Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: aprox 7
Ammonia: aprox 0

I currently have two orandas in a cycled 20 gal, and another in a hospital tank, and I think they all may have flukes, although the seperated one hasn't had really any symptomes like the other two. I have a Topfin 20 filter (which doesn't provide the recomended gph) and an 8 inch bubble bar that I added yesterday. I also have a banana plant and water lettuce that I added fairly recently, but I don't think the plants brought in flukes because they were QT for several days and washed with hot water.

I have never seen any of them rub on any plants or equipment, but think they may have been rubbing on the river rocks at the bottom of the tank. One in the 20 yawns, and although the other doesn't, when I go into my room at night, he starts sucking at the surface and does it off and on until a little after I turn off the light. It may be normal behavior, but he seems to not do it in a 'begging sort of way'. (Just thought I'd mention it.) Both are active, mainly at night, and there are no clamped fins. I haven't seen them flash other than when I accidentaly scare them. Their gills are a reddish/pinkish color, but seem to move noramlly and aren't tattered.

I have a microscope that isn't labeled but may be 400X; my mom thinks it is. I haven't taken a scraping yet because I haven't been completely sure about the flukes and didn't think it was powerful enough. I try to do a scrap today and see if I can come up with anything.

I have enough money to get Prazi from Goldfish Connection, but have heard Quick Cure and Pottasium Permanganate works well too. Is one more effeicient, safer or won't crash my cycle than the other two? I'm leaning toward Prazi, since it is specifically designed for flukes.

Thanks for any help.

Hi Roano - if you think it's flukes then the best cure is Prazi - it doesn't affect your filter at all and is considered the most gentle - also, you can use in conjunction with salt and some other meds.

But before you go down that path - it's hard to see any indication of flukes at this stage.... How are they eating?

The one thing i picked up on was you mentioned the gills were a pinky red - not a blood red? Healthy gills are a dark meaty red in colour and if they go a bit pale - it could be due to gill bacterial or gill flukes.

Would you be able to have another look?

Also - is your ph stable? Have they experienced a swing in ph at all lately?

I'd definitely order some Prazi if you can but in the meantime, why not salt to 0.3%? This helps enormously if your fish has a pathogenic bacteria among many other things.... It may be all you need...

Also, what temp is your tank at?

I'd always suspect flukes (or some other parasite) if the fish are new or have come from an external source... it doesn't sound as though yours have been exposed...

So please post back soon - it may be something else which is why your ph reading would be a great help

Thanks for replying, Jen.
The gold oranda that yawns, her gills seem a pretty good shade of red; but that could be because of the shadow of her operculum. My white calico as a clear operculum, and the gill sometimes looks a lighter red than the others' gills. I've noticed that after adding the bubble bar, my oranda hasn't yawned as much, so maybe there was just insufficeint oxygen in the tank. Their poop looks normal, except I recently saw my white oranda's have some air bubbles, so I will not feed him for two days then feed him peas. They seem to eat normal, all though after swallowing the soaked flakes they dowork their mouths a bit before eating more, but I think this is normal.

Just did a strip test; lately I've been using liquid tests and have mainly been testing Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates, and only have one 5 in 1 test strip; in the past, my pH has been high but pretty stable, around 7.6 or 7.8 so I haven't tested it since the beginning of last month, which I know, I should have. I know it's high for pH, but didn't want to mess with it and figured a stable pH is better than a more neutal pH that may swing. But when I checked today it looked more like 8:

pH: about 8
Alkalinity: about 240
Hardness: about 250
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
Temp: about 70 F, 20 C

The reason I think it may be flukes is because they have been swimming to the river rocks at the bottom, brushing them, and then swiming back up, then usually repeating. They seem to do this mostly in the morning, before I feed them. It's mainly my gold oranda. It could be just excitment for the food, but since, I see them most at feeding time, it could just be that I am able to notice her behavior at that time. They take lots of naps during the day, but they seem to be more active at night, so I don't know if it's lethargy or they just think they are nocturnal.

I have just enough money to pay for Prazi.

How are they doing? Your Prazi is on the way! I PM'd you the FedEx tracking no. - did you get it? GN flashed a lot when he had flukes. His scales came off!

They seem to be doing alright, will check on them more tommorow, I just got back on a trip to Seattle... They seem the same though...

"Your Prazi is on the way!"

