't eat, but he swims normal hangs out at the top with the rest of the zebras.
<Hmm, this isn't a lot to go off.... Can you give us some more specs about your tank?  How big is the tank?  What other fish are in with the danio?  Do you test your water for pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?  If so, can you let us know the values?  What you describe could be a number of things, but what sticks out most to me is the swollen belly - are his scales sticking out, pinecone fashion?  I'm afraid you *might* be dealing with dropsy, which is extremely difficult to cure at best, but perhaps there are other possibilities, too.  Let us know more about your tank, and we'll be more able to help you figure out what's wrong.>
Thank you for your time.
<No problem - I wish you the best.>

FW environmental disease
>Hi my names Cora I've been doing tanks for years and until recently I've never had any trouble.  
>>Hello Cora, Marina here.
>A lady contacted me because I take in unwanted fish.  Due to her moving from Ohio to Maryland she needed a home for her fish (black mollies).  She told me to come get tank and all so I did.  Needless to say when I got there the water was black!
>>Ack!  (And uh oh.)
>I felt bad for the fish caught them drained the tank and loaded it all up into my car and brought it home.  I gave that tank a good cleaning no chemicals used of course and used water from my 55 gallon tank that had just had a partial water change the night before.
>>Personal experience: mistake #1.  (Groaning, because I learned my mistake with a customer's fish.)
>I let the fish float for 15 minutes and then released them.  Needless to say a little while later I notice the fish were starting to act really funny.  I checked the temperature it was a little high so I lowered it the water then started to get a milky white.
>>Free floating bacteria found plenty of nutrients--new tank syndrome.
>And the fish were still acting funny and 2 died.  I pulled the fish from that tank and floated them in my 55 gallon released them and they did fine.
>>I wouldn't have done that, but you saved the rest.  My concern is the very real risk to your well-established tank by introducing the new fishes with no quarantine whatsoever, coming out of a foul-looking (but apparently healthy) tank.
>I left them in the 55 over night and by morning the other tank had turned clear (no chemicals were used at any point of my set up ) so I put in 2 clown loaches and a few mollies needless to say they started to fly through the tank and act as though they were going to die I immediately put them back into my 55 and now they are fine but the other tank is milky white again.  Can you give me any ideas as to what might be going on?  I've worked in pet shops and have had tanks for years and never experienced anything to this effect.  Any information would be greatly appreciated!   Totally Confused,    Cora                                                                
>>Again, this sounds like new tank syndrome, though it usually takes a few hours for the bacteria to get a good foothold.  You never mentioned the size of this new tank, and I cannot recommend adding so many fish so quickly unless we're talking about a 75 gallon or larger set up.  At this point you MUST remove everything from the tank and fill it with water, then add bleach at a ratio of 1Cup/5 gallons.  Let it sit like this a few hours, then drain and allow to dry.  I would do this with everything that was associated with that tank as well.  If you're very worried about the tank, do this procedure twice, and then when ready to set it up again start with feeder gups first.  Beyond that it's difficult to say what to do, I'm assuming you know to match temperature and pH when transferring fishes, and to never introduce water from one system into another.  I hope this has helped answer your questions.  Best of luck with your new wards, Marina 

QT Lesson Learned
Crew:
<Morning! Ryan with you>
The recent post from a FW aquarist who did QT for the first time and
dodged an ich outbreak in the main tank prompts me to share a sad story
from my pre-WWM FW days. I had never done QT before. I bought some
seemingly healthy Neons from the local Petco. Within two days of putting
them into my display tank, they and all the other fish were covered with
Ich. My precious hatchetfish that I had had for three years died. The
Neons survived. Petco-like all fish stores--uses a filtration system
that links adjacent columns of tanks together. I went back and
checked-sure enough, there was ich in one of the other tanks on that
circuit. Of course, I got no refund, because it was only fish I already
had that died, not the ones I bought. I seldom buy fish at that
particular store anymore because there always seems to be sick fish
(fresh or salt) and the employees seem oblivious. When I do buy fish
from them, I check all of the linked tanks for diseased fish. I only buy
if they all look good, and I always quarantine. Steve Allen.
<A lesson that far too many learn the hard way...Thank you for sharing! Ryan>

Seeing Red (Bloody Spots On Fish)
Hi,
<Hi there! Scott F. with you today>
I have a 10 gallon tank, it housed 1 male black molly and 1 female
silver molly and a small little fish ( I am not sure of the name of this fish). I have had the little fish for a good while now and brought the mollies home about 3 months ago. My silver molly had a batch of fry they are doing well. About 3 weeks after the fry were born my black molly was not himself, he laid on the bottom and did not do much ( no signs of spots etc.) Then my silver molly was acting the same way, I lost the both of them yesterday. I still could not see anything on my black molly, but my silver molly had blood spots on her body, they were not open wounds. Last night my little fish was swimming and acting his normal way, and when I got home this morning he had died.  Never saw blood spots before, I do not have many problems with keeping fish so I
am not sure what happened. Hope you can help, Thanks.
Christine
<Well, Christine- I'm afraid that I'm at a bit of a loss to diagnose the exact cause of the spots. Usually, these types of symptoms are traced to either some form of parasitic infection (or the aftermath!), Bacterial Hemorrhagic Septicemia (easily knocked out with an antibiotic, like Maracyn) or perhaps an environmental problem (like measurable ammonia, etc.). I'd do a full check on all basic water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, pH, alkalinity) and see if there are any anomalous readings. Look for other potential disease symptoms, such as white spots, frayed fins, or other obviously abnormal things. I'd recommend a good look at the WWM disease resources (FW) to see if you can find any illnesses that resemble what you're seeing! Good luck! Regards, Scott F>

Protruding Scales
Hi, thanks for getting back to me, I appreciate it.  I am sending a picture of the fish in question, top of picture large yellow fish.  It's body also appears to be swollen some what.  I will get the fish out of the pond tomorrow and get a good picture of the scales, thanks again.   Jeff
<Hi Jeff, the pictures do look like Dropsy, not easy to treat, but it is possible.  I would remove them from the pond and treat with Epsom Salt and antibiotics.  The links below have more information on the disease.  Best of Luck, Gage
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/fishdisho.htm
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshdisfaqs.htm
http://www.fishdoc.co.uk/koi/koimiscell.htm  >

