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Need help

Sat, 01/09/2010 - 12:46 — Kittima

I had 300 litre tank and has 4 of 4
 inches parrot cichlids. They are not eating
 for 2-3 weeks now. I found they had
 parasites and redness on the back of their
 ear fin. They had medicine from the vet for
 parasite and antibiotic last week but they
 still not eating and not swim around just stay behind the rock on the bottom of the tank
How can I make them eat
 again. Am I gonna lost them all?

Comments

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 23:55 — Peanut

Re: Need help

If your water tested okay, then you don't need to do the changes every day. Just do a 30% change and vacuum the gravel weekly. I would buy a test kit with the test tubes if you can. Whenever something seems wrong in the tank, testing the water will give you a idea as to what is wrong or where to start. When you're keeping fish, somtimes it's the process of elimination in figuring out what is wrong. In the beginning you can test the water weekly. If your levels are higher than they should be, testing the water will tell you that you should be doing bi-weekly water changes rather than weekly.

These fish are very shy. As Shaz said, their behavior could be normal at this point. They could be running into things just because they are startled.

I don't know why your water is yellow. Do you have any decor in your tank that is causing the water to discolor? Maybe it's just your tap water.

Make sure you clean the old uneaten food out of the tank. You could try feeding them, then leaving the room. If they are just really shy, maybe they will come out and eat if you're not there.

I'm not familiar with the filter you are using. Maybe someone else can give advice on that.

Don't forget, you never want to clean your filter or anything else that has been in your tank with tap water. Always use tank water or water that has been treated with the water conditioner.

Please feel free to ask anything. No question is stupid:-) We have all asked the same exact questions when we started.

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 09:01 — shaz

unhappy fish

are they eating and do they swim in a normal position when they do move, the two swimming to the glass are just probably expecting food, mine do it, turn off the tank lights 1 hour before you turn off the room lights, some of this could be normal behaviour, keep doing small frequent changes, be real slow and gentle with that, they do spook easily, let us know the results of the water tests please

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 20:20 — Kittima

re:unhappy fish

They are not eating at the moment. I try to feed them everyday but they ignore it. They swim normal position but they don't move much swim in the same place. I did the water change again today 30%
I had the water checked in the aquarium shop near my place. They got a kit like if the water is bad it will turn pink, but it's normal they said. They did not give me the figure. I did try give them some peas but they was not interested. Do I have to buy the water test kit. How often do I need to test it? The water look yellow. Why is that? I got Eheim professional 2 and in tank filter. I just clean them and change the small rock in eheim filter. Was it right? I am sorry for stupid question. I am new to fish, I just inherited them.

Sat, 01/09/2010 - 23:14 — Peanut

Re: Need help

Have you tested the water? We really need to know your readings. It's very important.

Your fish won't change behavior immediately. It takes a little while to recover from the poisoning.

Until you get the water readings, keep doing the water changes every day. If you have a aerator to add bubbles to the water, put that in the tank.

Please check the water and let us know the readings asap. That will give us a lot more information and we can give better advice at that point.

Make sure they don't have any white spots, cloudy eyes, or any other changes in appearance. That would indicate the fish are still sick.

Sat, 01/09/2010 - 13:05 — Peanut

Re: Need help

Sometimes the medications we use in our tanks will kill off the beneficial bacteria in our tanks. That may have happened to your tank and now your tank will have a mini cycle to rebuild the benefical bacteria.

If you are done treating your fish with the meds, you can start doing partial water changes. If you are still treating them, it could be that they are still feeling sick.

Test your water and see what the readings are for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Using a liquid test kit will give you the most accurate readings. That's the one with the test tubes.

If you are done treating the fish, do a 30% water change asap. Make sure you treat the water with water conditioner and make sure it's the same temperature as the tank water you are replacing.

Most aquarium problems are a result of poor water conditions. This includes parasites. You have to make sure that your ammonia and nitrites are always zero. This is very important. Your nitrates should be 20 or below. If you don't have your water parameters at these readings your fish will keep getting sick and never stay healthy.

Make sure you do weekly water changes and vacuum the gravel. If you can't keep your readings as the above by doing weekly water changes, start changing it twice a week. Do whatever it takes to keep your water perfect.

Your fish will thank you:)

Sat, 01/09/2010 - 22:40 — Kittima

They look so unhappy and panic

Thank you very much for your advice. I did water change today 30% and refilled with treated water but they still look unhappy two of them swim to the glass like they want to swim out of the tank, other two just stay on the bottom of the tank same place and position for whole day. When I switch of the light for them to sleep at night they really panic. Two of them bang themself real hard with rock, they act like they didn't see it there and swim so fast toward and hit it. I am so worried about them.