Adding Medication Questions

[Ruth]

shubunkin is not well at all few days ago he started to show swim bladder symptoms such as flip over and he is still laying on bottom. I started nlabs swim bladder treatment 2 days ago but still no imorovement .... he seems to be breathing fast... I am thinking should I start a new treatment of sterazin which helps gills?

Not a fan of removing filters,how long do we remove them for? do we put the old ones back in after treatment has finished?

hope someone can help!

 

[jlk]

Hi Ruth! How are your ammonia & nitrite levels? All the meds in the world wont help if they are still high. High levels of ammonia and/or nitrite are what is sickening your fish. Healthy water is the best thing you can offer him. If the filters have been in there for atleast a month (or longer), you dont need to remove them. The carbon is no longer effective at this point. You shouldnt be replacing your filters as it is- just rinse them in some used tank water because they house the largest portion of your good bacteria. If they are new, just dump the carbon out & keep the media portion. I cant stress enough how important it is for the water to be healthy- if theres still ammonia and/or nitrite present, you need to do water changes to lower them.

 

[Ruth]

hi jlk
my levels are fine now thx... I decided to put an extra filter in the tank and it seems to be ok now
ph 7.2
ammonia 0
nitrate 0
nitrite 0

the swim bladder treatment I am using is from n labs they advised me to wait 5 days and then do a water change.

 

[jlk]

Thanks, Ruth! Ok, you can wait for a water change but if your ammonia and/or nitrite start rising, you really should do a water change even if the meds say not to. Just do a big water & redose. Good luck!

 

[Ruth]

Fish is still alive only just..i was looking on the sterazin bottle this am..it says on there that the medicine is safe for filters, it also says remove zeolite.

Will I be ok to add this even though I last used SB treatment last wednesday?
Sorry if I am asking same questions it's just that I want to do the right thing and bit scared of just diving in with medication.

 

[Ruth]

very sad news fish passed away this morning.....ty for all your help xx will I need to do water change before I purchase new fish..even though tests are good

 

[jlk]

I am so sorry, Ruth! No more goldfish for this 10g- they are just not suitable for such a small tank. Please do your research first for appropriate species that will be happy with your setup before purchasing fish. Good luck!

 

[Ruth]

I will Definately have a look, should I do a water change before I buy anymore fish? It was last done last Tuesday.

 

[jlk]

Yes, you need to do 100% wc with temperature matched, properly conditioned water & run new carbon for a few hours to remove any traces of meds. Put your cycled media in a fresh container of treated water while the carbon is running & then replace it later after the new carbon has removed the meds.