Broken Thermometer
>Hi,
>>Hi, and sorry this response is a week late, I only just got it in my inbox!
>I have a 55 gallon tank with five clown loaches, three red tail sharks, a male neon blue dwarf Gourami, a male coral sea Gourami, two female dwarf Gouramis, and three pearl Gouramis. An electric thermometer I had fell into the tank while I was on vacation, and the battery in it burst open, and possibly poisoned the tank. The fish seem to be fine, but the tank is a dark brownish color.
I am worried the thermometer contains some heavy metals that could kill the fish, should I just do a drastic 50% water change?
>>Yes!  More than one, too.  I would also add carbon to the filtration (assuming you don't have it), or, if you do, change it several times over the next couple of weeks.  Again, so sorry this is late!  Marina
thanks!

- How Much Epsom Salt? -
Hello there,
<And hello to you, JasonC here...>
I have a 36G fresh water planted cichlid tank.  One of my male Cyprichromis leptosoma is looking a little weak (gaunt, thin, loss of color, not eating very well, etc.)..  Without jumping to conclusions if anything more serious is wrong, I thought I would give the tank a little pick-me-up with some Epsom salt as just a precaution and see if it helps.  The thing is, I have never added any kind of salt to my tank.  How much salt should I add to a 36 gallon fresh water tank? <One tablespoon per five gallons.> Thank you, Jay
<Cheers, J -- >

Piranha with gill curl
I know Arowanas get this. I have bought a rare piranha. (Pygocentrus piraya) And it has gill curl. I know it is not from me. The fish was 2 inches in size when I gotten him, So I did not notice the gill curl in time. It is pretty advanced now being that 1/3rd of the hard part is affected. What surgical procedure do you recommend? If I cut all of it off it will show a good deal of his gills. Or do I make relief cuts in the gill toward the head? Or a little of both?
<Actually, neither of these. I would leave this animal as is. "Gill curling" is almost always either a manifestation of genetic disposition or a developmental anomaly. The last due to "poor water conditions", lack of dissolved oxygen, nutritional deficiency... Not "correctable", and likely more dangerous to cut the existing structure in hopes that it will regenerate "properly" than the possibility of damaging, killing the specimen>
As him being a piranha. A feisty one at that. What tranqs are easy for a hobbyist to obtain?
<tranqs?>
I have never done any surgery. So if you could give me a step by step instructions that would be great.
Thank you very much.
<Bob Fenner who would "live" with the curled gill cover.>

FW Fish Disease
Dear WWM Crew: Thanks to all for your invaluable help and support up to this point.  
>>We do what we can, though my efforts are new.
Here's the deal:
>I've got a 44 gal. freshwater tank that housed the following fish:
2 Boesemani rainbows
3 male threadfin rainbows
5 balloon-bellied mollies
3 green Cory cats.  
>The tank's parameters are all normal, no nitrites, ammonia, pH = 7.5; I haven't tested for nitrates yet, but will do tonight. Unfortunately, through an error of mine, there was introduced to my tank something horrible and insidious last week.  I did not fully understand the benefits of QTing *all* new tank members, but believe you me, it's a mistake I'll not make again.  Anyway, I introduced four dwarf neon rainbowfish w/out QTing, and within forty-eight hours, two had died and the other two looked *horrible*.  Symptoms included lethargic behavior, not eating, grayish/whitish patches with some red underneath, and fin/tail rot.  I immediately pulled the two remaining dwarf Neons and put them in a hospital tank, and based on the symptoms I saw at the time (and with much help from the chat forum!), began treating these guys w/ Maracyn-Two.  Well, within another 24-48 hours, they had also died.  Again, through my posting on the chat forum, I discovered that very possible I had stumbled across "rainbowfish disease", or fish tuberculosis.  So, I began researching that, and everything I've seen thus far leads me to believe that this disease is virtually impossible to treat. Yesterday, I noticed one of the boesemani's not looking very good, so he was put into a hospital immediately.  His outward symptoms did not look like what had affected the dwarf Neons - the Boesemani appeared to have "true fungus".  As such, I chose to treat his hospital tank w/ Maracyn-Two and MarOxy.  Well, this morning I woke up and he was gone too.  
>>Oh dear, my heart is breaking for you!
In doing even more research today, I've decided that if another rainbow exhibits disease symptoms, I'm going to treat him in a hospital tank w/ erythromycin...I believe that sometimes that works against fish TB...please confirm if that's the case.
>>IIRC, it is, however, you would do well to have several medications on hand, I would add Melafix and Spectrogram to the list of meds you already have on hand.
>I'm *very* concerned about my remaining fish, and so far, here's what actions I've taken and/or plan to take: increase water changes from 10-15% to 20% weekly, I've ordered a UV sterilizer (scheduled to arrive next week...hopefully soon!) to kill any free-floating bacteria in the water, and, in general, will try to keep the stress level (for both the fishes sake and mine) at a minimum.  Is there anything else I can/should do?  
>>Truthfully, you're doing everything I would do, the only advice I can add is to use salt (ratio of 1tsp./gal) while medicating and q/t'ing.  You cannot use this in the display with the plants.
>If we are truly dealing with rainbowfish disease (fish TB) - can it be contracted by the mollies and/or Corys?
>>It may, but I must apologize for not having better answers at this time.  I do not think fish TB is specific to any genus or species, treat everyone the same right now.
>At what point do I need to completely break down the tank?  In the event I do need to break down the tank, do I need to toss the plants (aponogetons and anubiases)?  
>>I don't think that you need to break the tank down, though putting everyone in q/t for a minimum of one month and letting the tank lie fallow may be helpful.  Remember not to use the salt with the plants.  I don't know that plants can act as carriers for disease, Google has provided me with nothing helpful.
>Please help- I do realize that I made a mistake by not using proper fish-introduction techniques (i.e., quarantining), but what can I do from here? Thanking you in advance, Jorie
>>You are doing everything you can at this point, with the exception of the salt.  I cannot say, "You should do this, that, or the other thing", because you're doing what I would.  My suggestion is to stay the course right now, and we'll keep our fingers crossed that you lick this!  Best of luck, Jolie!  Marina>