I'm a little confused, I think your thinking about Kissy's topic in the Emergency section, who had the lionhead with possible flukes?

The good thing about Prazi is it's very gentle on both fish and humans...

So if you can get some, try medicating and see if there's any improvement... In my experience, when fish have flukes, they tend to twitch, flash and rub up against just about anything - this was at a the very initial stage. If I ever noticed any behaviour resembling this again, even slightly, (and I can point the finger at a possible cause) and didn't have a microscope - i'd medicate in a pinch.

Have you got salt in your tank?

No, but looking back, I saw your suggestion of .3% salt. How much would that be in a 20? I know there is a salt percentage link around here somewhere, and I'll look to find it.

The reason I'm unsure if it's flukes or not is because where I think I have seen them rubbing on the river rocks, and yawning, they seem to act normal. I got my last fish on Jan. 2nd this year, and I hadn't noticed any abnormal behavior then, that I can remember, and it can't have happened when I introduced the plants because I kept tehm seperate for a day or two then rinsed them under warm water and removed them from the water. So wouldn't they not be able bring flukes in? I thought I had noticed this behavior before I added them too; it's mainly just my gold oranda that does it.

"If it is just a general tonic/destressor then 0.1% (1tsp/gal) is fine.

0.3% is used to treat certain parasites and some fungal infections. As mkinga said, increase by 0.1% every 12 hrs."

I looked up salt dosages, and found this by Captk; does this mean I will need to use 20 tablespoons? 0.3% = 3 teaspoons x 20 gals = 60 teaspoons / 3 = 20 tabelspoons. Am I correct?

In a 20 - that's 20 teaspoons taking you to 0.1%. Then 12hrs later, another 20 teaspoons and then 12hrs after that - another 20 teaspoons.

It won't hurt your fish so I'd go to the 0.3% in 24hrs...

See if this does anything to improve the symptoms....

Okay, thank you.

Hi, Roano - You're right - for some reason I thought this was Kotniee's post - Sorry! Prazi is good stuff, works, fast, is safe - I hope it does the trcik for you and your fish are all better soon!

Yeah, was a little confused there for a sec.

"I hope it does the trcik for you and your fish are all better soon!"

Thanks Graham. If the salt doesn't work, I will order myself some Prazi; luckily I have just enough money.

I salted to .1% already, will add more at 10:00 pm tonight. I did see my fish rub against the ornament, I don't know if it was deliberate or not, but thought I should mention it anyway.

Okay; I haven't noticed any rubbing or yawning, I just added the final .1%, so hopefully this took care of some things with them. I hope it was just some micro parasite that wasn't resistant to salt.

The thing with flukes is, I don't understand how they got them, unless some how they came in on the plants or my fish have had them since the beginning of this year, which I don't think is possible without any of them being dead. I guess I'm just crossing my fingers now.

Noticed yawning today, but no rubbing on the gravel. Maybe just weak gills in these fish? I have never seen the one that's now seperate yawn.

It seemed after I added the total dosage of salt, their dorsal fins got dropy when they were swimming. They still raise them if they're surprised, but haven't been carrying them erect like they used to. Can this be an effect of the salt?

Still yawning, but saw no rubbing on gravel. Will check water params today.
For water changes, should I add that amount of salt back to the new gallons I put in?

What are some symptoms of gill disease? How do fish contract it?

Will somebody please help me! This is an emergancy now; both fish now have dropsy!

Ammonia: .25
Nitrate: 10 aprox
Nitrite: aprox 0

Levels weren't optimum, changed a few gals, will do more tomorrow. Have a heater for a 10 gal which was going to be for my other dropsied fish who now looks much better; should I hook this up? I think they may have body flukes/gill flukes, I am ordering Prazi tomorrow in the morning. Will add that and feed Metro Med. The tank is salted to about .3% with Aquarium Salt. Please help me!

Thanks, whichever mod moved my topic; I really appreciate it.

Back to gravel rubbing, still slight yawning. I'm ordering the Prazi today so it gets here ASAP. I have the air bubbles on and the filter and light on, I plan to hook up the heater; the water temp is currently around 70 degrees F. I'm feeding them the Metro-Med I have, but they seem to have trouble swallowing it.

Is there anything else I can get that would be at a local store that's effective against Flukes besides?

