# sick fish



## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

my dwarf gourmi is sick its laying on its side and breathing really hard what wrong?


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

fish that float on it side have something wrong with their swim bladder, mainly because they eat to much. Try feeding him a cooked pea with the skin peeled off. If he doesn't eat it, just wait till he gets it out of his system. My RTS died from this, so don't be surprised if he doesn't live.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

hes never had this it just happend this morning and i only feed 2 a day


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

2 whats exactly? and how have you had him?


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

i feed my fish twice a day what do you mean by how i had him


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

I don't really know  anyways what do you feed him


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

i feed all my fish (TetraMin Tropical Flakes)


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

how much of it


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

i dont know i feed them to last about 2 minutes


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

thats good. is he just resting or is he acting normal


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

elvis....

we have told you AT LEAST fifty times.


we are not magicians, doctors, nerds, politicians, or autopsy-technicians.

we need more than just a picture to tell why your fish is sick. I can't tell you how little help it is to just say "my fish is sick tell me why".

WE NEED WATER PARAMETERS
WE NEED WATER PARAMETERS
WE NEED WATER PARAMETERS
WE NEED WATER PARAMETERS
WE NEED WATER PARAMETERS
WE NEED WATER PARAMETERS
WE NEED WATER PARAMETERS
*WE NEED WATER PARAMETERS*

pH, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, temperature, feeding schedule, and water change schedule. do you use dechlorinator?

I honestly think this may have something to do with the 100% water changes that you have done.

PLEASE listen to us when we ask for something over and over again. Nobody wants to help someone who won't listen.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

i dont know but i seperated him from they others i put him in a 1 gallon all by him self so do you think he is normal or is he to old and dieing or is he hurt or what


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

justintrask said:


> elvis....
> 
> we have told you AT LEAST fifty times.
> 
> ...


if you want to know that stuff go to this forum of mine called Tank update


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

i know, but the thing is, we need to know every time you ask whats wrong with your fish. things change really quickly, sometimes within hours. the first thing you should do when a fish is sick is check your parameters. i am almost positive that it's the water change and he is going through some sort of shock due to stress.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Justin, don't waste your breath, errr, keystrokes. Elvis comes on every few weeks with some frantic posts about problems, doesn't listen, buys more fish, then posts about how great everything is. Then things go wrong and he repeats the cycle.

Elvis, perhaps try the pea thing. Defrost some peas and take the shells off and try to feed it to your gourami. Also some warmer water and a bit of Kosher salt are generally soothing to a sick fish.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

i know, but if I didnt say it i would have gone insane.


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

I know it can be frustrating when people won't take good advice and keep repeating the same mistakes, but lets keep our replies polite. If it bothers you too much, just don't be tempted to answer.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

i did the pea thing he seemed kinda happy then this morning he died and my water paremeters are fine nitrate:0 nitrite:0 alkalinity:80 hardness:150 ph:6.8


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

sorry for your loss


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

doesnt my water seem fine i dont think its about water paremeters all the others are good


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

how old was it


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

where i bought them they were all 6 months and i had him for 7 months so basicly 1 year and 1 month


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

could it be he ate too much


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

i dont think so he doesnt seem fat maybe he got bossed by the other gourmi


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

stressed out


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

could be ???


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## StripesAndFins (Dec 31, 2008)

seems like the best option so far


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

okokokokookokok


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Your water is not fine. If you have no nitrates in a tank without live plants, you have a problem. It can't just disappear on its own. Either you have not cycled or your test kit is defective.


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## Kurtfr0 (Nov 2, 2008)

Alot Of Tropical Fish like gourami's gold fish live bearers seem to die without cause alot. 
But COM is probably right.


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

fish never just die for no reason...


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

I'm inclined to believe that either the 100% water change caused a MAJOR crash and the tank is recycling (and this could have killed the gourami from stress, shock or ammonia spike) or, as was already said, there is something wrong with the test kit. Can you tell me the type of kit you are using (dip strips? Liquid) and the brand?
Does the kit have a test for ammonia? That is very important since ammonia is usually going to be the first thing to show up when the cycle is out of whack. 

Just out of curiosity....Elvis, where are you from (just country and region, not exact city or anything) and where does your water supply come from? It's possible that there is something in your water supply that we aren't aware of and you aren't testing for that is either messing with your test results or wrecking havac with your tank.

Also, I'm not familiar with alkalinity and hardness testing since I don't need to do those tests on my tanks. Could someone on the board who knows what the correct readings should be please reply as to whether or not his test results are within normal range?