Disappearing Fish
Yesterday I came home from the LFS with 7 jumbo neons.  After acclimating them to the water, I released them and they immediately joined the other tank mates.  
<Hmm… they really should have been quarantined for several weeks to prevent the risk of disease introduction.>
The next morning there were only six.  I searched the tank for a floater, a filter finder and even the bottom but to no avail.  Where do the fish go?
<Most likely, one of your other fish ate it. It may have died and then been eaten or may have just been a slower swimmer and gotten eaten.>
Is it the sock syndrome in a washing machine?  Where do they go?.........
<LOL! Sometimes it seems this way, especially when it’s the largest fish in the tank that disappears without a trace! Ronni>
Kevin, NY

Question? 25 Apr 2003 
Hello there!
I'm writing a paper on the parasitism of freshwater ornamentals for a class I'm taking, and I was wondering if you could give me your name (Fenner Robert, or Robert Fenner?), so I may give credit (properly) where credit is due. Thank you for your time!
<Robert or Bob Fenner>
Sincerely,
Raina

Re: Info on "community 10 gal. tank" please
You may cringe a bit as you read:
<I’ll try not to!>
Last November I got a 10 gal. fish tank from my dad that had been left in a house he had just purchased. Living in it (in extremely POOR water conditions) were a spotted Cory, albino Cory, black skirt tetra, a type of angel (silver with black stripes) and a gold colored koi. After getting the tank home I did a complete water change but did not rinse off the gravel, plastic plants or decorations so that there would be some algae and stuff left from the original water, refilled the tank and put the fish back in after acclimating them to the temp of the new water. All was well for about three to four days and then I lost the angel...found it floating dead one morning. I figured it was shock from the move and the drastic change in water.
<Probably>
I cleaned the tank again and put fresh water in and then all the fish. About one month later I bought another tetra, an all silver koi (looks sooooo sharp) and a pleco. (( Here I will state that I found out a little later after buying the second koi that tropicals are not supposed to be mixed with goldfish/koi ))
<OK, I won’t lecture on the fact that they need different water parameters. *G* Do try to move them to separate tanks ASAP though.>
All of the fish were doing well when about a week or so later I noticed that both tetras had cottony growth on their fins...and only their fins. I at first thought it was "ick" and got this stuff called "Tank Buddies Ick Clear". It didn't work. Then I found out that it could be either a fungus or parasite. So, back to the store I went and got "Tank Buddies Fungus Clear" and "Tank Buddies Parasite Clear". I tried the fungus clear first. After a few days nothing. I did a partial water change and then tried the parasite clear. Again, nothing. This cottony growth is only affecting the tetras and is not going away. All my water levels are good and I have a Penguin Mini and an under-gravel filtration system in the tank, so keeping the levels good is pretty easy.
<It does sound like a fungus and I would recommend the product made by Jungle called Fungus Guard or Fungus Eliminator (I can’t remember which name is correct!). I’ve had good success with it. Just remember that your tetras are small scaled so should only be treated with a half dose of any medication.>
Oh, I did lose the gold koi in January. He had this like "wart" on him for a day or so and then it went away. But then, I came home to find him dead with blood coming from the area where the wart had been. After I pulled him out I did a complete water change.
<Hmm… take a look at http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwfshparasites.htm and the related FAQ’s>
Anyways, back to where I was...The tetras don't really seem to be affected by this growth too much that I can tell. The do swim around the tank a good bit and are not "lifeless". They eat well. Although, they have lost some color in their black stripes and tail fins and their tail fins look all ratty. Is there anything you can suggest I try?
<That’s good. Try the above medication and also look at the above URL to see if any of the descriptions fit.>
The silver koi is getting rather big (about 5-6 inches) and I will be removing him when I can afford another tank and all the filters and stuff. They all seem to be living well together. No fighting, occasionally one tetra will chase the other. About three to four days ago I got two "Tequila Sunrise Guppies" (I was wanting some color in the tank) that are very small...but all is well with them also...they are eating well and staying to themselves...and the other fish pretty much don't know they are there. As far as the problem with the tetras, what advice can you offer?
<This all sounds good>
Something else I thought of...in my tank lid I have two "blue colored" tank lights. They heat up the tank water and I end up shutting it off after about 2-3 hours after turning it on. A guy in the fish store told me to try to keep the water temp between 70-80 degrees F. But, the lights get it up to between 82-84 within the first 2-3 hours. Should these lights be doing this? Will the temp being above 80 be bad for the fish?
<The recommended temps for tropicals is 78-80 and for the Koi it should be 68-72 so it’s not really good for any of them. If the bulbs are heating the tank that much I would recommend changing to a different bulb.>
Any reply would be WONDERFUL! Thank you, Michelle  
<You're welcome! Ronni>

