Ammonia Level? -> 0
Nitrite Level? -> 0
Nitrate level? -> < 20 (Orange)
Ph Level, (If possible,KH and GH and chloramines)? -> 7.4
Ph Level out of the Tap? -> 6.5 (add baking soda to the water b4 adding to the tank)
* Tank size (How many Gals) and How long has it been running? (29 gal for 6 months)
* What is the name and size of the filter/s? Enheim 2125 and Aquaclear 70
* How often do you change the water and how much?every 3 days, 50%

# How many fish in the tank and their size?
5 fishes
(LFS told me 1 inch 1 gal rule before I found this site. Due to the space limitation, I can't effort any more tank.)
1. 1 Ranchu 3.5" (w/o tail)
2. 1 Rhyukin 3"
3. 3 PearlScale 2"
# What kind of water additives or conditioners?
Prime
# Any medications added to the tank?
Salt (3 teaspoon per gallon) and 3 tablet of Fluke tab(just add it)
# Add any new fish to the tank?
No, added new plant
# What do you feed your fish?
Progold, Tetra Sinking Mini Sticks, Hikari Loinhead, Hikari dried blood worm, Hikari frozen worm, pea, pellet, algae pellet.
# Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt",bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus?
No
# Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, ect..?
YES, two of them stop moving for a while and go with the current(see video plz). And scratching to the floor.


Here is my past history 5 days ago.

And Here is the video of their symptoms.
1st Video
2nd Video
3rd Video
4th Video

Please pay attention at Pearlscals in the video. You will see their head was towards the surface and stop moving. They were doing this for the whole day and I am worrying about them now. Please help me... Thank you.

Fred

Hi there Fred - firstly you have a beautiful family of fish there

I won't harp on the stocking level as you're keeping up with your waterchanges and it's great to see there's a lot of aeration in the tank.

It could be flukes - there's definitely some erratic swimming there.

There's really only one way to know for sure and that's with a microscope however, barring that, there's a couple of good indicators:

- the erratic swimming you see (which isn't as bad as the flashing i've seen from major infestation - so this is a good thing)

- do they yawn at all?

- are there any marks on the body you can see?

- would you be able to check the gills? They should be a nice meaty red in colour, not pale or tattered

Going off the suspicion that there may be flukes present, then you're doing everything right. If you do a 50% waterchange and you have 0.3% salt then make sure you add back 43.5 teaspoons of salt - keeping your salinity at 0.3 (50% of 29 gallon = 14.5 gallons x 3 teaspoons of salt).

Thanks for the help,
- They sometime do the flashing.
- They don't yawn a lot but open and close the mouth very often.
- They don't have any mark on the body.
- Can you tell me the exact procedure to look at gill please? I saw a meaty red but I am not sure I am doing right.

I ordered microscopes last week. Stupid amazon.com hasn't shipped it out yet. Thanks again

And What is the best way to eliminate fluke using fluketab? Thank you.

The gills should look like this if there are in good condition, they also when you lift gently on the plate should easly seperate.......

Im no expert but last time I had a fish swiming like that (not moving his tail and just sorta going with the current) It was shock induced, I think it was any way otherwise the fish was sick from the store. Have you done any major changes to the tanks water chemestry??

Thank you KoKo.

Finny, the only major change in water chemistry is I switched Prime from Amquel+.

How do you detect a shock in the tank?

I checked the gill color. looks like darkred.

If the gills are a dark meaty red (as per koko's pic) then this is a good thing

As you have meds and salt in the tank, the best you can do now is try to make sure the water stays perfect and the meds/salt should take care of any parasites.

PS. I don't think it's shock unless you did a waterchange and both the ph and temperature of the new water is different to that of your tank

thanks jenw,
Now I have to just sit and wait which I hate to do. Thanks a lot..

what is the best way to use fluke tab? I know it is a lot of question. Please bare with me since I am very worry about my guys. Thank you.
Fred

The best way? That depends on the tablets you have. What do the instructions say? Usually you need to dissolve the correct amount in a tub with some tank water and make sure the tablets are fully dissolved before adding to your tank... so post back the instructions and we can take it from there

I am at work now. I will post as soon as I get home. Thanks again.