Bought some Parasite Clear, one of the Jungle products; it claimed to be effective against gill mites, gill flukes, body flukes, etc. Decided to buy this because it contained Prazi as it's main ingrediant, and also Metrondizale. They had Quick Cure, but it didn't specificly say for flukes, just 'other parasites like Ich'. Added the Parasite Clear just now, hopefully this will help as well as the .3% salt treatment.

Hi Roano - I just got home from interstate, logged on and noticed your post (was hoping it was good news). Anyhow, I'm so sorry it's become worse

See how you go with the Parasite Clear but in the meantime, bacterial gill disease has some very distinct symptoms eg.

- holes in the gill tissue
- white streaks through the gill tissue
- greenish pale and swollen
- tends to stay open (due to swelling)

9 times out of 10, bacterial gill disease is brought on by parasites... especially flukes...

How are your water parameters now? If your fish are pineconing - try to get your water perfect and then try epsom salt... are they still pineconing? Is it getting worse?

With the food - if you pre-soak it first, you can try getting a sharp knife and cutting the pieces smaller so your fish can eat them.

Anyhow, I hate to ask this but would you be able to give an update on all symptoms and water parameters? We can then take it from there.

Please post back soon

"I hate to ask this but would you be able to give an update on all symptoms and water parameters? We can then take it from there."

Sure! Thanks again for helping me.

Ammonia: .25
Nitrate: 10 aprox
Nitrite: aprox 0

These are the params from last night, this morning I changed a couple of gals. Do you want the params again? Will adding epsom salt to an already salted tank of .3% hurt the fish?

The pineconing is very minamal, I noticed it because their eyes seemed to be particularily large, then checked and found pineconing. They have been rubbing, yawning, I think flashing, taking a long time to eat, and my gold oranda was nipping my white oranda's tail fins, so I seperated them with a home-made divider, because I didn't want them stressing each other out. Also, their dorsal fin isn't always erect, but today it seems that they are holding it up more.

I don't think they have gill disease, but I will keep a lookout for that if it starts to get infected.

Also noticed my other recovering dropsy fish has been possible rubbing, can't be sure if it's intentional or not, because he's a very weak swimmer. No yawning or other symptomes that I saw.

Been feeding them Metro Med, put in recommended amount of Parasite Clear in both tanks just a few hours ago, and I haven't ordered the Prazi because I want to see if this works first, since it has prazi as it's top ingrediant. I have an unused Topfin heater that is for a 10 gal which I was origonally planning to use on the other fish, but now that the others have it worse, I'm going to hook it up. I know the parasites will multiply faster but then I can get them out of the tank's system quicker; currently the temps at 70 degrees.

Again, thanks for replying.

I think at this stage feeding the metromeds should help the beginnings of any pineconing...

Did you add the full amount of Parasite Clear? You may find it takes a day or 2 to see any improvement....

Don't worry about the epsom salt - you don't want to use in conjunction with salt anyhow. Have you noticed the swelling abating with the metromeds? How long have you been feeding MM's?

I'd medicate all fish especially if they all shared a tank at one point - this will ensure no reinfestation...

The most important thing at the moment is keeping their water parameters as perfect as possible - it'll reduce the stress on your fish (which reduces their natural ability to fight off any nasties)...

I'm not sure how PC works in conjunction with salt so as a precaution, perhaps start reducing the salininty in your tank - especially if you're going to do a couple of smaller waterchanges to dilute the toxicity of ammonia.

See how you go over the next 24hrs and try to keep a careful eye on symptoms. If you see any other unusual signs, please post back as it helps narrow down possible causes.

My fingers are crossed that full recovery is just around the corner

I had changed out about 25% of the water. I then added the PC, but watched them carefully, and they seemed fine. Actually, today they are looking better; haven't seen any rubbing or yawning, ate better, though I did soak the MM well. Dorsal fins are also erect. I am very happy, but also afraid we are going to have a relapse. Tommorrow evening, it will have been 48 hours since I added the first dose of PC, and the instructions said I could use it then with a 25% water change before. Do you think I should wait longer for the egg flukes to hatch? Maybe dose in three days?

Abdominal swelling seems the same, but the scales aren't as raised. Poop is also brown. I started feeding MM's yesterday; my other fish looks good too. I think I've been catching the dropsy in time, because in both cases, on the second day scales have gone down; I still plan on feeding them it for 21 days.

I also figured out how to work my heater with help from Fishmerised and Benno; should I turn it on? I need to do it at a time I can keep checking it, because without a thermometer on the heater it's kind of guess and check...

