CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

hi, i wrote a post a little while ago about my heater, and water temp. i ;live in australia and water in getting to 30 celcius.
Anyway he has been spending most of the time in the top corner of his tank, not swimming much. he has now completely stopped eating and looks really sick. kinda lying on his side.
his tank is salted and he is about 6 inches, but seems smaller than he was, but it is hard to tell. im sorry if you dont think this to be 911, but if you saw he youd see HE IS VERY SICK and i dont know why!!!
Please help before it is too late, im sfraid he is gonna die

Make sure you have lots of water movement, and oxygenation.
As the water temperature rise's the level of Disolved oxygen derceases. Might be a good idea to put in an air stone, if possible.

really would love to do water change, but am out of aquarium salt and dont know if i can add it later or really need it there while he is sick. can i use sea salt?

Salt is salt......the problem with useing table salt is, not that it will harm the fish, but more in that it can cause filter problems. The amount of iodine in it is minimal. You can use any type of salt.
Yes you can add the salt later, the level of salt in your tank should not be high, one table spoon to ten gallons, is what I would recomend. Dose the tank once, then only add salt when you do a water change. If you remove ten gallons, add one tablespoon. Do not add salt if your toping up for evaporation loss of water. At this point from a temperature point of view, you might want to do lots of little water changes, so just keep track of the changes, so you know where the salt level is at. Then later when things cool down, you can get the tank redosed. Salt is not a required element for Oscars, (think thats what you have) just it helps with Osmosis, and helps with the fish's slim coat, and also can help keep some parasites in check.

ok i have stilen my sons treasure chest bubble maker thing from his tank and put it in with my oscar, sorry forgot to say.
will get an air stone tomorrow if that is not good enough for now. problem with the temp is, gotta the worst of it coming, its gonna get hotter!!!!!
cant afford to buy a water cooler, about 1000 i heard, so im a bit stuck. should the water changes be done with really cold water? would that help if i was only doing a bucket a day?

It is pretty hard to regulate water temperature via water changes, and I wouldn't really recomend it. The constant change in osmotic pressure might be as bad as the higher water temperatures.
You might want to try the frozen water bottles, (plastic ones) and float them in the tank to help keep it down. You may have to get creative, and find a way to sink one, and float one. I would not add to cold water on a water change, unless you have a large tank, +100 gallons. Yet when you do the change right now, cool water would be find 50 degrees or so, if its only a small percentage of the tank. ie not lowering the tank temp more than a degree or two.

like fuzzy said make sure your only topping up with salt with each eater change.... homebrand cooking salt from woolworths is what I use (AUSTRALIAN stores ONLY) as it contains just pure sea salt and is extremly cheap and just as effective.
Yeah get them airstones asap,(and a big air pump if you havent one),, you could also periodically every 60 minutes or so get a bucket and fill it with tank water and pour it back in from say a 1m height into the tank to help oygenate it...

hey tony
yeah i have been doin that with a jar by pushing it (upside down) into the water to fill, leting it bubble and when full pulling it straight up. but if a bucket works better i will do that.
and fuzzy
i tried the frozen water bottle thing, bearly touched the temp, and really pissed my fish off, stressed out heaps. he's a sensitive lad, my Sid Vicious.
thanks for the tip on the salt. pet shop sold me 500g for $7.50 last time, cool

my salt has anti caking agents i guess this is not ok

Not really,, can be quite harmfull to fish.

What type of filter are you using? What size tank? Taking a bucket of water out of the tank and pouring it back in is a really good way to re-oxygenate the water as Tony was saying. What is the water temp now? Why are you putting salt in? If you have a canister filter make sure that your out flow is positioned so that it slightly breaks the surface of the tank water so that it mixes oxygen back into the water.

i am using an internal filter 1200L per hour venturi, in a 3 ft by 18 by 18 tank. been using salt for a while, he was sick a while ago from high ammonia levels in a 2 ft tank. basically lack of knowledge and being misled by pet shops caused the problem, and have been using salt at a maitenance level ever since.
He is still not really well. water temp at 28 celcius, but not alot of change. have been doing water changes, added salt for stress, airstone , cleaned filter, taken out plastic plants, everything i can literally think of to solve the prob. he is however, asking for food once a day, but has not gained back his weight. he seems to look an inch smaller, dont know if this is possible? he looks so sick in the eyes and is moving so slowly, looks so weak, has been for days. looks better for a while, then drops again. gonna keep doing daily water changes and see if that helps. any more suggestions.

ok, new information, could this illness be a result of feeding crickets from the backyard? my son has been doing it for a while, thinking it would be ok. hasnt done it for a couple of weeks, but has been sick for longer, and put it down to the heat. i read the post on them and it makes me wonder if it could be!!!

Your going to drastically need to increase the the filteration.... 1200LPH is not doing the job,, your measurements calculate to be 50 us gallons (190 litres)
Hunt around for a resun 3800L rated at 2000LPH or something simular.



Crickets "could" be a problem if one has been affected by spray...

You know if anyone has a habit of spraying deodant under their arms around or near the tanks? or fly spray etc,, smokers in the house?

can you also or have got one of those cheap corner filters that you can load with some filter media and carbon?
Just thinking that if anything has entered the water that the carbon will absorb it,,,please rinse carbon extremly well b4 use and turf it after a few weeks use(I dont usualy reccomend using carbon but it can have its uses at times)

How are your water conditions? You know the usual tests for ammonia,nitrite.

Its good to hear your doung daily water changes and am unsure of the amount your doing but considering the current filter size I would suggest 20% and topping up with salt.

the only filters i have are 2 internal 200lph and 1200lph(regular one) and a plastic bubble type one with external pump and sponge inside, it has rocks at the bottom, only a cheapie. any suitable? no deoderant sprayed in the house, possibly fly spray, but try to be careful. we are not sopposed to smoke in the house, however partner does as soon as we go out . he too loves sid, so if i tell him this, it may stop him smoking in the house. and when he smokes, it is right in the room with the tank. i take it this could be the prob. what do i do?
can i do anything?