I have "Clout" brand and the direction said 1 tablet pet 10 gallons and should repeat after 24 hours. Is it good?

Does it say it eradicates flukes? I'm not familiar with clout for flukes... If it says it kills flukes, then go with the instructions and dose at 1 tab per 10 gallons and redose 24 hours later (just follow the instructions). Then you would need to redose 7 days later to make sure any hatchlings are destroyed

The instruction says it is good for Fluke. Thanks jenw.

Now it seems one of my Rhyukin is having fin root. I am uploading the video now and will post it very soon (

Here is the video for fin problem. Remember, he is in .3% salt water and under the treatment for fluke with fluketab.

Video

Thank you.

Firstly, are your water parameters still perfect?

Flukes are nasty as they do on many occassions cause secondary bacterial infection. I would try to get some medigold from www.goldfishconnection.com and commence feeding. Also what are the ingredients for your fluke tabs? If they're prazi then prazi and salt do well together but other meds can react with salt so it's best to take a looksee.

Please post back soon

The ingredients of Fluketab

4-[p-(dimethylamino)-)0-phyenylbenzylidene]-2,
5-cyclohexadien-1-xylidene dimethylammonium chloride;
dimethyl(2,2,2-trichloro-1-hydroxy-ethel) phosphonate;
1,2-dimethyl-5-nitroimidazole and
inert ingredients as non-toxic binders.

I don't know what does it mean

I just changed my water yesterday. So the water parameter is still good. I have medigold and feeding them now.

Thanks alot...

Help

two of them are have red fins and one start doing the bottom sitting. Now I am changing 50 percent of water. Please tell me what to do next? Please. Thank you.
Fred

How often are you feeding medicated food Fred? Are they still eating it?

Check the water (I know I keep harping on this) - although doing a 50% waterchange is an excellent idea. If you have the energy, go with a 70%

I can only tell you what I would do and thats:

Change out the fluke tabs you have and go with Parasite Clear as it contains an antibiotic to help with any secondary bacterial infection and is a good blanket parasite med

You can also keep the salinity at 0.3% with PC... and it's gentle on fish while it completes its task.

Is there any way you can take a pic of your fish as of now?

Hi Jen,
I feed them twice a day with medigold and they are not eating well. They just took first a couple of bite and leave the rest of the food.

Here is the water parameter.
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 20 to 40
PH - 7.6

I will change 70% of water after posting this post.

Here is the picture of the fish and it's not very clear. (I took it w/ my camera phone since my girlfriend took my camera).

[attachmentid=9114]

Thanks Jen.

Hmmm, it's a bit hard to see from the pic.

Can you list the symptoms as of today? ie.

- any scratching?
- any yawning?
- any white/stringy poop?
- red marks appear where on the body?
- any advancement of fin deterioration?
- and most important, if you can hold your fish in your hand (under the waterline) try and check the colour of their gills

I would definitely go with a course of Parasite Clear as it's a dual purpose med - it kills parasites and treats secondary bacterial infection also.

Hi Jen,
Thank for the help, Here is the answer

-any scratching? nope
- any yawning? nope
- any white/stringy poop? nope (stop white poop, after I gave them medigold)
- red marks appear where on the body? nope
- any advancement of fin deterioration? fins are getting worse. Red in color and tear a part at the edge
- and most important, if you can hold your fish in your hand (under the waterline) try and check the colour of their gills. still red.

I am going to get parasite clear once they open the store. Do I need other antibiotic?

So no scratching, yawning etc? This would indicate there's no more parasites and all sounds like it's going well barring the finrot.

Before doing down the path of more meds, it may benefit more by just going with excellent water and reducing the salt level down to 0.1%. I wonder if the fins have torn because of the salt and meds.... I have a moor that's sensitive to salt and his fins will rot if I salt to 0.3% and once the salt's been removed, his fins tend to heal up.

So as a suggestion, you could go with excellent water, no meds and reduced salinity and continue feeding the medicated food. You'll know whether or not this is helping within 48hours because you'll either see an increase in energy or a deterioration...