Dying Fish - Why???
Hello good fish people,
<Hello>
I have some questions for you. I own a 29-gallon tank operating on a Fluval 304. after letting the initial setup run for 2 days I added 6 single sword plants, 3 zebra Danios, 2 leopard (I think) Plecos an inch long, and one mystery fish.
<This is probably too much too soon. You should only have one pleco and he shouldn’t have been added until there was green algae growing unless you are supplementing him with algae wafers.>
This mystery fish greatly resembles a pictus catfish, but instead of spots it has a single black stripe running down its whole body. He is approx 2" long.
<Check http://www.fishbase.org and see if you can find him)
This may seem like a lot of fish to setup, but for 2 weeks they were fine (my first fish died yesterday).
<Have you been doing regular water changes? If not, the ammonia and nitrites have probably risen over this time to the point that they killed this fish.>
I know my plants helped speed the cycling process by absorbing some ammonia and
nitrite (I also added the pet store water the fish came in, knowing it might have some bacteria in it).
<The plants may have helped a little but not a whole lot. Adding the water the fish came in was not a good thing to do. This water wouldn’t have had any of the beneficial bacteria in it but it most likely did have a lot of ammonia in it.>
My substrate is sand (I know it's not great for plants but I like the way it looks) and the plants are fine. They haven't grown at all, but they aren't dying either.  
<Sand should be fine for them but that’s really not a good way to look at it. You should strive to do everything possible to make them flourish, not just keep them alive.>
After the 3rd week I added 3 more zebra Danios, a male and female guppy, and a Cory.
<Ouch, these should have been added gradually over several weeks once your tank was fully cycled and then only after a proper quarantine period.>
Since the tank setup, I have added liquid plant fertilizer twice (once a week) for the plants. I hear the carbon in my filter might lessen the effect; should I remove the carbon when I add the fertilizer, and how long before I can put the carbon back?
<Opinions on the length of time vary between a few hours and 24 hours.>
I read that Danios are supposed to be peaceful schooling fish... well I have the bullies of the species and it sucks. Since the beginning they constantly chase after one another, and also after my male guppy. The 2 guppies have isolated themselves to the upper corner of my tank because of the pestering Danios. I had 6 Danios, one disappeared (I attribute that to my mystery catfish), and I removed another one which happened to be substantially larger than the rest, and the one that bothered all the others the most. So now I have 4 Danios, but they still bother one another and my guppies.  My male guppy had a beautiful tail, which is totally destroyed now. It actually looks like he doesn't even have a tail! Was it the Danios? And what should I do to chill them out?
<This isn’t uncommon behavior for Danios. They are a very active fish and will often pester other fish in the same tank, especially fish with longer fins like your Guppy or Bettas. There’s not a lot that can be done to calm them down. The best place for these fish is in with their own kind.>
My main question though is about the fish that died yesterday. It is the 3rd week of tank operation and it was one of my pleco fish that died. They are the same size, but one was slightly smaller than the other, and it was he who died. He appeared healthy, blackish brown with his dark spots, no sign of ich, or parasites or fungus. why do you think he died?...underfeeding maybe?, since a have a very clean tank (it definitely wasn't overfeeding being that I only feed them once a day for now) I thought the other one was going to die as well because he seemed very inactive, but then I saw him at night and he was quite chipper, scanning the whole tank for food. I feel bad that one of them died as my two Plecos were very pleasant, and didn't bother anyone. Can I do anything to prevent the death of the other one, if in fact he might be in danger?
<Plecos are sensitive to water quality so it could have been from ammonia/nitrites but even more likely is that he starved to death if you aren’t supplementing with algae wafers. Test your water to make sure the ammonia and nitrites are at zero and begin feeding the remaining pleco an algae wafer either daily or at least every other day.>
In my filter I have 6 compartments for filter material. I have the foam screen first. The bottom 3 compartments hold the carbon, and the upper 3 hold the ceramic rings.  Other available media is Zeo carb, wool, peat moss (not interested in this one because it will make my water brownish), and another type peat (I believe granular peat is what it is called). What do you think should be the best combination of media for an optimal setup consisting of: one Betta male, my mystery catfish, 3 Corys, 3 glass catfish not painted as this is unnatural), 2 male guppies, 3 female guppies, my pleco, one swordtail male, and 2 swordtail females.
<First, eliminate the Betta. He won’t mix well with these other fish. Then, just carbon and the ceramic rings will be good for filtration.>
I will also be adding some java ferns and some driftwood for my pleco. Thanks for your time, and your help is greatly appreciated. Jean-Pierre Luque
<You're welcome! Ronni>

Re: Fish swimming vertical
I have a 30 gallon freshwater aquarium and one of my rainbow guppies is swimming vertical.  He hangs at the top of the water line and was swimming at an angle, now he is more vertical.  This happened just in the last few days.  Is there anything I can do to help him? Thanks, Stephanie
<Unfortunately, this sounds like a swim bladder problem. There is no definite cure for this. Some people have had success with Epsom salts though, Go to http://www.wetwebmedia.com and use the Google search box to search for Epsom Salts to find the correct procedure. Ronni>

Unknown Disease Killing Fish
I have been stumped by this unknown disease that is killing some of my aquarium fish. The first fish to come down with symptoms was my Siamese fighting fish. The fish's abdomen became enlarged as if it had eaten too much and stayed that way. Then a tumor or blister popped up on one side of its head under the eye but went away after a few days. A few days after that the fish died. All during this time which took, from the beginnings of the symptoms to its demise, about two weeks the fish displayed no unusual behavior. The beta continued to behave normally until its sudden death. About a week or so after my beta died my Danios, both zebra and leopard long-fined, began to waste away. They would lose weight rapidly, refuse to eat and then die one at a time. Now I am down to one Danio, a once hearty female. She has started to lose weight and sometimes has an irregular bump on the underside of her belly. The Danio still exhibits normal behavior but is losing condition. All my other fish are fine; I have four neon tetras, a Siamese algae eater and a sucking loach.
<Sounds as if this may be Flukes. Information and recommended treatments are at http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwfshparasites.htm and related FAQ’s>
I have a ten gallon tank with a few live plants in it. I keep it fairly bright for the plants but there is cover for the fish.
<This is fine although it sounds like there may have been a lot of fish in this small system.>
My tank PH is 6.5, ammonia levels are usually about a .5 or less, nitrite 0, carbonate hardness 53.7 and general hardness 6. I keep the temperature a steady 74 degrees and feed the fish small amounts of different types of dry food twice a day.
<Ammonia should *always* be at 0ppm. Anything above this is harmful to your fish. Make sure you aren’t overfeeding. Also, for these fish, a bit warmer temperature is recommended. Try getting it up to around 78.>
I hope you can help me out with this; it's driving me nuts trying to figure out what to do!
Thank you for your time, Joyce
<See the above article and FAQ’s and also check out all of the FW articles and FAQ’s at www.wetwebmedia.com Ronni>