Tank water isn't quite as clear as it used to be, because I had to remove the filter cartrige because I have the kind that has the charcoal inside the sponge, so I had to remove the whole thing and replace it with an aquarium sponge; I know this will reduce the amount of beneficial bacteria in the tank, but my tank is already cycled and I think there is enough bacteria in the gravel.

I think I caught the gold oranda rubbing, but haven't seen the other do it or anymore or yawning, although her dorsal is slightly lowered.

When we medicated against flukes - we remedicated 4 days later also.... If you're not confident about the heater - then i'd give it a miss. The meds you have are enough to kill off any parasites..

The only time I use the heater is when it's a salt perishable parasite - other than that, i just let the meds do thier job

The only thing i'd do is keep a careful eye on your parameters - if you have put a new sponge in, you may see a slight shift in your cycle...

But all in all it sounds like things are looking up which is great news

"But all in all it sounds like things are looking up which is great news."

It seems to be better, so I guess I'll give it at least 72 hours before adding the meds again. I will watch my cycle, and check it tommorrow. Dropsy looks better too; I hope things work out for them. I don't like looking at the tank anymore because I'm afraid I'll see something wrong, but I also want to see if the meds are working.

I want to say again how much I appreiciate you helping and supporting me Jen. I'm so thankful that you are helping me and my fish; your a great person, and I'm so happy someone will be able to help me through this.

Awww shucks - no thanks necessary (i'm blushing)

And yes, I know that feeling of doom when you look in your tank and see your fish are sick - but it's great when you see improvement.

I think the next 48hrs will be the time to keep close watch... you're definitely doing all that's humanely possible for them and i think with the Parasite Clear, Metro-Meds and great water conditions, they'll improve on all fronts.

My fingers are crossed

Here are the test results;

Ammonia: aprox .25
Nitrate: 5
Nitrite: aprox .5

Did a 25% water change after that, and tommorrow I plan to add the second dose of PC.

Scales have completely gone down, as far as I could tell, and the swelling in my gold oranda has gone down; she looks like her fat normal self, except for her droppy dorsal. My white oranda, however, looks swollen still, but his scales are down also. Both are still eating, and they have been resting alot too.

Tommorrow I leave at around 10 am, and will be back Wed morning or early afternoon. I will do a water change before then, and add the PC before I leave. They will miss a feeding/monitering day, but I can get my dad to feed them for me.

I've been following your thread now for bit and I must say that you have done an excellent job yourself, Roano. JenW too. Great job, both of you....


I couldn't tell from reading your post if you wee using any special dechlorinators or anything but, you might want to look into getting some Prime or Amquel plus . Using it as per the ammonia and nitrIte levels in the tank will detoxify ALL of it and render it safe until you can do a large waterchange right before each addition of Parasite clear.

Basically, you won't have to do any waterchanges in between each addition of meds. This will help keep the correct amount of PC in the tank throughout the treatment. Otherwise, waterchanges in between will reduce the amount of meds and possibly hamper the treatment, even if by a little. Unless of course, you are taking the time of adding back the exact % of meds that are removed by the waterchanges.....

Just a thought. Either way, it REALLY pays to have the added benefit of Prime or Amquel plus detoxifying ammonia and nitrItes, even if you still do waterchanges.



Good luck with the rest of your treatment.


Paul

I've been using AquaSafe; read through the back and it said it "reduces ammonia commponents" but not really sure what that means. Are Prime or Amquel Plus at local fish stores? I'll have to see if I can get some tommorrow or this evening, but am not sure I can get it before I leave. I can probably get some before the trip and add it when I get home.

I was doing water changes cause of the water quality, but I didn't think about the reduction of the PC that much; thanks for telling me that! Since I just did a 25% change, I won't do anymore, and just add the PC tommorrow, since I've done all the requirements for a second dose of medication. Hopefully everything will go okay...

Thanks for your advice, Paul.

To be quite honest with you, the ingredients in Aquasafe, although claimed to detoxify ammonia, probably doesn't detoxify nitrItes. Since it's nitrItes that you normally see in a cycle that has burped, This is the main thing to concentrate on keeping low. But, since it seems your getting ammonia readings, it will at least help.

