Large Tropical Community with Ich (White Spot)????  1/16/08
Please Help. I have a 30g tank with a biofilter and airstones. Tank established for 6 months. NO2+=:0, NO3=:0, pH=:6.8, KH=:80, GH=:120. The temperature is at a steady 82% with the heater. Substrate=: Shallow Fine Gravel. Occupants are: 1 Black Ghost Knife,
<Needs more room than this>
2 Platys, 2 Guppies, 2 Angels, 3 mollies,
<... brackish water animals... Incompatible water quality wise here>
6 Tetras, 2 golden Dojo Loaches, 1 Dwarf Gourami and 1 Cory cat. All were doing well until I added a 4th molly a week ago. I only quarantined him for two days because my other 2 male mollies were harassing my female molly, so I put him in the 30g prematurely!!
<Oh oh...>
Now most fish, with the exception of my beautiful Black Ghost and the Tetras have several tiny white spots all over their body! It must be new. I just noticed last night. I have many medications, Melafix, Pimafix,
<These "fixes" are worthless... worse than worthless>
Rid Ich, Fungus Cure, aquarium salt, etc… and have never used them, because I believe if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!
<We are in agreement here re this "philosophy">
I pride myself on pristine tank conditions with 30% H20 change weekly. Please, what should I do?
<... Raise temperature... read... move the mollies elsewhere... remove carbon, maybe try half dosing the Rid Ich... read first>
I love all my fish, but my Black Ghost and 2 Loaches are my pride and joy!
I will not do anything to hurt them! My quarantine tank is only 10g and does not have a heater.
<Too late for quarantine...>
The temp in that tank is only 76-78%. It is cycled for over a year and currently empty. The pH is 6.8. Please don’t tell me that I have overstocked my aquarium, as I already know and feel bad enough. Despite everything I read, I did not resist the temptation to keep adding beautiful fish and now I, or I should say, the fish are paying the price. Can u help me?
Sincerely Yours: Kristen
<Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/mollies.htm
and here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwich.htm
and the linked files above... Bob Fenner>

Parasites..? in pond fish, Gambusia to be precise -12/14/07
Hello Crew,
<Nicole>
I am writing this in a bit of a hurry, so my apologies if this sounds disjointed. I'm at work and it's just about time to lock up.
<Okay... similarly, please make allowance for my incoherency... am just waking up>
I was visiting my friend today, and he pointed out something very odd in his pond. Three fish were covered with what looked like tumors at first. The affected fish were mosquitofish. Upon netting one and observing it more closely, by putting it in a glass and holding it up to the window, it became apparent that these fleshy growths were not subcutaneous but loosely attached to the skin. Some of them fell right off while the fish was swimming in the glass. I don't know how to describe the growths, except to say that they are light brown gelatinous blobs, slimy and mucus like, oval shaped, and they appear to cover the fish from head to tail, including near the gill area. The affected fish are moving slowly and seem emaciated, perhaps just from being too slow to get food amongst all of the competition.
<Good descriptions>
This pond is stocked with native FL fish that he's collected from various bodies of water and populated his pond with over the years.
Mosquitofish primarily, but it seems some minnows and killifish too.
More recently, a few bass and the fry of what appear to be bluegills, have been discovered in there.
<I see... possibility of contamination from vectors>
This is a very basic round pond, maybe 15-20 feet in diameter, which started as a hole dug in the clay and filled with water with plants of all sorts added over the years. It's about 10 years old, in case that matters. Recently he let it "go wild" and it became overrun with cattails, duck potato, pickerel weed, etc. Finally this winter, he drained it, moved all of the fish to other ponds (he has 3-4 other small ponds, which he digs himself with a backhoe) and removed most of the plants, leaving only a few huge root balls in the mud which will probably take hold again. I just thought I would mention this in case this gives any clue as to why these parasites (I am assuming that's what these are?) would suddenly appear, after 10 years of having small pond fish without any signs of such trouble.
<Many possibilities... could even have been "something" brought in via waterfowl...>
Incidentally, I don't have any idea what the water quality is like in the pond, except the water does seem very tannic (lots of acorns falling in and such) and is unfiltered, but regularly topped off.
Lately the water has turned green sometimes, but it seems to come and go. The clay soil around the pond makes the water rather turbid anyhow. I'm sorry, I wish I could be more scientific, but I know next to nothing about ponds! I'm just trying to help him find out more about this, as he is sort of a backwoods guy and not computer literate.
<No worries>
I know this is almost impossible to comment upon without a picture ID, and next time I see him I will bring my digital camera. However, in the meantime, is there anything you can recommend?
<Mmm, yes... some water changes mostly... perhaps even just water addition; if the system is "percolating" as many such ponds do in FLA... adding a slow running hose pipe to dilute the acorn et al. effects>
Any clue as to what this might be?
<Likely "just" environmental in cause... the result of "dead sea effect"... cumulative metabolic accumulation... Though could be pathogenic (trematodes, other possibilities), even idiopathic tumour...>
Or perhaps you could point me to a resource, either
online or in print (as I work at a library, and could probably have a book interlibrary loaned if need be) that could show me pictures of diseased fish to compare to?
<There are several Ed Noga, "Fish Disease, Diagnosis and Treatment" I especially like...>
I have looked a bit online and have found excellent websites with lots of written description, but the pictures, if any, are microscopic images. What I was hoping to find was pictures of diseased fish, or a picture of the parasites as they are seen by the naked eye. If there is anything obvious that I am missing here or failing to see?
<Mmm, not likely. There are no good to great works of this kind online as far as I'm aware>
Sorry, this email did get a bid wordy after all. In any case, if anyone could help, I would be most grateful!
Thanks so much,
Nicole
<For now, the simple water changes... Is what I would do. Testing for quality next... Bob Fenner>

Unwelcome Hitchers (External Parasites?), FW  11/9/07
I found what sounds exactly like what seems to be my issue. However, I do not see a clear answer. The question was named Unwelcome Hitchers (External Parasites?).