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Alkalinity means high pH. Hardness is a measure of general hardness of the water.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

COM said:


> Your water is not fine. If you have no nitrates in a tank without live plants, you have a problem. It can't just disappear on its own. Either you have not cycled or your test kit is defective.


 but i heard that if you have no nitrates are a good thing


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

Buggy said:


> I'm inclined to believe that either the 100% water change caused a MAJOR crash and the tank is recycling (and this could have killed the gourami from stress, shock or ammonia spike) or, as was already said, there is something wrong with the test kit. Can you tell me the type of kit you are using (dip strips? Liquid) and the brand?
> Does the kit have a test for ammonia? That is very important since ammonia is usually going to be the first thing to show up when the cycle is out of whack.
> 
> Just out of curiosity....Elvis, where are you from (just country and region, not exact city or anything) and where does your water supply come from? It's possible that there is something in your water supply that we aren't aware of and you aren't testing for that is either messing with your test results or wrecking havac with your tank.
> ...



i was born in brazil(south america) but now i live in the united staes of america


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

i only did a 100% water change because some one in this website told me


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

where in the USA do you live? What county/town of what state? I know in Boston our water is absolutely terrible.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

So................now what


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

"I love that dirty water / Boston you're my home. " (Not)

Elvis- if your test is accurate and you really don't have any nitrates in a tank with fish in it, there are two causes:
1- You have tons and tons of live plants sucking up the nitrates. (You don't.)
2- You are not cycled. A cycled tank breaks ammonia to nitrIte then nitrIte to nitrAte.

A cycled tank will usually show no or very very (undetectable) ammonia and nitrIte. NitrAtes will accumulate. It will not go away on its own. Plants will use it as a food source or you must lower it by doing water changes.

Here is an example: You test your water on Monday and find that the nitrAtes level is at 25. You do a water change and it now reads at 5. On Tuesday it will be higher, maybe 7 (These numbers are made up, BTW). On Wednesday it will be 10. On Thursday 13, etc. until the following Monday it should read around 25 again. You do another small water changes and it goes down. It goes down b/c you're sucking it out and diluting it with clean water. It goes up b/c your fish eat and then poop and then the poop breaks down, etc.


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

NOW...you do another COMPLETE water test WITH AMMONIA READINGS and post them for us so we can see what is going on with the water.....
If you don't have an ammonia test, run out to petco and get one. They only cost about $4.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

ill see if i could get one on saterday or sunday


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

justintrask said:


> where in the USA do you live? What county/town of what state? I know in Boston our water is absolutely terrible.


virginia


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

COM said:


> "I love that dirty water / Boston you're my home. " (Not)
> 
> Elvis- if your test is accurate and you really don't have any nitrates in a tank with fish in it, there are two causes:
> 1- You have tons and tons of live plants sucking up the nitrates. (You don't.)
> ...


what does that last paragragh mean?


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

It means that the nitrATEs go up a little everyday as the fish eat and poops and they go down again when you do a water change and take them out but you never remove ALL of them unless you take out all of the water and wash everything. A reading of 0 when you have fish in the tank that you have been feeding means something is not right and it is probably because the tank isn't completely cycled.

Go test it again, I think you just made a mistake on the test. Maybe your read it wrong or something.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

so is 0 nitartes safe or not because the chart that came with test said that 0 nitrates is perfect


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

you want to have a little bit, but not a lot.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

ooooooooooh ok and is 0 nitrite good


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

0 nitrite, 0 ammonia, but a little bit of nitrate.


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## Buggy (Oct 17, 2006)

Here is a very basic chart to tell you what your three main tests should be:

 0 ppm AMMONIA = Perfect

 0 ppm NITRITE = Perfect

 5 - 10 ppm NITRATE = Perfect

15 - 20 ppm NITRATE = Good

30 - 40 ppm NITRATE = Ok

 40+ ppm NITRATE = Too High


Aim to keep the NITRATES at 5 - 20 ppm by doing partial water changes.

Let me see if I can word this so it is easier for you to understand...

If your tank has gone through the complete nitrogen cycle, then you WILL have a positive NITRATE reading. The exact ppm reading will depend upon how many fish are in the tank, the size of the tank, how well your filtration is working and how often and how much water you change.
Since you have had your tank for quite a while and you have had fish in it for a few months, then unless you have been changing ALL of the water at every water change, your tank should be cycled. That means the tests will show 0 ppm ammonia; 0 ppm nitrite; 5 or more ppm NITRATE. 
Since your test is showing 0 for all three elements, then there is something wrong. It could be: 1) You are misreading the test; 2) The test kit is not working right; 3) The 100% water change that you did a few days ago has killed your biological bacteria and you have removed ALL of the NITRATES that were in the tank (meaning you will have to start the cycle all over again).
To see what is going on, you will need to wait until Monday, then go get the ammonia test kit and test ALL of the parameters again. Don't do any more water changes until then unless you see any of you fish acting sick or stressed. By Monday (if your ammonia doesn't hit a spike), you should be showing some NITRATES.
If you start having sickness before Monday, do a 10% WATER CHANGE.

I hope this has cleared things up for you and you understand better what is going on. I don't know how to say it any simpler then that.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

i could not find a ammonia test kit i cheacked ever where petsmart,petco and walmart so instead i bought a ammonia clear it means that it clears it.i did a 20% water change then i put the ammonia thing then after 3 hours i did a water test and these are the results!

nitrate:20ppm
nitrite:0ppm
hardness:75ppm soft
alkalinity:80ppm
ph:6.8ppm


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Well that doesn't prove anything.

Oh, and an ammonia test kit is the easiest thing to find. I don't believe that you couldn't find it anywhere. That's just too absurd.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

well i didnt and are the results good?


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## justintrask (Jun 29, 2008)

we wont know without the ammonia test.


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## elvis332 (Dec 29, 2007)

but are those results good


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