fierceblossoming
Mostly New Member
I have a 55g cycled freshwater tank. The tank is understocked with 4 tiger barbs and 2 platys. They all get along great and the tank has been stable for 6 months… until now.
A month or so ago, i noticed one of my normally vibrant barbs looking a little beat up. His fins look a little ragged so I treated the tank with Melafix, did the water changes, etc. He seemed to be improving.
Then about a week and a half ago, the same fish suddenly looked really skinny. It was a drastic weight loss, and he started hanging out by the heater/filter. He still eats, but the change in his behavior and rapid weight loss had me worried. After doing some research, i think it might be parasites. I have been treating the tank for 5 days with SeaChem Paraguard. I DID NOT remove the filter cartridges, as the instructions on the bottle didn't say to…
I wouldn't say that my little skinny fish has improved much, but he isn't getting worse. And today I noticed that another one of my normally healthy and vibrant barbs (in fact, this guy is really the dominant barb in my tank) is starting to hang out by the heater/filter and isn't eating. And another one (my green tiger barb) is starting to look skinny.
I don't have a LFS (other than Petco… they suggested I do a "dip" with each of the sick fish) to consult with, so hopefully someone on here can help me!
Tank stats:
pH 7.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40ppm
Temp: 78 degrees F
I just did a 25% water change about 2 weeks ago and changed one of the filters. We did have a heat wave about a month ago and the tank's temperature got up to 80 degrees F and I had a lot of algae growth. I just scraped it off when I changed the water, and I adjusted the heater to stabilize the temp at 77 - 78 F.
Have been treating with SeaChem Paraguard for 5 days - have NOT removed the filters during that time (Tetra Whisper filters).
Should I have removed the filters while treating with the Paraguard? (even though the instructions didn't say to)
Could this be something other than parasites? If so, what on earth could it be?
What is a "dip" and should I try it?
Help!
A month or so ago, i noticed one of my normally vibrant barbs looking a little beat up. His fins look a little ragged so I treated the tank with Melafix, did the water changes, etc. He seemed to be improving.
Then about a week and a half ago, the same fish suddenly looked really skinny. It was a drastic weight loss, and he started hanging out by the heater/filter. He still eats, but the change in his behavior and rapid weight loss had me worried. After doing some research, i think it might be parasites. I have been treating the tank for 5 days with SeaChem Paraguard. I DID NOT remove the filter cartridges, as the instructions on the bottle didn't say to…
I wouldn't say that my little skinny fish has improved much, but he isn't getting worse. And today I noticed that another one of my normally healthy and vibrant barbs (in fact, this guy is really the dominant barb in my tank) is starting to hang out by the heater/filter and isn't eating. And another one (my green tiger barb) is starting to look skinny.
I don't have a LFS (other than Petco… they suggested I do a "dip" with each of the sick fish) to consult with, so hopefully someone on here can help me!
Tank stats:
pH 7.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40ppm
Temp: 78 degrees F
I just did a 25% water change about 2 weeks ago and changed one of the filters. We did have a heat wave about a month ago and the tank's temperature got up to 80 degrees F and I had a lot of algae growth. I just scraped it off when I changed the water, and I adjusted the heater to stabilize the temp at 77 - 78 F.
Have been treating with SeaChem Paraguard for 5 days - have NOT removed the filters during that time (Tetra Whisper filters).
Should I have removed the filters while treating with the Paraguard? (even though the instructions didn't say to)
Could this be something other than parasites? If so, what on earth could it be?
What is a "dip" and should I try it?
Help!