I found it here http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fshwrmdisfaq2.htm
FAQs on Parasitic Worm Diseases 2
Just wondering what it could be. I have noticed these things for some time. Like the previous person said, it does not seem to bother the fish. They must fall off in after feeding because when I am cleaning the tank I find these little thingies.
<... a drawing, photo?>
Normally just one or two. The last time I found several. I just want to get rid of them. I do recall once that it may have been just attaching itself to the fish and it was like a clear round small bubble? (best way to describe it right now). I treated it with Quick cure and it kind of released itself soon after (not sure if it was the med or the life cycle).
<The former... has formaldehyde in it... just get the open bottle near your eyes... wait, don't!>
I saw it floating through the water and it appeared to have a tiny red dot in the center. A few days later, I was cleaning the tank and found this little disc, but hardened. Like a contact lens. Please, help. You may not have the answer, but seeing how this seems to be common in my tank for right now, if I find a treatment that gets rid of it (and it stays away for longer than a few weeks). I will let you know.
<Sounds like Flukes... I'd try a dewormer... Prazi-Pro, Praziquantel... Bob Fenner>

Sick fish and some sort of parasites 10/25/07
Hello. How is everything? I am once again, in need of your guidance. I have a 55 gallon tank with 2 great filters. I have 3 adult mollies, (5) 3 month old mollies, 2 dwarf gouramis (male and female), and 7 adult mm platies and (2) 3 month mm platies. My tank is 6 months old and is well established.
On Saturday 10/20/07 I cleaned the tank out and scrubbed the walls of it.
There was some sort of white almost microscopic worms all over it. Where could this come from??? I use algae tablets and clean the walls every Saturday. I noticed last night my molly with a beautiful tail has fin rot, so I began treatment last night with some medicine. Maracyn. I removed carbon from filters. This morning the white skurmmyworm things are BACK....and are everywhere. Any advise. and 2 of my mm platies are covered in slime...so they going to die
Melissa
<Hi Melissa. The worms are either free-living nematodes (thread worms) or free-living planarians (flatworms). In either case, they're harmless. But they are an indication that your tank has a lot of organic material lying about, because that's what they eat. In a clean tank, these worms are simply not a problem. So, given your other problems, I'd worry less about the worms and more about the water quality. Mollies and Platys are both sensitive to water quality, and Finrot and Fungus, the problems you have, are caused directly by poor water quality. Have you checked the nitrite and ammonia levels in your aquarium? These need to be zero. Furthermore, Mollies have very little tolerance for nitrate, so nitrate needs to be less than 20 mg/l. Regardless, "cleaning" an aquarium has very little to do with scrubbing the glass. Indeed, tanks that are covered in algae and look messy can have superb water quality. Conversely, plenty of superficially clean aquaria have terrible water quality. So, make sure you are doing all the basics: Don't clean the filter too often, and when you do (maybe once every 2-3 months) do no more than rinse the media in a bucket of aquarium water. Don't waste your filter space with carbon; instead, fill it with biological media. Sponge, filter wool and ceramic media all work great. Make sure you do regular water changes. 25-50% per week is a good amount. You tank isn't heavily stocked, so you should be fine keeping these fish. One last thing: Mollies do much better in brackish or salt water than they do in freshwater. Adding 4-6 grammes of marine salt mix per litre makes all the difference. If you absolutely must keep your Mollies in freshwater, it is ESSENTIAL that the water is spotlessly clean (zero ammonia and nitrite, and minimal nitrate) and that the carbonate hardness is very high (at least 8-10 degrees KH). Otherwise, keeping Mollies becomes an uphill struggle against disease. Platies tolerate slightly brackish water very well, as will most other livebearers. But Dwarf Gouramis not so much. For now, you need to treat your fish with a combination Finrot/Fungus medication; Maracyn should do the trick. Do make sure you remove carbon before using it though. Lots of people forget this critical step, and wonder why their fish medications never work! Once you're done, remember: Fish are basically very healthy and trouble-free animals -- provided you give them the water conditions they want! Cheers, Neale.>

Re: Sick fish and some sort of parasites 10/25/07
I should have mentioned that everything is reading PERFECT. Zero ammonia and zero nitrate. The pH is 7.0....I really don't know what is wrong. I am using Maracyn powder packets with carbon removed. How do I get rid of these little white worm things. They are really grossin' me out and are very unattractive. They have multiplied very fast. Also.....my mollies had a ton of babies......they are doing well it seems.....and have been in the tank for about 4 days. Thank you so so much for all your time
<Well, for a start, pH 7 is way too low for livebearers, so that's likely a problem. What this pH says is that your water likely lacks mineral content. When keeping livebearers, the general hardness (dH) and carbonate hardness (KH) are the keys to good health. Test the water and find out. You want at least 5 degrees KH, 12 degrees dH, and ideally above 10 degrees KH, 20 degrees dH if you want your Mollies to do well. Nice and hard water should have a pH around 7.5-8.0. There are two approaches here. Firstly, you can add Malawi salts to the water each time you do a water change. Malawi salts are NOT tonic salts. Malawi salts are added to the water like tonic salts though, and once dissolved into the bucket of water will raise the hardness very effectively. A 50% dose relative to what you need for Malawi cichlids should be fine, so if the box says it'll treat 100 litres, it'll do 200 litres in your aquarium. Alternatively, you add crushed coral to a filter. As the water washes past the crushed coral it will absorb hardness minerals. Likely every month you'll need to clean this crushed coral because bacterial slime makes it ineffective over time. So compared with adding Malawi salts this is "cheap and cheerful" but a little more work. It goes without saying that while all livebearers like "rock hard" water, not all other tropical fish do, so you need to choose tankmates with care. This is why you have to research fish before buying them. But please understand this: if your water chemistry is too soft and acidic for livebearers (which it seems to be) they will never stay healthy. Simple as that. Do you know anything about gardening? It's like trying to grow heather in an alkaline soil: the plant wants an acid soil, so however much you try to help the heather, it'll just die. As for the worms -- their numbers are directly proportional to the food in the tank available to eat. Cut back on the food you give your fish, and remove uneaten food at once, and Mother Nature will take care of their numbers! They'll die back gradually. Really, these worms aren't a problem, and in a stable, properly maintained aquarium you hardly ever see them. Cheers, Neale>

Help with internal parasites, again...  Mollies   9/1/07
Hello Crew!