Lymphocystis on Angelfish and Other Questions
Hello--we inherited a 55-gal aquarium with a house we bought, and we're just learning about fish-keeping for the first time ever.  Just before we moved in, the owner noticed a pink growth just above the angelfish's mouth.  It's gotten bigger, but the angelfish is still eating--swimming at a slight list, but still eating, and it's been about 3 weeks.  It looks like the growth has spread to the lower 'lip' as well.
A local fish store owner said (without being able to look at it)
<The rest of this was cut off but I’m guessing he said it sounded like lymphocystis due to your subject line. But I really don’t think this is lymphocystis. The characteristics of that are grey or white growths, often with a cauliflower appearance. I’m guessing instead that this is an external bacterial infection. I’d recommend isolating it and treating with a medication designed for bacterial problems. One of the Maracyns would be my first choice, read the box to determine which one.>
Today we noticed it bleeding around the edge for a bit, then the blood calming down.  Is it possible it was bitten?  We have (and we've learned that these fish should not be mixed, but we inherited it so here we are) a black moor, a platy, a few tetras, a Plecostomus, a gourami, a hatchetfish, an eel we never see, a ghost knife we never see,
<Get a piece of clear plastic pipe of some sort and put it in your tank for him to hide in. He’ll feel secure and you’ll still be able to see him.>
some little African frogs, and a snail.  (We plan to get some more hatchetfish and a couple of female platys when we figure out what's up with this aquarium) The black moor has been aggressing on the angelfish a bit but had apparently calmed down; the angel fish had always been able to escape.
<Before you add any more fish of any kind I would recommend getting a good book and researching compatibility. I would also like to suggest that you trade in the ones you currently have that aren’t compatible with the ones you’d like to keep. (I’m sure you know which ones but I’m going to list it anyway since some of our future readers may find the info helpful) The Gourami, the Eel, the Ghost Knife, and the frogs can all be at least moderately aggressive and shouldn’t be kept with your others that are non-aggressive. And the Black Moor is a goldfish so it needs cooler water temps that the others can’t handle as well.>
A pregnant platy and a tetra have died in the past week--another fish store person thinks because of the drastic temperature change from when the owner turned the heat down after she left to when we came in and turned the heat back up.  (in the house, not the aquarium)  There was a BIG change.  
<This is possible, especially with the Tetra.>
And for some unknown reason, the pH changed too, from around 6.8 when we watched the owner change the water and clean the tank, to around 7.0-7.1 when I took it a few days ago.
<Ph does generally rise a bit once you’ve added the water to the tank. My Ph from my tap is 7.6 and within a day or so of being put in a tank, the Ph will be up around 7.8-8.0.>
No discernible ammonia.
<Good>
We don't have a quarantine aquarium in which to put the angelfish--what can we do?  Is it possible that the growth was bitten by another fish?  If another fish eats it (ICH) will it get the virus too?
<I’d highly recommend getting a QT tank. Even a 5 or 10 gallon would work and it doesn’t have to be fancy. It may be very possible for your other fish to get this. It’s unlikely that someone bit it but not entirely impossible, especially with the mix of fish you have in there.>
Thanks--we're new and hate to see this kind of stuff happening--we've just been doing what the owner had been doing and our 5-y.o. daughter has suffered enough heartache.  The loss of the pregnant platy just devastated her.  We were very excited to watch the birth and such.
<Just remember, what works for one person doesn’t always work for another, even with the same fish and the slightest change can throw the whole thing out of whack. I once kept a tank very similar to yours and didn’t have any problems for 3 years. Then I moved tank to the other side of the room and everything went haywire. The setup and fish were exactly the same but the temperaments changed completely. In a matter of weeks I went from the one tank to several because I had to separate all of the fish.>
Please advise! Thanks, Carolyn 
<Hope this info helps! Ronni>

Bogus Fish Medication/Advice
If anyone can help me, then that would be you guys!  
<OK... Bonzai!!!!!!!!!!!!!!>
I have a question for you guys, I have a 55 gallon planted tank.  135 watts of light, 125 and 170 penguin BioWheels and a hot magnum.  My PH is 6.4, my general hardness is 5 degrees and my nitrites and ammonia are zero.  I bought a couple of discuss a week and a half ago, and they both came down with what seems almost immediately upon introduction to the tank with some sort of ailment.  
<and you've learned a very hard lesson that too many do... the need to quarantine all new fish in a separate hospital tank first. Never add new fish directly to a display... especially sensitive and disease prone species like discus. Please read through our articles and archives on how to properly run QT. 4 weeks minimum, please>
They are a dark dark brown or black, with cloudy eyes and like a powdery covering of white on the body.  
<many possibilities here... but they likely need to be treated as if for parasites. Formalin baths and salt in a bare-bottomed QT tank. You cannot medicate the main tank. It will run fallow while fish are in QT for a month. Bare bottomed QT with daily siphoning of tank bottom to reduce parasites and larvae needed>
They will not eat, and initially I started treating them with Melafix, but it must have striped the oxygen from the tank and all of the fish were hanging at the top.  
<it is a bogus product and at best cannot be used as a primary medicant. We get a tremendous amount of negative feedback on such holistic products... yet I cannot recall hearing one good comment for every 100 bad ones. Makes you wonder if the one percent success rate isn't just coincidence anyway>
So the LFS recommended Maracyn (ungodly expensive) for treatment.
<grossly ignorant if not irresponsible of your LFS. Maracyn is a gram positive antibiotic... less than 20% of all bacterial infections are gram positive, and of them only a tiny fraction respond to Maracyn ( which is common and outdated Erythromycin). To add insult to injury in your case... there is nothing to suggest that this infection is even remotely bacterial in nature. There is a pretty sweet profit margin on medications though :) >
After three days the discus are still very dark in color,
<Oh, ya...>
inactive and not eating the white powdery film on the their bodies may have somewhat gone away,
<sloughing of mucus... natural response>
but their eyes are still cloudy.  Is there any way that I can coax them into eating, that would only help them heal faster, you would think.  
<higher, stable temperatures with extremely vigorous aeration. Target 84-86F>
If this is not the correct treatment for these fish,
<no kidding... this wasn't even a treatment at all... you were given very poor advice>
what would the proper treatment be?  
<as per above... Formalin (Aquarium Products and several others brands available) and isolation in QT>
I would really hate to lose these two fish, I have very high expectations of them.  
<I suspect that they have high expectations for life too>
There is no Plecos to harass them, and only peaceful smaller fish in the tank.  All of the other fish are perfectly normal and healthy.  I appreciate your time.  Thank you Dave McCorkell
<Dave... please invest in a good diagnostic book on diseases (low end but very good: Handbook of Fish Diseases by Untergasser... and high end, the Noga reference). Also buy a good discus book. Worthwhile investments before you buy any more fishes. Best regards, Anthony>