Prime and amquel plus both contain sodium thiosulfate. This compound is WELL known to detoxify ammonia, nitrItes AND nitrates. In my opinion, it is the best stuff to use. It is even safe enough to double and triple dose. Wich it says so on the container. Aquasafe does not make this claim. You can draw your own conclusions from this bit of info.....


Good luck!

I hope you don't think I was disagreeing with you, if it sounded that way I wasn't trying to. I plan to get some Amquel or Prime.

Fish are looking alright this morning, both sticking together (she got through the divider) and their has been no more fin niping. Both have appetites and seem more active. I will dose with PC right before I leave.

"Good luck!"

Thank you!

I didn't think that at all. In fact, I really didn't know too much about Aquasafe myself and did a little research on it for you. After a bit more investigation, I have unearthed the following:

Aquasafe ingredients: Sodium Hydroxymethane Sulfinate, Polyvinyl Pyrollidones, Organic Hydrocolloids, Organic Chelating Compounds

Organic hydrocolloids are substances that form a gel when in contact with water. This is obviously the "slime coat" additive.

Organic chelating compounds are what minds heavy metals

I haven't gottn to the root of the first two ingredients, and exactly what they do, quite yet. But, I DID find this about sodium hydroxymethane sulfinate:

Sodium Hydroxymethane Sulfinate is compatible with ammonia test kits that use salicylate reagents. Use of kits with Nessler reagents will result in a false positive for ammonia.

I think that the substances that cause false readings generally show readings of 3ppm or more. Not positive but you might want to find out what kind of ammonia kit you have. Just in case.

I think I might have to put together a page dealing with test kits, ease of use and compatibilities with dechlorinators....


PAul

Hi Roano - any news?

Just got home from the trip, fish look fine, even better then before! They don't look so bloated and I haven't really noticed any flukes symptoms; of course I will need more time to look at them. My dad feed them their med food so they wouldn't miss a day feeding.

Thanks for the research, I appreiciate it. I'm glad you could tell me what each specific ingrediant does, because I didn't know what any of that meant. Just wondering, since neutralize heavy metals is the main thing a conditioner does, would one with more organic chelating compounds be preferable?

My ammonia test kit is the Mardel brand, strip kind. I couldn't find any ingrediants on it, I'll have to look it up online.

Since the fish are looking better, and it turns out the flukes die (knock on wood) how long should I wait before putting the filter cartrige back in? I want to make sure flukes on the cartrige die, and that the treatment is completely done before adding. I took them out and added the PC on the late afternoon of the 22nd; it has been about six days since then, and second dose on the 25th, only about two days ago.

I have been keeping the cartriges in their own seperate containers with de-clhorinated water, and I'm adding some fish food because I'm trying to keep the good bacteria alive; should I be doing something else?

Because the life cycle of flukes can be completed in as early as 3-5 days, I think it would be best to hit them with 3 separate additions. This way, you are killing the ones that were there with the first dose. The second dose kills of any of the ones that hatched from eggs or the dead or dying mothers wombs. Then as a added precaution, the third dose kills off any of the ones emerging from any aggs or wombs that lasted long enough through the second dose.

The reason for all the additional treatments is because gyrodacylus (skin flukes) are born with an unborn flukes already growing within it. It is even said that they can have an embryo inside of an embryo, inside of an embryo. So, you can take one fluke and find two more generations of young living within it.



So, I think that one more treatment will just about do it for whatever was in your tank. It sounds like everyone is handling it rather well too. Thats good.


Paul

I want to but the PC says I should only do a total of two treatments... should I just ignore this? I don't want it to hurt the fish... maybe a 45% change and then add it? But then the treatment wouldn't really be as effective will it? Should I starve the tank by removing the fish to brand new water, treating them again, and let the tank sit for awhile? Or will that be too much stress or not work? They still are recovering from dropsy.

They look okay today, still take a little time to eat, but haven't seen any rubbing or yawning.

BTW Jen, I like your signature! I just noticed that.

Well, that is entirely up to you. In my opinion, as your fish stand, you might have already been successful at eliminating them. So, go ahead and finish up with your two treamtents of them. If you see any sort of comeback in the near future, you'll know that you need to do the next treatment with an extra addition.....


Sounds like your goldies are faring well! It about time, huh?


Paul

New anxieties now; I caught her rubbing on the gravel yesterday, possibly twice, but am trying to tell myself that it was because she was in a cramped corner of the tank and was just swimming out of it. I haven't noticed anything else about them though. I guess I'll just keep watching them.