<Greetings.>
I've had a few long chats with Tom about my Mollies with internal parasites. This has proven as hard to get rid of as ich and killed many fish.
<Curious. My first question when people have problems with mollies is whether they are keeping them in freshwater or in brackish/marine conditions. In the former case they seem to me to be irredeemably delicate, and successful maintenance requires excellent (i.e., zero nitrate) water quality. In brackish/marine conditions mollies are basically indestructible. For me, it's a no-brainer: if you want to keep mollies with the minimum fuss, keep them at 25-100% seawater salinity (~SG 1.005-1.018). Ich/whitespot cannot survive under such conditions, finrot and fungal infections are extremely rare, and internal parasite "spores" (or whatever) cannot survive the saltwater conditions so cannot infect healthy fish.>
It all started when we lost one small black balloon Molly, and then realized that her companion was getting way too thin and had the red worm-thing sticking out her anus. We tried Metronidazole and a variety of other medicines, but she died despite our frantic attempts at a cure.
<Why did you use Metronidazole? That's a drug primarily for internal bacteria and to a less extent protozoan parasites. As far as I know, it has no effect on multicellular parasites such as worms. For those, you need something worm-specific (i.e., an anti-helminth drug) such as PraziPro or Sterazin.>
So, when we got two new balloon Mollies, we treated them in the quarantine tank with PraziPro (which is supposed to be effective) before we let them join the two remaining healthy fish. We added them to our apparently unaffected two remaining bigger Mollies, who came from a different dealer (one orange male and one spotted female). We lost the male two weeks ago (within three days he stopped chasing the females, then one morning was lying at the bottom of the tank gasping, then he was dead, no symptoms of anything). My boyfriend just called to tell me the spotted female died today, and apparently she has this red worm-thing again. What's worse, one of the two living Mollies has a distended anus with some white tube-like stuff protruding.
<This is a dumb question perhaps, but are you sure the problem here is worms? Parasitic worms generally don't cause quick deaths. What you tend to see is a gradual loss of condition or a failure to grow or put on weight. By their nature, most of these intestinal parasites have evolved not to kill the host outright, since they die when the host dies. Wild fish commonly carry a parasite load, but otherwise aren't harmed. Nine times out of ten, mollies die from nitrate poisoning, finrot, fungal infections, or acidosis. This is especially true when the die "quickly". Gasping, for example, is a good sign of respiratory distress, which can be caused by poor water quality and a too-low pH. Just a reminder, mollies in freshwater conditions (if you're foolish enough to keep them thus) need three specific things: zero nitrate, pH 7.5-8.2, and hardness not less than 20 degrees dH. In brackish/marine conditions, the sodium chloride will detoxify the nitrate so that isn't an issue, and the other salts in the marine salt mix will raise the pH and hardness automatically. Please note that "tonic salt" or "aquarium salt" won't do anything other than mitigate the nitrate, so are a greatly inferior product when keeping mollies.>
He's moving them to our quarantine/treatment tank as we speak and will start treating with PraziPro again. Should I also give them Metronidazole? I know they can be mixed, but it's not supposed to be super effective against those kinds of parasites. In any case, I'll follow your advice.
<PraziPro yes, Metronidazole no. As a rule, unless a qualified animal healthcare professional has said otherwise, you should NEVER mix medications. The synergies between two or more drugs are unknown, and potentially lethal. But more importantly, sit down and review your water conditions and chemistry. If you're keeping your mollies in freshwater, please understand that you will always be fighting to keep them healthy. It's just the way it is with mollies. While they are certainly freshwater fish in the wild, in aquaria they just don't do well kept thus. Spend any time reviewing the livebearer e-mails here, or postings on fish forums, and you'll see that there are always bucket-loads of messages about sick mollies.>
Now, the only remaining animals in the tank are a Nerite snail and two Amano shrimp (maybe a few Cherry shrimp too but we haven't seen them in a while).
<Ah, now the good news here is both Amano shrimps and nerite snails are salt-tolerant, so you can raise the salinity of the tank to SG 1.003-1.005 without problems, should you choose to do so.>
Do I need to treat the main tank to ensure that all parasites are gone? The fish are apparently reinfecting each other, and I want to ensure that they don't get sick again when I put them in the main tank. Do I need to leave the aquarium fallow? If so, how long? Do I hunt the shrimp and move them out, then treat the whole tank? Help!
<Yes, you need to treat the tank. Yes, you will probably need to remove the shrimps, as they tend to be sensitive to medications.>
Do I need to treat the Betta and his Eclipse III too? He used to be in the same aquarium as the Mollies, he might have been exposed...
<Probably not, unless you see some symptoms.>
I know many people say that healthy fish "strike a balance" with their internal parasites and live in apparent health for years with them.
This hasn't proven true for me, those are nasty little bugs (and tough too, after a week of PraziPro the worm was still hanging on) and I'd be extremely glad to be rid of them, once and for all.
<My suspicion is that you're dealing with mollies that are fundamentally stressed, and the worms are at best an "excuse" for them to wave a little white flag and give up.>
Those have to be from the LFS, and they must have lived for months with the things in their digestive systems without showing any signs, since we haven't given them anything else but Nori, flakes, sinking pellets and bits of corn for about a month. They also get frozen bloodworms, and occasionally brine shrimp, but they're both Hikari brand that's supposed to be well sterilized.
<The foods you list should be fine. Do bear in mind mollies are primarily herbivores, and the ratio of green to meaty foods should be of the order 80% to 20%. In fact, feeding them exclusively on vegetable-based fish foods (livebearer flake, Spirulina flake, algae pellets) would be entirely acceptable.>
I really don't want to battle internal parasites AGAIN!!!