Molly troubles
This really isn't a question, but I'd like your comments anyway (please. lol)  Ok, a couple of months ago I bought a black molly and was told she was pregnant. I took her home and within a week or so, noticed that she had a large (pea size) swelling on the left side of her tail. It was so swollen that the scales were sticking out. So, i called the pet store near  were that the man there said that she had dropsy, there wasn't anything to do and the best thing would be to put her out of her misery,
<that would have been correct at best if she actually had dropsy... but she didn't. Dropsy is a swelling of the abdominal cavity that forcibly distends the body of the fish such that scales protrude like a pine cone. It is symmetrical symptomatically... no left side tail action here. Your fish had a large parasite, or a growth of some kind>
which i  did by euthanizing her with a table spoon of baking soda in a glass of water.  (weird, i know, but that was what i was told to do).
<WOW! the LFS is giving out some scary advice. Ahhh... the quick humane method of euthanasia they meant to tell you was to use seltzer water (it can be used briefly as an anesthetic or longer for euthanasia). Baking soda simply shocked the fish to death... took some minutes I suspect? Seltzer water takes seconds>
I was just wondering if there had been anything i could have done about her. Thanks!
<definitely... get a second opinion before heeding this LFS store's advice <G>. In all seriousness though, the affliction was likely a growth... incurable, although not necessarily malignant. Best regards>

Freshwater Fish Death
I received a 29 gallon aquarium setup last Fathers Day. Operated it for 3 months with only minor problems (made most dumb mistakes), but fish survived okay. Wife decided to surprise me with a couple of fish, brought them home, and son dumped them in tank.... water and all. The two swordtails didn't look to good, but damage was done. Fish were listless, soon died. Then rest of tank got same symptoms and started dying off one by one. Red gills, red fins, stringy feces, heavy gilling, staying in one spot while resting on bottom. Treated with Furan 2 and tetracycline but when Danios started dying off, I decided to tear apart tank, disinfect with bleach and start over with new rock, fish etc..
Soaked everything in bleach water, then cycled tank for a week before adding a couple of mollies (5 week old) from my tank at work.
Did fine for a few days, then same type of sickness followed by death. My question is how do I disinfect everything so I can start over properly? And what would be proper treatment if other tanks start showing symptoms? Thanks in advance, Steve
<Bleach is pretty potent stuff, I hope it was heavily diluted and everything was rinsed really well.  I would first test my water to see if could discover any problems with water quality.  Test your water for PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate.  What type of filtration are you running on the tank?  The symptoms described above are usually caused by stress and/or poor water quality.  Test your water and let us know how it turns out.  The article below has some good information on fish disease.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/fishdisho.htm
Best Regards, Gage>

Black Moor, Cloudy Eye
Hi Bob,
<Hi Angela, Gage here this evening.>
I am sorry if this is not the way to ask a question, but I have a black moor who has a cloudy eye.
<Well that was a statement, but I will let it slide. :-)>
He is swimming and eating fine. I have a filter in the tank and change the water weekly and test the pH at each water change. I have tried bacterial and parasite medication, but it is still cloudy. Please help me, everyone I talk to says something different. Also my fantail likes to sit in the corner, it has been doing this for a about a day now, could it be sick, when it wants to it will go for a swim and eat, but i am worried. Thanks for you help, Angela
<For as cute as they are, goldfish sure are messy. Most goldfish ailments are directly related to water quality, specifically PH and Ammonia. What size tank are these fellas in, and what type of filtration. If you do not have test kits, take a sample of water down to your local fish store and have them test it for you. Also, if you are not already adding salt, Aquarium salt at 1 Tablespoon per 5 gallons. Are both eyes cloudy? Get your water tested and get back to us with the results, until then keep up on water changes and feel free to check out our goldfish FAQS
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/PondSubWebIndex/goldfishfaqs.htm
Best Regards, Gage>

Betta with Popeye
Hi,
<Hello>
I bought a Betta in a vase with water lilies and thought it was cruel, so I bought it an eclipse 2 gallon tank with filter. I only use spring water and change his tank every two weeks. I feed him flakes in the morning then a treat in the evening of dried blood worms. For some reason yesterday I noticed that she was acting strange. Just sitting on the bottom of the tank and only coming up to the surface and then right back down. Then I noticed last night that her eye looked bigger. So I went on the web and discovered Popeye. It said that the fish will get this when there was is dirty, but the water is always changed. I tested the water and everything is normal. Anyway I couldn't treat it last night because all the pet shops are closed and aren't open again till today around noon. I read one of your advices on Popeye and just put in a 1/2 teaspoon of Epsom salt. I will go out today and get ampicillex or Maracyn-two. Should I give her any of these today seeing as how I gave her Epsom salt? Any how long will it take for this to clear up? Do I need to change her tank before I start giving her the medication? And during the medication?? Any questions answered would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Tina
<When you change the betta's water are you changing all of it or just some? It is going to be less stressful for the fish if you only do a partial water change. I would continue with the Epsom salt and if does not improve in a week or so then I would consider medication. I would continue to do partial water changes every couple of days, adding the salt back in with the new water. Best Regards, Gage>

