Lonewolfblue
Aquarium Advice Addict
I guess this is a continuation of my problem, lol. A few of my GBR's that have been surfacing have died, but still have a couple left. And I was reading on some different diseases, parasites, etc, and came across gill flukes. Could it possibly be gill flukes? Here's what I found on another site...
So my idea is to get a small tank, maybe like a 5G, and use it as a QT. And I was thinking of trying the Had A Snail like recommended, and see if that will stop the surfacing. What do you think?
As for the GBR's, they do seem to be pumping the gills open and closed, and the gills seem a little more red than the other GBR's. But they are too small to tell if there's any mucous.
Symptoms: Fish rapidly pumps its gills open and shut, hangs at the surface of the water, becomes lethargic, "flashes" gills become pink and mucousy and pink.
Treatment: Most sites will give you an elaborate procedure for treating with harsh chemicals that, in my experience, do more harm than good. I've found a much better way. Go to your local fish store and get something made from copper. I recommend Had A Snail, but medicines like Coppersafe work too. I have found that it will end the almost immediately. It also has no effect on your fish, unlike malachite green and many other antiparasitics, which are extremely hard on them. The only drawback is that you must remove all your invertabrates: The reason it's effective is that it kills ALL invertabrates, from the Ich parasite to shrimp. Invertabrates include snails, clams, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, and crabs. Note that you should treat for at least 5 days, as the hatching period of fluke eggs (unaffected by copper meds) varies from 2-4 days depending on the water temperature.
So my idea is to get a small tank, maybe like a 5G, and use it as a QT. And I was thinking of trying the Had A Snail like recommended, and see if that will stop the surfacing. What do you think?
As for the GBR's, they do seem to be pumping the gills open and closed, and the gills seem a little more red than the other GBR's. But they are too small to tell if there's any mucous.