<If you want healthy mollies, keep them in brackish/marine conditions. If you want to have to deal with "disease of the month" with your mollies, keep them in freshwater. That's Neale's sage advice for the day.>
Thank you so much for your advice... once again!
Merci beaucoup!
<You're welcome.>
Audrey
<Neale>

Re: Help with internal parasites, again... – 09/01/07
Hi again, Neale!
<Hello Audrey,>
Thank you for such a detailed answer. It did make me feel slightly like I was a bad fish owner, but maybe I deserve it for waiting so long to do what I know I should be doing....
> <Curious. My first question when people have problems with mollies is whether they are keeping them in freshwater or in brackish/marine conditions.
*blushing*... I know, I know... All right... I won't ask any questions again until I do the switch to brackish... I've been planning on it for ages, but I was waiting until after we got the new apartment more or less organized so we could move everyone to a brand new 30 gallons... Looks like this is the signal to get a move on...
Incidentally, we never detect any nitrates. We have plants and a healthy dose of algae so I suspect they get used up before our test kit can detect them. We also had a light fish load, four very small Mollies (balloon variety, they never grew) in 10 gallons (I know, too small, we'll wait until we get the 30 gal we're planning on before we get any more fish, but with the move we've had to buy essential furniture before we can think of a new aquarium). The LFS tells us we can put 10 Mollies in a 10 gallons... (!?!?!?!?!?!) Let's just say we have learned very quickly to take their advice with a big grain of salt :-) pH was always at least 7.5 and climbed very slightly during the winter, high enough that I didn't want to risk most of the fish they sell in the LFS, who need neutral or slightly acidic water. I guess the big problem is with (hardness? alkalinity?), I need to learn what scale it is measured in but the water here is a steady 9.
You're going to say too low, I know. We used to add livebearer salt, but after reading your advice (worthless, waste of money, etc. unless used for a specific problem), we stopped adding it to the tank a few months ago. We'll drop by the marine LFS this afternoon and pick up some marine salt.
<Ah, you seem to understand what's going on, so there's not really much more to add. Mollies just aren't as easy as everyone thinks, with the result that lots of them (most?) get sick and die rather quickly. I'd compare them to goldfish in this regard -- they seem easy, but they're not. For aquarists who want to stick with freshwater, I always recommend platies or swordtails instead. On the topic of pH and hardness, it's almost always safe not to worry about these (within reason). Most common freshwater fish (as opposed to brackish water ones!) can adapt to a wide range of values, so neons, for example, may *prefer* pH 5.5, near-zero hardness, but they'll *thrive* at pH 8, 20 degrees dH if acclimated to it carefully and otherwise looked after properly. What matters isn't so much the values as the *stability* -- what most fish hate is pH and hardness levels that bounce around. In other words, get fish that are already thriving at the retailer, keep them in your local water conditions, and use good filtration and regular water changes to optimise water quality while diluting the background water chemistry changes that happen in freshwater tanks anyway.>
See... sometimes it takes fish dying so that we learn. Another red flag should have been that they've never bred... we thought our male was sterile because try as he may, he could never get one of them pregnant. In retrospect, maybe they were just in the wrong conditions to breed.
<Quite possibly. But just as likely the fry got eaten or sucked up the filter or whatever.>
> <Why did you use Metronidazole?
Ah, well, because the only symptom we had was one dead emaciated fish and one very thin, formerly very plump, fish and we didn't know what she had, and this was recommended by the marine LFS and was the only thing we could find FAST! The local LFS have never heard of a cure for internal parasites. They just let them be. We did our best on short notice. And then we did more research, and found out about Praziquantel and other medicines, and tried to get some locally but *nobody* sells it around here, we called about 6 places, so I tried to mail-order it, but the two Canadian mail-order stores I know of didn't have it in stock, so we ordered Jungle Labs medicated food, which they wouldn't eat, and then we ordered Gel-Tek, which does contain some Prazi, but that didn't work, and finally the mail-order place got some PraziPro in stock, but by the time we tried that I think it was too late and the fish died, with three very visible red tails sticking out of her anus. But at least we'd finally got to the right medicine - I think.
<I see. Sounds rather bad luck.>
> <This is a dumb question perhaps, but are you sure the problem here is worms? Parasitic worms generally don't cause quick deaths. What you tend to see is a gradual loss of condition or a failure to grow or put on weight.
I think this is exactly what we were seeing, but didn't recognize it in time. We've had some of those fish for six months and they haven't grown. It's just so gradual that we don't notice until the fish are too feeble to function properly. They seem fine, and then one morning they're not quite right, and a week later, they're dying. They never get to the not eating stage. I'm not saying their death can't be due to something else, and it might be more than one factor, but my test kit tells me the pH is steady at 7.5 and that there are no nitrates.
What I see is fish that won't grow, and that after a few months just stop functioning. When the male died he hadn't chased the females for about a week, maybe more, we just didn't notice at first... I feel bad for not noticing those things, but they happen so gradually... and when we did notice something wasn't quite right we didn't know what the problem was.
<OK. Again, you seem to have a sense of what's going on already, so all I can add here is a second opinion. Often, fish deaths come about from multiple small factors acting in concert. Much as with sickness in humans. So you need to watch for the small signs and act swiftly. Odd behaviour is often one of the very best clues, and a lot of experienced fishkeepers will hardly ever need to use test kits because they can spot when things aren't right in established tanks because the fish aren't doing what they should be doing. I don't recommend that approach for beginners of course!>
> <PraziPro yes, Metronidazole no. As a rule, unless a qualified animal healthcare professional has said otherwise, you should NEVER mix  medications.
Ah, but in this case, we know they can be mixed safely because most general anti-parasite medicines contain at least those two, and sometimes other medicines too. But if you say Metro is worthless in this case, I won't use it. This is my understanding as well, but sometimes we bow to people of superior knowledge, so I was asking just in case, because I have some in my fish medicine cabinet...