I still have the tank salted to .3%, or perhaps slightly less.

Thanks for all the help Paul, it really means alot to me. I really hope it was just a one time thing and she won't do it anymore. I haven't seen my other do it, he never did. Her stomach is quite round, and has been for awhile, and it recently occured to me that she may have an internal parasite. But the meds treat for internal parasites, so I don't know; it seems like it's just her...maybe she's more sensitive?

Well, I have noticed that fancy goldfish with little round bodies sometimes learn to turn around by going sideways and turning upwards. They'll do this to get out of corners and other places. I know exactly how you felt when you saw that. Your like, "NOOOOOO!". All in slow motion, running for the parasite clear.....

My little fantail in my avatar does this. But, it is ALWAYS when he is in a corner or tight space and hes trying to get out/turn around. I see this happen several times a day and your right! It DOES look similar to scratching on the bottom. But, there is a difference in their attitudes when they are doing it. A fish trying to scratch, will do so with fervor, even manically.

I have a feeling that your just seeing what I see in my fantail. Their little bodies just don't get around as well as the sleeker shaped comets or commons.....


Either way, keep a close eye on it and if you think its starting to look more like actual scratching, let us know.


Paul

How is it going? I hope BETTER!

(BTW - GN swims all funny like that, too - it's very funny to watch him stuff himself into a corner - I think he does it on purpose sometimes - he thinks he's Harry Houdini - look ma, I can get outta this! I definitley worried that it was flashing for a while but I have learned to tell the difference. I think he wants a bigger tanks already! Or he just likes to explore and do gynastics)!

Just got home from another one day trip, and foud my white orandas fins red at the tips. I tested the water and was shocked:

Am: .25
NA: around 6
NI: around 4

The nitrites skyrocketed, so I changed 25%, hoping this will take it down some and not diminish the PC too much. I'm leaveing again for several days Wed, but am going to buy some Prime tommorrow, and my dad volenteered to feed/change a couple of gallons a day.

I'm not as worried about parasites now; theie fins were erect and gills looked reddish, no scratching or flashing. But now am worried about dropsy and water quality.

"Your like, "NOOOOOO!". All in slow motion, running for the parasite clear..... "

Precisly. She used to do it just out in the open too, but hasn't since the PC.

"GN swims all funny like that, too - it's very funny to watch him stuff himself into a corner - I think he does it on purpose sometimes - he thinks he's Harry Houdini - look ma, I can get outta this! I definitley worried that it was flashing for a while but I have learned to tell the difference. I think he wants a bigger tanks already! Or he just likes to explore and do gynastics"

Graham always sounds like quite the charactor.

Okay, I'm calming down a little more. Multipule posting is a sure sign of nervousness for me. Should I add the filter cartrige (this includes charcoal) on Wed before I leave? I know it will absorb the PC but with water changes it will be diminishing anyway, so I think this way things would be alot easier. Should I add it sooner?

Well Roano - sadly the fact that your water parameters are iffy means the meds will be causing even more stress so IMHO, you could put the carbon back in. Also, it's great that you're getting some prime, it'll render the ammonia harmless...

If your nitrites are at 4 - you could add a teaspoon of salt per gallon as it'll help your fish get through this.

Good on your dad for stepping in - what a guy Any small waterchanges will help enormously.

Hopefully everything will turn out wonderfully

"Good on your dad for stepping in - what a guy Any small waterchanges will help enormously."

Yeah, I'm so thankful for my parents; they not only tolerate my fish insanity, but volunteer to help me. I consider my self very lucky.

My mom's driving me into town today and I can get some Prime or Amquel, and tommorrow I will be in town too and able to look at a different fish store, so hopefully I can find some.

My salt was at .3%, but I have changed 15 gallons so far, so I'll add some more today.

They are looking better this morning; I borrowed Kissy's idea for feeding Metro and put a plasitc plate in their tank for them to eat off of, so they have been able to find the food easily. No real swelling or raised scales, they were a little bumpy last night but I'm still feeding. No flashing, yawning, or rubbing, so I'm hoping the PC did it's job and I can put the carbon back in without any problems.

Is there something I should expect when adding the carbon? Will there be a swing in water quality or will it happen gradually?

Got the Prime; I plan to dose it immediatly. It says that for emergency nitrites, I can does up to 5 times the amount. I plan to dose only twice times that amount, and then add some more before my trip if you think I should.