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!! (freshwater worry w/o cause)
DEAR BOB,
<Fellow Oscar lover Gage, at your service.>
I NEED YOUR INFO CAUSE I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING
QUITE LIKE IT...I HAVE 2 OSCAR'S AND THEY ARE VERY
ACTIVE, BUT THIS MORNING I WOKE UP AND NOTICED
TINY WHITE OR CLEAR WORM'S/PARASITES OF SOME
SORT STICKING TO THE GLASS OF MY TANK. THEY ALSO
APPEARED TO BE GROUPS OF THEM TOO. THE FISH
MEAN A LOT TO ME BUT MORE TO MY 1 YEAR OLD SON
AND WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS IT SCARES
ME CAUSE I DON'T WANT ANY THING TO HAPPEN TO MY
FISH
PLEASE HELP ME
<The worms themselves are harmless, but are usually a sign of aquariums that have excess food, too little circulation/filtration. I would keep up on water changes (be sure to siphon the gravel) and test your water to make sure the ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates are not too high. Please let us know if you have any more questions. More info on these worms can be found on the link below.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwinvertfaqs.htm
Good luck, Gage>

Freshwater Popeye
I think perhaps I have navigational problems. I've hunted every which water to
find information on treating freshwater fish for pop eye and cant find it.
<Most of the information, anecdotes we have for this condition are posted here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/popeyefaqs.htm under marines, though the causes, cures, contributing factors are the same as with fresh. And there is a bit more on the freshwater subweb along with general disease.> 
So
here I am pestering you for information:)
<Not a bother. Please try the Google Search tool on each index and the homepage (at the bottom of each) with the term "Popeye" (or whatever you might be looking for) as well>
This morning I noticed one of my African cichlids has a extremely bulging
eye. I've checked out all the other fish and none of them appear to have it,
yet. I wouldn't call the one with Popeye perky, but he is still swimming about
and eating so I think I have time to save him.
<Yes, very hardy fishes... and one-sided cases of Popeye are typically from mechanical injuries... easy to cure>
He is now in a QT tank with
1tbs aquarium salt per gal. From what I have read in the marine section a
fungus medication is needed in order to treat this problem. Can you recommend
a type/brand that will do well with a fw fish?
<Mmm, actually, if you want to use an antibiotic (for bacteria) I suggest Mardel Labs Maracyn (erythromycin)... safe, effective>
And also do I need to treat
the entire tank he was in?
<I would not>
Im going to perform a water change on it this
morning, its due tomorrow anyway:) And one last thing, is there anything I
can do to ensure this will never happen again?
<Not much... other than keeping the system optimized and stable water quality wise, and reasonably lightly populated (the more swimming about, tussling with each other, the more likely to be bangs and scrapes>
Like all people I hate to see
my fish ill, and Im rather overly fond of them so it breaks my heart to have
to send one to the big swirly.
Thanks ever so much,
Fellow Fish Geek
<Thanks so much for your note. Good luck, life. Bob Fenner>

Fish Problems (crowded 20 gal. freshwater tank... sans bottom fishes)
Hello,
At the business where I work, we have a 20-gallon freshwater fish tank,
containing both live and plastic plants, a full filtration system,
heating coil, etc. We've hired a maintenance person who comes in once a
month to clean out the tank, but we're having a hard time keeping fish
alive and he doesn't know why.
<Ok...>
There are currently four small fish (1.5-3 inches) that have been relatively stable for a few months now, but others keep dying. We had five standard algae-eaters who all died within about a week in the tank, after which the fish guy brought in another 5-6 catfish plus 9 Chinese algae-eaters.
<That is an awful lot of scavengers for such a small tank.>
Those were brought in last Friday, the 13th, and all the catfish died within the 3rd, 4th, and 5th days in the tank, but all the Chinese algae-eaters seem just fine. I've ruled out the possibility of over-feeding, the possibility of cleaning chemicals getting in the tank from our janitorial service, and the possibility of a pH problem. From what I can tell, there's no bully-ing going on from other fish. What could be the problem?
<I am not completely sure myself. It does not sound like a disease problem as current stock lives while new additions perish. It would seem like some aspect of water quality is off. A slow degradation that the old fish adapted to over a long time, but new fish cannot tolerate. You said, though, that you have ruled out a pH problem. I would test more thoroughly; pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, look for temperature fluctuations, dissolved oxygen, etc. Basically anything and everything.>
If you have any information to share, please let me know.
Thanks very much!
<Sorry I could not be of more assistance. -Steven Pro>

Neon Dwarf Gourami Help
My male Neon Dwarf Gourami seems sick. I have had him for maybe five weeks
now he did fine and was really hardy ( I cycled my tank with him, my two
female Gouramis, and a red tailed shark) but now he is just hanging out in
the corner by my heater (the temp is fine its at 79 degrees) and doesn't get
excited like he used to at feeding time (used to take Tubifex worms from my
hand... also feed flake). Now he looks really skinny but his colors aren't
fading or anything so im assuming he's not totally given up eating. What
could be the matter with my fish? any ideas? Could it be my other fish I have
2 2.5' female gourami's, 2' red tail shark, a 4.5' Black Ghost Knife, 2 1.5'
clown loaches (which im treating for ich... but none of the other fish have
the white spots that would suggest ich), and a 6' zig zag eel.
<Ah ha! Either the medication (they're toxic to a degree to fishes) and/or a latent infestation of ich (the white spots are visible only in advanced cases... a reaction, mucus to irritation by the ich organism) is likely the root cause/s here. Please consult with the fine folks on our chatforum as to how you might proceed: http://wetwebfotos.com/talk/
For me, I'd go with elevating the temperature of your system and leave off with any "medication" to treat your system. Bob Fenner>
Thanks for your help,
Kevin

