Frequent Aquarium Questions

• My oscars have been laying on the gravel for a few days, and have not been eating well. They have no visable marks on their skin.
  
  
• I have been treating my freshwater fish for ich for 12 days. All of the fish have recovered except for an angel that still has some ich on it's fins. Is this too long to medicate or should I try something different?
  
  
• I have a 30 gallon tank with a few guppies in it. Two of them look like their intestines fell out of their rear, but they are still eating and actine fine. Is this a parasite?
  
  
• My flower horn ciclid has suddenly lost its appetite completely. It rests on the bottom of the tank not willing to move, but I don't see anything visibly wrong with the fish. I fed it with frozen shrimp (which is its favorite), but it has refused to eat for a few days already.
  
  
• The catfish in my 45 gal tank ts losing tentacles, whiteish stuff covering the top of head and tentacles, they gave me Maracyn-Two to treat. So far this is not helping, not eating, stays in one place, what should I do?
  
  
• I have an albino oscar that has developed a thick white covering over one of his eyes and a red sore spot on his stomach. It looks like he has lost vision in the eye and spends most of his time laying on the bottom of the tank .
  
  
• My betta has a swollen eye and is discolored. What does he have, and what should I do?
  
  
• My male blue gourami's dorsal fin looks like it has been chewed. Is it possible for it to grow back? Will I need to use some sort of treatment?
  
  
• My betta lays on the bottom of his bowl and barely seems to have the energy to eat form the water's surface. I feed him once every day with actual betta food, not flakes. Is he sick?
  
  
• I've just recently bought a 10 gallon tank. I have a heater, filter unit and bubble bar. There are a couple of small decorative fake rocks in the tank as well. We had 2 underwater frogs, an upside down catfish, 2 snails, a little eel (some oriental sounding name) and 2 smaller bottom feeder fish. They all seemed healthy and happy but started dying. First one of the frogs went, then one of the smaller bottom fish. Then the catfish, then the eel. What I'm noticing is a sort of white film on the fish before they die. It almost looks like they're sheding. A) Why are my fish dropping like flies? B) Does this "shedding" condition have anything to do with it? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. I apologize for my lack of knowledge on proper terms and such but I'm new to this and still learning. Take care. Larry
  
  

• My oscars have been laying on the gravel for a few days, and have not been eating well. They have no visable marks on their skin.
  
  Oscars are often sensitve to water conditions, and typically behave this way when under stress. Oscars are very messy fish, and require frequent water changes and heavy filtration, as well as a constant temperature. A tank that is too small will compound this issue. Improper feeding may be a factor in this as well. If you are relying heavily on live goldfish, you may be causing digestive problems for your fish. Try feeding a varied diet, and use feeder fish sparingly or not at all.
  
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• I have been treating my freshwater fish for ich for 12 days. All of the fish have recovered except for an angel that still has some ich on it's fins. Is this too long to medicate or should I try something different?
  
  It is possible that an ich infection could last this long, but it is also possible that your angel has something other than ich. There are several bacterial infections that could be mistaken for ich in their early stages, but do not respond to ich medications. Try a broad-spectrum antibacterial medication in conjuction with your ich treatment, and be certain to remove any carbon from your filters. Carbon will soak up many types of medications, and will reduce their effectiveness.
  
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• I have a 30 gallon tank with a few guppies in it. Two of them look like their intestines fell out of their rear, but they are still eating and actine fine. Is this a parasite?
  
  There is too little information provided to give an educated guess. If I had to, I might say that someone may have been pestering the poor little guys, or perhaps that they were being grossly overfed.
  
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• My flower horn ciclid has suddenly lost its appetite completely. It rests on the bottom of the tank not willing to move, but I don't see anything visibly wrong with the fish. I fed it with frozen shrimp (which is its favorite), but it has refused to eat for a few days already.
  
  Sounds like an intestinal blockage. This sort of problem is common in ciclids that are overfed or not offered a varied diet. Flower Horns are omnivores and require a fair amount of vegetation in their diet. Depending too heavily on foods such as krill and brine shrimp will cause disorders like what you are experiencing. Your fish may be able to work out the problem on its own, but this condition can sometimes be fatal. As soon as the fish starts eating again, offer it some spirulina flakes or similar vegetable fare.
  
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• The catfish in my 45 gal tank ts losing tentacles, whiteish stuff covering the top of head and tentacles, they gave me Maracyn-Two to treat. So far this is not helping, not eating, stays in one place, what should I do?
  
  Assuming there is no aggression between your catfish and other fishes, it sounds to me as if your substrate is too coarse or jagged. Catfishes need smooth pebbles (or even sand) so that they do not damage their barbels. They root around in the gravel/sand for food, using the barbels to "taste" the substrate. If it causes abrasions, this can give rise to a bacterial infection, which can cause barbels to drop, and eventually shows up as the fluffy, or slimy, white stuff on his head. As for treatment, the Maracyn Two is the best antibacterial I can think of. However, without switching the gravel to something more suitable, your catfish will likely not heal.
  