I smell something bad from the tank for a while. Is it normal in .3% salt tank?

I change 50% of the water again. After a few hours they are scratching the wall again. I bough Parasite clear, Maracyn 1 and 2. I havent' put anything in yet. Please let me know what should I do.

So most of the original meds are gone? (and no, salt doesn't make a tank smell)...

Then I would go with the parasite clear and run 2 courses of this. I'd still reduce the salt level slowly to 0.1 because Parasite Clear kills the same critters that salt does but 0.1% will act as a tonic

You may need to run a course of Maracyn but let them go though the parasite clear first.

Thanks Jen,
I believe most of the original med are gone, since I did a lot of water change after medication(At least 4x50 percent). Smell seems disappear and I put Parasite Clear in now. Rhyukin is basically sitting at the bottom at one corner now. Salt is at 1 percent sofar.

Thanks a lot, I wish my fish can get over all those problem...

Hang in there Fred and hopefully the PC will do it's job well. Post back if you see anything different

I am sorry to barge-in in the conversation. I smell this fishy/shellfish like smell in my tank as well which is quite strong. I have been changing my water nearly every single day because of this smell and the water gets really cloudy (every day). What sort of symptoms do you think this is?

One of my baby oranda just died in the same aquarium, I started putting salt with my water changes too. Any advise, please?

Thanks a lot Jen,

12 hours after putting the PC, Rhyukin is swimming again instead of sitting at the corner.


hope28:
Yesterday I did a big water change two times(50% each) and reduced to salt to .1% level. I don't get the smell this morning. But I don't know what cause the smell though.

Thanks small ranchu. I'll see what happens tomorrow. I just changed their water again this evening about 99%.

I must admit, since yesterday, when the smell was at it's most rancid...I changed the water...about 80%. Today the smell was not that bad but a hint was still there.

Hope: What do you have in the tank beside fish, air stone and filter?

That's great news Fred

Hope, where are you at with your tanks cycle? Tanks can emit a strong smell when cycling and the water can appear cloudy. Do you have test kits? If your fish died, then it could be due to toxic water so testing your water daily might be necessary

small ranchu: I had my 4 Neritina Natelensis in the same aquarium which I just removed yesterday morning to another tank. There are nothing else apart from the obvious; air bubbles and filter. I've taken out all the plants, stones, etc when my little "Liit Nemo" died last week.

JenW: I don't know where I am in the cycle right now. But I just changed the water this evening, pH6.5 nitrite and nitrate 0, ammonia 0. Now my Ryukin "Landi" has blood shot on his fins and tails. I have been adding a water detoxifier and water conditioner each time I place new water in. I will test again tomorrow morning and see what the situation is with the tank being cloudy and smelly. I just added a 0.1% of salt of 99% water change.

Hope28: ammonia 0, nitrite 0 and nitrate 0 means there is something wrong. Somebody corrects me if I am wrong. Nitrate should be always more than 0. I would not do 99% water change and the max I would go is 70%. And change again after 12 hours if it is needed.

Jen: I am at work and don't know the latest status now.

Status report after 24 hours of PC's 1st dose.

They are not very active but still swimming and eating(medigold).

Whats the temp?

Hi Koko,
It's 79F

Thats a good temp keep it there hun

ok, thanks Koko.

They are flashing again

It usually takes a couple of doses of PC to tackle stubborn parasites so run with the second dose. Do you have loads and loads of air? (I think you do)...

it is now 36 hours after I use the first dose of PC. According to the instruction I am going to wait another 12 hour for second dose. Yes, I have a lot of air. Thanks a lot Jen...

Hopefully the second dose will eradicate them all and their health can then start to improve

I get the smell again

Is it an earthy smell? This is natural in an established tank. It would help your fish to do a nice 50%waterchange before redosing on the PC and while you're at it, you can rinse the filter media in old tank water - just a swish around to remove the waste buildup. If you've ever smelled a nicely cycled filter, the smell is.... well very earthy Another time a tank can smell is when there's ammonia in the water so it might help to check although the PC shouldn't hurt your cycle ...

What kind of filtration are you running?