:frown: my male cac. is sitting on bottom of tank, having a hard time breathing. Have treated him for ick and used erythromicin, No luck. Both fermales fine at this moment. My frist pair expired with the same symptoms. Male frist, then female. I don't know what it is that they have. All water parameters good.
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apisto cac. breathing heavy HELP
- Thread starter lvdwfc
- Start date
- Messages
- 593
- Location
- Sydney, NSW Australia
Morning,
Sorry to hear this. Some more questions, although when the Cacs are at this stage it does not look good.
Did you quarantine the male ?
When did you do the last water change ?
How old is the male ?
Do you feed him live worms or what do you feed him ?
Is his poo stringey ?
Would suggest to use a plastic ice cream container with holes in the side and place on water with fish to observe him more, this in case you have no seperate tank for quarantine.
please let us know, cheers jk
Sorry to hear this. Some more questions, although when the Cacs are at this stage it does not look good.
Did you quarantine the male ?
When did you do the last water change ?
How old is the male ?
Do you feed him live worms or what do you feed him ?
Is his poo stringey ?
Would suggest to use a plastic ice cream container with holes in the side and place on water with fish to observe him more, this in case you have no seperate tank for quarantine.
please let us know, cheers jk
male cac breathing hard
I do a 25% h2o change wkly, all fish came from the same tank at pet store, except I had some long fin danios in with them, who I have recently discovered have, I think fin rot. They had been moved to a new tank when I discovered this, so I don't know if they just got it or not, since the water of new tank has amm. levels at .5 The male is eating, although he's breathing hard still. I don't know what is feces look like, as I have not seen him go. My females are still fine. The male is young, he has just gotten to look like an adult, full color, face, body, etc. I feed them frozen blood worms and sprillina frozen food. What should I try and treat him with or what can you recommend that I do? Janeen
I do a 25% h2o change wkly, all fish came from the same tank at pet store, except I had some long fin danios in with them, who I have recently discovered have, I think fin rot. They had been moved to a new tank when I discovered this, so I don't know if they just got it or not, since the water of new tank has amm. levels at .5 The male is eating, although he's breathing hard still. I don't know what is feces look like, as I have not seen him go. My females are still fine. The male is young, he has just gotten to look like an adult, full color, face, body, etc. I feed them frozen blood worms and sprillina frozen food. What should I try and treat him with or what can you recommend that I do? Janeen
- Messages
- 11,220
- Location
- Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
Are your fish in a quarantine tank? It would be very helpful if you described you aquarium for us: size, decoration, type of filtration, how long it has been up and running, NH3, NO2, NO3, pH, & hardness values. All of these will help us understand what might be the problem.
Heavy breathing commonly has 2 causes: gill parasites or environmental factors that erode the gill filaments of the fish. The presence of NH3 usually indicates that there is an excess bioload and/or that the filter does not have adequate nitrifying bacteria. Usually high NO2 levels are also found in new tanks with minor concentrations of NH3.
I don't know why you used erythromycin. It is a gram positive bacterial antibiotic. Very few fish diseases are caused by gram positive bacteria. EM won't do anything to most gill parasites and at worst will stress the nitrifying bacteria in your filter.
Water changes (you do use a good dechlorinator, I assume) probably won't hurt, but if your problem is caused by parasites, you will need an external antiparasitic medication. If it is environmentally caused gill erosion, then it is best to increase aeration and try to provide the best water conditions possible.
Heavy breathing commonly has 2 causes: gill parasites or environmental factors that erode the gill filaments of the fish. The presence of NH3 usually indicates that there is an excess bioload and/or that the filter does not have adequate nitrifying bacteria. Usually high NO2 levels are also found in new tanks with minor concentrations of NH3.
I don't know why you used erythromycin. It is a gram positive bacterial antibiotic. Very few fish diseases are caused by gram positive bacteria. EM won't do anything to most gill parasites and at worst will stress the nitrifying bacteria in your filter.
Water changes (you do use a good dechlorinator, I assume) probably won't hurt, but if your problem is caused by parasites, you will need an external antiparasitic medication. If it is environmentally caused gill erosion, then it is best to increase aeration and try to provide the best water conditions possible.
cac. heavy breathing
my tank is 20 gal. w/ gravel bottom, rocks for caves and heavily planted. It has been up since the begining of feb. 08. The nitrate .5, ammonia and nitrite levels are at zero. He was fine up until about 6 days ago and has progressively gotten worse. He has been in the tank for about 5 wks and the females about 4 wks. I don't have a quarantine tank. What would you use for an antiparasitic? If that is what I should do? Janeen Ps this after noon he seems to not want to eat much and looks worse than yesterday. sad. filtration is hang on style and I have an air stone in the tank at the moment. ph is 6, hardness unknown don't have a test kit for that. I am still in begining of this hobby. some one at the pet store suggested the erythromycin. I treated rams with it and it workrd well I thought. But like I said before still a beginner. Rams from what I have read are suppose to be a hard fish for a beginner and the cacs. easy, I think it is the reverse.
my tank is 20 gal. w/ gravel bottom, rocks for caves and heavily planted. It has been up since the begining of feb. 08. The nitrate .5, ammonia and nitrite levels are at zero. He was fine up until about 6 days ago and has progressively gotten worse. He has been in the tank for about 5 wks and the females about 4 wks. I don't have a quarantine tank. What would you use for an antiparasitic? If that is what I should do? Janeen Ps this after noon he seems to not want to eat much and looks worse than yesterday. sad. filtration is hang on style and I have an air stone in the tank at the moment. ph is 6, hardness unknown don't have a test kit for that. I am still in begining of this hobby. some one at the pet store suggested the erythromycin. I treated rams with it and it workrd well I thought. But like I said before still a beginner. Rams from what I have read are suppose to be a hard fish for a beginner and the cacs. easy, I think it is the reverse.
- Messages
- 11,220
- Location
- Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
I am 'old school', for external parasites I use 2 drops/gallon 37% Formalin (Formaldihyde) + 2 drops/gallon Malachite Green - both are known carcinogens - in a bare tank (just an air stone, no filtration). I also am careful not to breath the vapors or have contact with the liquid. It isn't as effective in planted tanks where it will harm the plants and be oxidized quickly by the organics in the tank. There are some other medications that might work in planted tanks, possibly Fluke Tabs. You'll need to check for medications that treat external parasites. Good luck with your fish.
- Messages
- 9
- Location
- Berlin / Germany
Hi Mike, Hi List,
there may be another possible reason. Feeding your fish too much may raise the metabolic oxygen demand by more than three-fold. This effect is called "specific dynamic action" in physiological sciences. It is especially pronounced when feeding protein-rich diet. The story behind is that there is an excess oxygen need to digest the food taken up. The effect can sustain for about a day.
Another question: can you see, if the body appears unusually swollen and the scales are erected from the skin? It could arise from too much water uptake through skin and gills (in Germany known as "Bauchwassersucht" - meaning a swollen belly by taking up excess water). This "disease" is often a side effect of a non-working osmotic regulation.
best regards
Stefan
there may be another possible reason. Feeding your fish too much may raise the metabolic oxygen demand by more than three-fold. This effect is called "specific dynamic action" in physiological sciences. It is especially pronounced when feeding protein-rich diet. The story behind is that there is an excess oxygen need to digest the food taken up. The effect can sustain for about a day.
Another question: can you see, if the body appears unusually swollen and the scales are erected from the skin? It could arise from too much water uptake through skin and gills (in Germany known as "Bauchwassersucht" - meaning a swollen belly by taking up excess water). This "disease" is often a side effect of a non-working osmotic regulation.
best regards
Stefan