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• I have an albino oscar that has developed a thick white covering over one of his eyes and a red sore spot on his stomach. It looks like he has lost vision in the eye and spends most of his time laying on the bottom of the tank .
  
  This sounds like a combination of bacterial infections. Treat your oscar with an wide spectrum antibacterial medication that lists the symptoms you described (there are far too many possibities to list here). Make certain that water quality and temperature are not issues in your aquarium, as your fish cannot recover if it is being stressed by improper water conditions.
  
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• My betta has a swollen eye and is discolored. What does he have, and what should I do?
  
  Bettas, like many fish, have the ability to alter their colors in response to various situations. In this case, your betta is discolored because it is ill. The swollen eye is a common condition that is often called "popeye", and can be the result of numerous causes. In most cases, this is a bacterial infection caused by either physical injury to the eye (coarse nets are the main culprit), poor water quality, or a combination of the two. Try changing the water in the betta's tank, and then treat with an wide-spectrum antibacterial medication (such as Melafix).
  
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• My male blue gourami's dorsal fin looks like it has been chewed. Is it possible for it to grow back? Will I need to use some sort of treatment?
  
  If your gourami's fin is simply damaged, it should regrow on its own with no problem in a few days to a week. Make sure the damaged areas don't have a whitish edge, and that there are no red streaks in the fins. These are signs of an infection, and will require treatment with a broad-spectrum antibacterial medication. Melafix often works quite well in treating these conditions.
  
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• My betta lays on the bottom of his bowl and barely seems to have the energy to eat form the water's surface. I feed him once every day with actual betta food, not flakes. Is he sick?
  
  Your betta probably isn't actually "sick", but there is something wrong. This is a common behavior in bettas that are kept in bowls, and is typically a combination of two factors. The first is water quality. In a bowl with no filtration, the water needs to be changed at least twice a week. It is also EXTREMELY important not to overfeed in these situations, as uneaten food and excessive fish waste will cause water quality to deteriorate very rapidly. A betta's stomach is roughly the size of it's eye, so just a few pieces of food at a time, two or three times a day, is plenty. The second factor that contributes to this behavior is boredom. Try offering an assortment of food in addition to standard "betta food" and flakes. Frozen and freeze-dried bloodworms, daphnia, mosquito larvae, and tubifex worms all make excellent treats for your betta, and will help to stimulate activity. You can also place a small mirror, or even a second betta in its own bowl, next to its bowl. Having something to interact with will give the fish something to do.
  
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• I've just recently bought a 10 gallon tank. I have a heater, filter unit and bubble bar. There are a couple of small decorative fake rocks in the tank as well. We had 2 underwater frogs, an upside down catfish, 2 snails, a little eel (some oriental sounding name) and 2 smaller bottom feeder fish. They all seemed healthy and happy but started dying. First one of the frogs went, then one of the smaller bottom fish. Then the catfish, then the eel. What I'm noticing is a sort of white film on the fish before they die. It almost looks like they're sheding. A) Why are my fish dropping like flies? B) Does this "shedding" condition have anything to do with it? Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. I apologize for my lack of knowledge on proper terms and such but I'm new to this and still learning. Take care. Larry
  
  I am assuming this tank was filled with water, then with fish (in short order). Every aquarium has to go through a "cycle" period during which the beneficial bacteria in the aquarium colonize the surfaces, substrate, and (most importantly), your biological filter. You did not specify the type of filter you have, but I am guessing it is a power filter--inexpensive hang-on units are popular. If so, there is little room for the bacteria I am talking about. Traditionally, an undergravel filter fills this role, or the tank is sparsely populated. Even with the presence of a dedicated biological filter, the cycle must be gone through. The biological cycle (or simply "cycle") takes an average of three to six weeks for a tank without seed material. This cycle is stressful to fishes, so I reccommend only the heartiest as inhabitants (like Danios or Black Skirt Tetras, for instance), and definitely only a few in a ten gallon aquarium. After the break-in period, you may change your fish assemblage to something more delicate, as the filter is ready to process their waste. What likely happened in your case is that the fish (and amphibians) you selected could not cope with the elevated levels of Ammonia and Nitrite prevalent for the first few weeks of a brand new tank. In order to have success in keeping fish in an aquarium, you will need a biological filter (either undergravel, or a wet/dry filter, or there are some power filters that offer a section of biological media) and a test kit. Test the Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate regularly. If the first two do not fall to zero within a month, something is going wrong (overfeeding, dead fish in the aquarium, etc), and you will need to assess your routine. Once you get these compounds under control, change 25% to 50% of the tank volume every two weeks, and you shouldn't experience such dramatic fish loss, if any. By the way, the white film you mentioned could be a variety of diseases, and likely more than one at a time. When exposed to such a stressful environment, fish are prone to get sick. Treating the tank in your case will not be effective, since they are really responding to the poor water quality.
  
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