<I'm not an expert on antibiotics for fish -- they're essentially prescription-only in the UK, so when you get them, the vet will tell you exactly how to use them. I'm happy to let others give you relevant advice here. But me, I prefer to use medications sequentially. It's also important to identify the problem before using the medication; scattergun approaches are risky because many medications can stress the fish, and if they aren't fixing one problem, they could end up causing another. Mollies should be fine, but things like loaches and pufferfish often react badly to medicines, and stingrays and invertebrates can be killed outright. So you need to treat medications with respect. Identify the disease, choose your drug, and look out for side effects.>
> <Ah, now the good news here is both Amano shrimps and nerite snails are salt-tolerant, so you can raise the salinity of the tank to SG 1.003-1.005 without problems, should you choose to do so.>
Yup, that's exactly what I was planning on when we got the 30 gal. I didn't want to do it with the Cherries in there, because from what I read they're not salt-tolerant at all, and I can't put them with the Betta because he'd rip them apart (he did it before, so we tried some cheap Ghost shrimp, and only found shrimp bits...). I was also trying to find a supplier of Bumblebee Gobies, for the future, and I have lists and lists of salt-tolerant plants, and know the ones we have now *should* make the switch (Bacopa, Anubias, Java fern, and Vallisneria in "quarantine" so we can screen for snails). We're all ready. We just haven't done it yet.
<Very good. I'm not sure whether Cherry shrimps are good in brackish or not. I'd personally risk it, at least to SG 1.003. Shrimps tend to be salt tolerant (many, though not Cherries) have a marine stage in their life cycle, as is the case with Amano shrimps. Acclimating slowly is perhaps the key. I keep (and inevitably breed!) Cherry shrimps and have found them to be rather robust animals, for their size. All your plants are good brackish water denizens, and assuming you have enough light and good substrate for them, will adapt readily. You've also got a nice mix there. When people rely solely on slow-growers like Java fern and Java moss, they end up with algae problems. Throwing in some Bacopa and Vallis should help a great deal. Indian fern is another good algae-beater that tolerates low-end brackish.>
> <My suspicion is that you're dealing with mollies that are fundamentally stressed, and the worms are at best an "excuse" for them to wave a little white flag and give up.>
Then I'll work under this assumption. I promise not to bother you again with my Mollie troubles until they're safely in brackish water.
Then, if I'm still having problems, I'll let you have a go at it :-)
<Heh! Brackish water doesn't fix everything, and it certainly won't cure infected mollies of things like intestinal worms. But what it does do is make them orders of magnitude more robust, and the salinity also suppresses many external parasites as well as the infective stages of certain internal parasites. This is why brackish water fishes have a reputation for being so hardy.>
> <The foods you list should be fine. Do bear in mind mollies are primarily herbivores, and the ratio of green to meaty foods should be of the order 80% to 20%. In fact, feeding them exclusively on vegetable-based fish foods (livebearer flake, Spirulina flake, algae pellets) would be entirely acceptable.>
Yes, they've been getting Nori at least a day out of two. I tried peas but they don't eat it, but they do like corn. I'll try broccoli next.
Can you believe I haven't ever seen a vegetable-based flake around?
Sometimes I feel aquarium shops around here are 20 years behind the times... Even the sinking "algae" pellets have fish flour in them, sometimes even as the first ingredient, so they're not really vegetarian... I've been looking for something called "Spirulina flake" but haven't seen it, just regular flakes with Spirulina among the other ingredients. *sigh*. Maybe I'm simply not looking in the right places. In the meantime, we got some Nori for free at the local sushi place, we just ask for a sheet when we pick up some takeout and with only four small fish, it lasts a long time... and the Amano love it too.
<Interesting. I picked up Spirulina in a grocery store called Hy-Vee in Lincoln, Nebraska over Christmas. So I suspect it's a case of looking out for the stuff while you're on your travels. It isn't critical though. You might even grow your own: a plastic goldfish bowl placed outdoors and filled with water will quickly develop a nice flora and fauna including insect larvae and thread algae. Yum, yum! I love taking this approach, because my "live food ponds" become interesting aquaria in their own right.>
Interesting unrelated tidbit, our Betta eats everything, either floating, sinking or lying at the bottom of the tank (flake, sinking pellets, Betta food, live shrimp, dead shrimp, bloodworms and brine shrimp, peas, corn, everything we ever put in his tank). He even tried Nori. Well... he tried it the first time we gave it to him, but stubbornly refused to taste it ever again :-) I guess even the most wide-ranging tastes have their limit :-)
<Indeed! But that's the right approach to feeding fish. Let them have a little of everything.>
Thank you again, and sorry to be such a bother :-)
Audrey
<Not a problem. Good luck, Neale>

Re: Help with internal parasites, again...  9/7/07
Hi again, everyone!
I hope you're having a good week! I'm not - my Mollies are sick.
<Oh dear.>
I'm leaving the previous correspondence below so you can refer to it, but here are the latest problems. I treated the tank with PraziPro as Neal recommended. On the bottle, it says it may have to be repeated, but not to go over two treatments (3 to 5 days each).
<Yes.>
After about 6 days of treatment, one of the Mollies that previously looked fine started producing very large poo (more than twice the usual diameter), and then we noticed her anus is very enlarged, as if she's missing some tissue down there. And there's the usual red tail of the Callamanus worm (unconfirmed, but it looks exactly like every picture of Callamanus I've ever seen, so I'm pretty sure of the diagnosis).
<OK.>
The treatment is now reaching its end. The manufacturers say not to treat more than twice, but the worms are still there, and it's obvious she's not feeling right (who would, with such an injury?).
<Indeed. You may want to treat a second time, after doing a couple of 50% water changes across a space of one week.>
I've also started increasing the salinity of the water, I'm using real saltwater aquarium salt, not the livebearer salt. The density is probably around .002 now, and I'll keep increasing it over the next few days until it's around .005.