Freshwater, Fish Dying
Hello:
<<Greetings, John,>>
Have some questions for you regarding my tank. I am fairly new at this hobby and like a lot of people have said on your website there IS TOO much info out there for new fish hobbyists. At any rate, I feel you know what you are talking about and you won't confuse the most of us that keeping getting different answers. So here is my story. I bought a 20 gallon tank, with 100watt heater, whisper 20 power filter with the filter bags, air pump with the air bars, came with full hood and light, etc, etc. I did everything right as far as cycling the tank for 24 hours, put 25 pds of gravel at bottom with a few fake plants and some big rocks and misc. ornaments. Used Amquel to treat water during that 24 hours and had a pet store check the water and everything was ok, ammonia levels, nitrite, nitrate, etc., before I put fish in. Then bought 5 fish, which was about the max for a 20 gallon new tank I am finding out. 1-was a Dalmatian molly I think, 1-just regular molly I guess, 1-swordtail, and 2-high fin platys and all are under 3inch in length. Everything was fine for the first 5-days, I was using the stress-Zyme and stress-coat, along with adding a little aquarium salt after the a few days. On the six day one of my platies, was not eating or really moving for that matter and stayed at the bottom of the tank by the aeration. He was breathing very rapidly. On the 8th day of the this new tank he was dead at the bottom. (Which of coarse, trying to be a good aquarist, immediately took my water in to the pet store for testing). Found that the ammonia levels were Extremely high. So did what they said and first bought some new filters for the whisper 20 along with some ammo-carb to add with the carbon that came with it and changed the filter as such. At the same time did a 25% water change with the gravel siphon per the store keeper. And used bottled water this time and still treated with the Amquel or however you spell it. Added a little more stress-Zyme and stress coat with the water change The water before the change was really cloudy and still is, but not quite as bad after the water change, but still cloudy so bought some water clear tablets and put them in the next day. The store keeper also informed me that I was probably overfeeding, and I think I was, so I am only feeding 1 time a day right now. Ok now 2-days after the water change the other platy was acting the same way. Yesterday or 3-days after the water change on this tank that has been set up for 12-days now, the other platy died. The weird part is that the other 3 fish are fine and healthy as far as I can see. But the water is still cloudy but not as bad and is slowly getting better. The last part of this story is: the water where I live is really hard and the ph is 7.6- 7.9. In which the store keeper told me not to even worry about ph or hardness since the fish were born and living in the same kind of water when I got them (also why I just bottled water when I did the water change. And lastly I added some plant butts on the 8th day and they are rooting and sprouting ok. Ok NOW MY questions. Sorry for the long story-line. 1-what else can I do about the cloudiness? <<Don't be so generous with all those additives. I mean... you're making quite the soup by constantly adding this and that to a 20g tank, which isn't really a lot of water.>> 2-am I doing anything wrong? <<I think so... first, you put in too many fish in there way too soon. The Nitrogen Cycle, takes many weeks to develop so that waiting 24 hours really wasn't enough. The mollies are tough customers, and are more able to live through the cycling of a new tank. The platies are pretty tough too, but perhaps more sensitive to ammonia.>> 3-when can I add more fish and how many? <<I would hold off for at least a couple of weeks and let this tank stabilize. Then perhaps one fish, but as you already stated you really can't have more than four fish in a 20g tank.>> 4-what would be your suggestion on the type of fish? <<Perhaps another platy? Keep in mind these can grow to the size of your forearm so... perhaps plan on a larger tank.>> 5-what else can I do to prevent anymore fish from dying that I am not already doing (note the 3-mollies I mentioned above seem to be ok and that is all that is in the tank now)? <<Well, the mollies are known for being especially tolerant of poor water conditions. If I were you, I'd slow down some, and try to take your time with this new tank. Good things come to those who wait.>> 6-How many fish can this tank finally hold with proper oxygen? <<Three or four - they need room to grow.>> And lastly can I leave the florescent light on for about 12 hours per day or is that bad. <<Shouldn't be a huge problem, but it will promote algae growth.>> And any other advise you can give please. So I thank you very much for your patients, reading and answering this. I know I can trust your advise and thank you once again in advance for your help. <<Yes, please check out this article on WetWebMedia, I think you will find it helpful:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwtips4beginners.htm >>
Sincerely ~John
<<Cheers, J -- >>

Help! (freshwater wipe-out overnight)
I went to bed last night and my fish were ok. I get up this morning and
everyone is dead. Even my frog who lived through a brutal transferal (the lady removing him from the tank where we bought him cut off his right front flipper) he had lived 4 months this way. The tank did not turn color nothing seemed different the only thing different is we changed the filter we washed it (rinsed in well water) and this has always been the same. Now every one is gone but Gus a overly large tiger barb, and a Chinese cleaning fish. Any thoughts?
<No ideas with the information given. I would definitely check pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temperature, and anything else you can. If you reply, please include specific numbers instead of everything was ok.>
As I am baffled and pretty upset. I have put a lot of time and care
into my fish and they even had names.
Thanks, Renee
<Sorry about your fish. -Steven Pro>

Betta w/Popeye
Hello Bob,
I really hope you can help me with my Betta....He seems to have Popeye in just one eye...
<asymmetrical exophthalmia... usually caused by blunt force trauma: a good bump into the glass or rockscape will do it>
he is feeling fine and eating. But, my problem is that I have searched all over for a medication for this disease that will be able to be put into a 1 gallon bowl. 
<may not even be a disease yet... bacterial if it is. At this point likely just a build up of fluid behind the eye. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Epsom salt and repeat in three days. Do water changes as usual (daily?)>
All of the med's I have come across are for 10 gallon tanks...
<use 1/10th of the dose. If one drop per ten gallons, then add the drop into a cup of water to dilute the medication and then only use one tenth of this solution>
is there any thing that I can do? Could I crush the tablets up and add just a little to the tank without hurting my fish? I am a Newbie when it comes to Betta's but I have to say that this is the first fish that I have ever loved! 
<understood my friend... I can empathize with your sweet empathy. Do try the Epsom salt (from pharmacy for soaking and laxative for people) first... a gentle tonic. Meds by third day if necessary>
He's great and I would hate to lose him. Thanks so much, Cheryl
<this ailment is easily remedied. Best regards, Anthony Calfo>

Eclipsed
Hi
<Cheers>
My friend has a 10 gallon fresh water eclipse system, and she has been have some problems with it. Firstly of all every thing keeps dying she has been doing frequent water tests and everything is all ways off the charts. 
<this tank can hold 4-7 small fishes. Food should never fall and hit the bottom before fishes consume it. Overstocking and overfeeding are the t