<Very good. Monitor the ammonia/nitrite levels if you can, just to make sure the filter is happy. Normally, going up to SG 1.005 causes no problems. But I always recommend going to SG 1.003, and staying there for a week to two. If everything looks fine, you can raise the salinity further. For all practical purposes, most fish happy at SG 1.005 will be happy at SG 1.003.>
So, what should I do? Can the fish be saved?
<Perhaps.>
She doesn't look like she's suffering, even if she's not exactly her usual self. She still eats, she'll be in brackish water soon, I've increased the water changes and she's undergone two PraziPro treatments that everybody tells me should work, but she's still infested.
<Brackish water won't do much about internal parasites, that much should be obvious. But it'll help the all-round health.>
Any ideas? Should I try PraziPro again? It doesn't seem to be working (and no, there is no carbon in the tank at the moment). Should I just let her be?
<I'd certainly give her a "breather" for a couple of weeks before running any more medications. But yes, I'd run the Prazi Pro another time.>
We've lost many fish to these worms and I'm starting to get really discouraged.
<I've never once had fish with them. Odd. Not sure why you've had such bad luck.>
Thank you, once again,
Audrey
<Good luck, Neale>

UV filtration with 2 filters, and parasitic FW sys. f'   7/26/07
Hello again!
I'm the one who recently asked about treating a 130g tank that had gone through a nasty outbreak of Chilodonella, before reintroducing the then cured fishes. I followed the advice I received, and treated with Malachite green/formalin for a few days, coupled with massive water changes. I cycled the tank, and have since successfully transferred all afflicted fishes back (and some more) and so far, everyone is doing very well. No signs of ill-health at all. Thanks again for the advice!
<Congrats!>
My question this time has to do with the set up itself, especially filtration. The tank is 72 x 24 x 16 inches and filtration is provided by an Eheim Pro II 2028. I've come to realise that I'm probably under filtering: the Eheim is rated for 277 GPH, which I hear corresponds to the flow-rate without any media in the box. This means that in actual practice I'm probably getting my volume turned over at most 1.5x an hour.
<Yes>
So I figured I probably should get another filter, and in any case, it certainly can't hurt. Wouldn't you agree?
<I do>
I'm especially leaning towards the Filstar XP4, since I can get one on sale for rather cheap. Flow rate seems a bit high to me (450GPH), but I suppose with a spray bar turned in towards the glass, the fishes (Severums, Geophagus and jack Dempseys) wouldn't mind the flow.
<Not at all>
Now, I also wanted to add a turbo-twist (Coralife) UV steriliser, but was wondering what the most efficient way to set it up would be. Does it make a difference which filter I mount the lamp on?
<In this case... not really... both will/would provide adequate circulation... both magnetic driven pumps will be about the same mal-influenced...>
I figured the one with the higher flow rate would be preferable, since the water would get to meet the light more often.
<Mmm... oh, I see you address this below>
So, I figured the best option would be to get the 36W model, for flow-rates between 400 and a 1000 GPH, and mount it on the Filstar.
<Yes... these would be well-matched>
Then again, I was worried that once loaded with media, the actual performance of the filter could fall below this.
<You are correct>
How damaging would that be in practice?
<Mmm, not enough to be overly concerned>
Would I be better off getting the lower powered lamp (18W) and reducing the flow-rate to below 400GPH?
<Yes... IMO this would be fine>
That would put me on the higher-end of the scale and, I fear, would reduce efficiency due to decreased exposition time.
What would you recommend I do?
<I'd go with the 18 watt unit... and hook it up to the new filter>
I'll set up the filter first, to test the actual flow rate, but should I find it to be below 400GPH, which of the two filters should I mount the lamp on?
Ideally, I'd have one on each but, well, one's funds are never unlimited...
Thanks again for this truly wonderful service you are providing.
Best,
Eric
<Welcome! Bob Fenner>

Aftermath of parasites, FW   7/5/07
Hello all,
<<Hello, Eric. Tom here.>>
First, I'd like to thank you so much for this wonderful service, and for the wealth of information one can find here!
<<Thank you for the kind words, Eric. Much appreciated by all, I’m sure.>>
I'm writing about a recently set up 130g aquarium. It came down with a ich infestation about a month ago when we introduced two young jack Dempseys without quarantine (a mistake I will *never* make again, I assure you!).
<<Good man! Sorry it was a hard lesson learned, though.>>
It seemed like the problem had been mated after a week and a half of high temperature and malachite green treatments, but 2 or 3 days after we stopped medicating, one of the jacks and a severum came down with signs of Chilodonella (constantly staying near the surface in spite of abundant aeration -- one air pump and ample water-return disturbance at the surface -- and bluish/white patches just over the eyes and around the gill area). That's when I decided I had had it with paying a fortune to medicate the display tank, bought a quarantine tank, and moved everyone to it (the severum and the two jacks. The 4 Corydoras and 2 clown loaches we had unfortunately all succumbed during treatment).
<<So far, Eric, this response is writing itself. Bob’s going to thank you for helping me keep my mouth shut.>>
The QT is a 20g with basic filtration and heating. I'm medicating with Seachem Paraguard at 1ml/8L (recommended dosage). I also gave daily salt baths to all fishes so long as they looked infected. They have been in the QT for two weeks now. They are all doing much better now, and unless something pops back up, I will discontinue medication tomorrow.
<<Glad to hear things are on the upswing for you and your pets!>>
The severum actually made an impressive recovery: he passed from extremely laboured to completely normal breathing, and his minor
case of (what I take to have been) stress-induced fin rot has all but disappeared. Everyone is eating as well.
<<Excellent.>>
Now my question is the following: what do I do with the main tank?
It's been running empty for 2 weeks now, and I changed about 60% of the water. I intend on keeping the fishes in observation in the QT for another week at least, but in the meantime, should I medicate the display tank in any way, or is it safe to assume that parasites will have all died out without hosts?
<<Keep the temperature up and add carbon to your filter, if you haven’t already done so, to remove any remaining med’s. Water changes will assist in this as well. Given a time frame of, at least, three weeks of elevated temperatures and no host fish, if there’s a parasite left (even at this point) you’ll have presented the hobby a whole new ball game where Ick is concerned. (There are known strains of Ick that have survived temperatures to 90 degrees F. but there is no dormancy involved with this pest so you should be “golden”, even now.)>>
Also, will it have to re-cycle, after having been fish-less for this long?
<<Very little question about it, Eric. Supply and demand. Count on re-cycling before re-introducing your fish. I’d give you my patented “BIO-Spira” pep talk but noted above that your spelling of “labored” is “laboured” which leads me to believe that it probably isn’t available where you live. In fact, I know it isn't. (Been through this with another "friend" from Montreal.) You know the cycling “drill” already though and there are other methods of “jump starting” the process.>>
Thanks alot in advance!
Best,
Eric
<<Best to you as well, Eric. Sorry for your losses but I’m relieved to hear that things have gone well, in a manner of speaking, for your Cichlids. Continued good luck. Tom>>

Re: Aftermath of parasites, FW     7/7/07
Thanks Tom for your reply!
<<Sure thing, Eric.>>
I just have one other quick question:
> have all died out without hosts? <<Keep the temperature up and add carbon to your filter, if you haven't already done so, to remove any remaining med's. Water changes will assist in this as well. Given a time frame of, at least, three weeks of elevated temperatures and no host fish, if there's a parasite left (even at this point) you'll have presented the hobby a whole new ball game where Ick is concerned. (There are known strains of Ick that have survived temperatures to 90 degrees F. but there is no dormancy involved with this pest so you should be "golden", even now.)>>
Actually, it's the Chilodonella I was the most worried about.
<<Ahhh, and my apologies for skipping over this.>>
I remember reading somewhere that it's temperature resistant, and that it could survive in dormancy in filter media, substrate, plants, etc.
Is there any truth to that?
<<Yes, there is, on both counts.>>
If so, what's the best way to make sure the aquarium is safe to accommodate the fishes again? Massive dose of medication, standard medication over several days, salt?
<<Actually, the good news is that there are a variety of treatments at your disposal. Salt for a couple of weeks will do well but I don’t recommend this because of the plants. A combination of malachite green and formalin, copper (Aquarisol, for instance), Acriflavine or methylene blue are all recommended/suggested. A single treatment should do it but since you’re currently “fishless” and will be re-cycling anyway, I wouldn’t be reluctant to provide a couple of treatments with water changes between each.>>
In any case, I'm probably going to re-cycle the tank fishless with ammonia, so whatever I end up doing will involve a 70%-ish water change at the end to remove nitrates anyway. I just want to make sure I'm not under treating the problem.
<<I don’t think you’ll be under-treating at all with two treatments of any of the products mentioned earlier, Eric.>>
Thanks so much again!
<<You’re quite welcome.>>
Best,
Eric
<<Best to you, Eric. Tom>>
 

Parasitized Metynnis - 06/27/07 Hello, Wet Ones! <In England, "Wet Ones" are moist towel things used to wipe babies' bottoms when changing their nappies (diapers). So, not normally something you call someone.> I have a silver dollar, Metynnis argenteus, that I think is parasitized. He was in quarantine (30 gal w/ air stones and Whisper III OTB filter) for 2 months, along with several rainbows, some hatchet fish, and some neon tetras. All appeared well in quarantine. We moved these fish to our 150 gal show tank about 4 weeks ago. After about 3 days we lost one of the hatchet fish to causes unknown. Four days ago we noticed a whitish spot on the side of the silver dollar and a similar one on one of the hatchets. The hatchet passed the next day. The silver dollar is still feeding well and swimming just fine! The white spot is diminished, but this dark spot just showed up. I've included three pictures. What is it!!! <Well, I can't see anything particularly worrying in the photo. Treating the tank with anti-whitespot would probably be wise though, just in case. Hatchetfish are uncommonly sensitive fish, especially when recently imported. Once settled, they become a bit more robust, but the smaller species (Carnegiella spp.) never really become "hardy". Do bear in mind hatchets seem to need a lot of food to stay healthy, while silver dollars require at least some greens in their diet. Observing these two guidelines should help in the long term.> Branon <Cheers, Neale>

Barnacle like parasites in freshwater aquarium  6/20/07
Hello,
<Greetings,>
I'm hoping someone can help me with what I believe may be a parasite problem in my 75 gallon goldfish tank. I've recently developed a problem with what appears to be a gray barnacle appearing parasite in my tank.
<Need photo. There are no freshwater barnacles. Brackish water ones, yes, but no marine ones that I'm aware of. So likely something else. Perhaps a freshwater bivalve or a "shell"-building aquatic insect like a caddisfly larva.>
They're about the size of the small brown snails that can sneak in a tank when you buy aquarium plants at the pet store.
<Sounds like regular snails.>
They mainly cling to the walls of the tank and the only way I've been able to keep them out is to remove them from the walls everyday and throw them in the trash.
<Again, sound like snails.>
I've never seen anything like them before and I've been unsuccessful in getting rid of them when I treat them with "Life Bearer". Any suggestions on what they are and how to get rid of them.
<Why are you so anxious to get rid of them? They sound rather interesting. Snails don't do harm in most aquaria, and only prosper if the tank is basically badly maintained, i.e., there's plenty of leftover food and algae for them to eat. In a clean aquarium snails barely eek out a living, and it's easy enough to remove them with a snail trap or by adding a snail-eating fish, such as a loach or pufferfish. Life Bearer is brand of medication for removing gill flukes and other external invertebrate parasites *on the fish*. It is rather nasty stuff, and shouldn't be used willy-nilly. I seem to say this daily, but here goes: identify a disease first, then treat appropriately; don't add a random medication and hope for the best. How would you like it if your doctor simply gave you a random medication without listening to you explain your symptoms? Because Life Bearer contains copper salts, it irritates the gill membranes and other sensitive tissues in fishes, and certain fish, such as puffers, mormyrids, and clown loaches, are notoriously intolerant of copper and may die during such treatment. So, treat all medications with respect, and use ONLY when you have fully identified the disease.>
Thanks, Sharon
<Good luck, Neale.>

Re: pH and Bio Wheel filter (parasites are gone)   3/8/07
Hello Bob:
Here is Anna, again :--)
Before I start another topic, let me give you a brief update on my fish health condition.
On Feb. 24th I moved my fishy crew (tetras, sword, and butterfly - pleco) to a hospital tank.
As recommended I let the 10-gallon home tank go "fallow."
With partial daily water changes & bottom vacuuming + some Maracyn 2 (for 5 days)  + excellent food + vitamins I was able to bring all hospitalized fish to stability.  The hospital tank reads stable parameters - ammonia = 0, nitrate = 0, pH = 6.8. Visibly fish looks better, eats well and swims all over the place.
None has any white patches, or heavy breathing, or white spots.
<Good>
In between, I also bought Emperor 280 Bio-Wheel filter (as discussed last time) and installed it on the home tank (along with an "old" filter). For the 1st week the parameters in the home tank mirrored the ones in the hospital tank (amm.=0, Nitr.. = 0, pH=6.8).
Few days ago I added additional carbon to the media container in Bio-Wheel filter. The water got unnaturally crispy, clean,  and transparent.
<Good carbon will do this>
Yesterday,  I checked the water condition in the display tank and noticed that pH jumped to the 7.6. I assume, however, that this number could actually increase further (the water as per API pH kit is very dark blue),  because 7.6 is the highest indicator on the API pH kit test.
Today I checked my tap water - pH read 6.8. Then, I
checked my hospital tank, pH read 6.8.
I did ca. 30% water change in the display tank and measured pH an  hour later - I got 7.6 and really dark blue color in a test tube.
I went through other people's responses on your fantastic web site - but could not find anybody who complained about empty display tank pH problems ;--)
Luckily for me, ammonia and parasite problems are gone... for now ;--)
Do you think that Emperor's carbon activity could distort the pH level in my 10-gallon display tank?
<Yes... can... by removing compounds that hold the pH down... alkalinity/acidity... buffering works in both directions... "It's" just that most all are familiar only with "reductive" situations... with pH dropping...>
I was thinking of turning off that filter to see if that raises an issue. is that a good idea?
<Mmm, not really... I would leave all going... trade out only an ounce or two of carbon on a regular basis... maybe once a month or so>
I plan to move my fish back to the "home" tank in about a month, but I am afraid that after months of struggles with ammonia and hard work on parasites and keeping my precious fish healthy and alive I could lose all of them due to the pH shock....
<Mmm, not likely... do test the water in a month or so... use some from the main tank for water changes in the treatment one...>
Would you be able to give me hint(s) on what and why happened? Should I "feed" the display tank?
<I would maybe "give it a pinch" of food every week or so...>
Should I continue doing partial (weekly) water changes there?
<Yes... with the "new water" for the treatment tank coming from the old one... once you think communicable problems have lapsed>
Should I take out the carbon?
<I would not. I'd leave it in>
I hope I do not ask too many questions :--)
<Me too>
Indeed, keeping my fish save become my personal crusade :--)
<Ah, good>
Thanks for any insights, Bob.
<Welcome>
And thanks for that great web site - thanks to information you posted I learned a lot and was able to overcome many "first-tank" owner problems...
Anna
<Outstanding. Excelsior! (Onward and upward). BobF>

Re: Internal parasites (again), FW   3/11/07
Hello crew,
<John>
Surely you are sick of hearing from me by now.  I wrote to you some time ago about a guppy that had an internal parasite problem.  I had treated the aquarium with an anti-parasitic medication, but things went horribly wrong.  I suspect an ingredient in the tablets had wrecked havoc on my tank and killed many of my Corydoras and other fish.
<Easily done unfortunately... Some "med." ingredients are outright toxic, many will forestall or kill off nitrification... indirectly stressing to killing livestock>
The problem eventually resolved but only after I had transferred the fish from the treated tank into another untreated tank.  I had thought the problem gone, but yesterday I mysteriously lost a cherry barb from the tank that had housed all the fish at one time.  Today, while cleaning this tank, I observed that some of the other cherry barbs had what appeared to be worms extending from their anal area.  So it looks like the problems are just beginning.  I do not know if this is Camallanus or another type of parasite.  They look like red threads (in some cases they are white) extending 3-4 mm outside the fish.  I am not sure how to treat.
<I am... I would administer Praziquantel (relatively safe, and very effective) for now... and in a week or so, "Fluke-Tabs" (in case this is actually, or additionally a crustacean parasite, e.g. Anchorworm... These should do it>
  I have a UV sterilizing unit, but I understand this will be ineffective.
<Correct>
  Thus, the question, is: do I treat with Levamisole HCL or Praziquantel?
<The latter is my choice here as an anthelminthic/vermifuge>
  I believe Praziquantel is ineffective against Camallanus,
<Mmm, generally is efficacious>
but unfortunately I cannot identify the parasite so I am not sure what approach to take.  Any suggestions would be welcome.
<The use of an inexpensive (I have a QX-3 on my desk... simple to use... can be plugged into a USB port...) microscope with one of the fishs should it perish...>
The other problem is that to obtain either "pure" Levamisole (as last time the tablets were a disaster) or Prazi, I have to mail order from the US as it is not possible to find these medications in Switzerland.
<Ohh... yes... Perhaps... yes, am advocating this... a friend can buy and ship this cross-border. I understand the intent and spirit of such laws... but there is more harm from internal combustion/gasoline use... For others...just don't self-administer such compounds.>
I am also concerned about the length of time it will take for me to locate a company willing to ship to Europe and the shipping time itself.  A preliminary search has revealed that not many companies are willing to ship these items to Europe.
<The Net...>
Thanks in advance for any help.  I can't believe I'm writing yet again.  Ug.
<Sorry to hear/read of your trials... Can be fixed... Bob Fenner>