FMJnaX
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Hi all,
My beloved Ryunkin (in my avatar) is not doing too well and I'm afraid he won't be with me much longer. He's been struggling for quite a while now with different things. He started in my whiskey barrel "pond" and was really struggling with ammonia levels (the pond never cycled due to my newness and over addition of chemicals). I bought the 29 gal and moved him in to it to give him some relief. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to cycle the 29 gal so he was my cycle fish. Since the tank was upstairs, he also had to battle warmer water (80-82F). I watched the ammonia closely every day. Today it finally dropped to .25 ppm (1.0 ppm yesterday) so I think the ammonia stage of the cycle is about over. While I was checking the water yesterday, I noticed that right above his left eye was an eroding hole. I started to do some massive research and all I could come up with was HITH. Tonight it's 100x worse. It's really eating his head away and has started on the right side as well. He's still very active, eating, playing, etc. I also believe he has an internal parasite. Since last night, his poop has been white and stringy.
Now, I'm not thinking he's going to make it much longer by the looks of it. I have 1/2 of a day 1 dose of Maracyn-Two. Chances are, this isn't going to help any and I cannot go out and buy any more (the wife is utterly against my fish. I'm lucky I have the 3 I have now). She's just inhumane I suppose... Also, I don't want to disrupt my cycle by adding any meds. I know it sounds wrong and horrible, but I would rather let the guy go and finish my cycle than to try and save him and waste $30+ on meds. I really love the little guy, but he's just been through so much that I'm surprised he's even still alive.
So here's my questions:
1) I read up on HITH and everything says to keep water conditions perfect. Well, I can't.... I'm going through a cycle. pH and everything else is perfect in the range, I've done water changes, I don't overfeed, both filters are working great, etc. The only thing wrong is that my temperature is at 74F. The highest recommended temp for goldies is 72F. He's been in 82F without incident until now. Is there anything I can/should do in regards to water?
2) What can be used to help HITH? As I mentioned, his poop is white and stringy so he's more than likely got an internal parasite. I know what meds to use for that, but not sure about HITH.
3) Is HITH even curable? I get 50/50 from information I've read.
4) How horrible of a person am I for not rushing to save him? (flame me all you want, but I can't help it. I'm at the control of the wife and she will not budge even an inch).
My beloved Ryunkin (in my avatar) is not doing too well and I'm afraid he won't be with me much longer. He's been struggling for quite a while now with different things. He started in my whiskey barrel "pond" and was really struggling with ammonia levels (the pond never cycled due to my newness and over addition of chemicals). I bought the 29 gal and moved him in to it to give him some relief. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to cycle the 29 gal so he was my cycle fish. Since the tank was upstairs, he also had to battle warmer water (80-82F). I watched the ammonia closely every day. Today it finally dropped to .25 ppm (1.0 ppm yesterday) so I think the ammonia stage of the cycle is about over. While I was checking the water yesterday, I noticed that right above his left eye was an eroding hole. I started to do some massive research and all I could come up with was HITH. Tonight it's 100x worse. It's really eating his head away and has started on the right side as well. He's still very active, eating, playing, etc. I also believe he has an internal parasite. Since last night, his poop has been white and stringy.
Now, I'm not thinking he's going to make it much longer by the looks of it. I have 1/2 of a day 1 dose of Maracyn-Two. Chances are, this isn't going to help any and I cannot go out and buy any more (the wife is utterly against my fish. I'm lucky I have the 3 I have now). She's just inhumane I suppose... Also, I don't want to disrupt my cycle by adding any meds. I know it sounds wrong and horrible, but I would rather let the guy go and finish my cycle than to try and save him and waste $30+ on meds. I really love the little guy, but he's just been through so much that I'm surprised he's even still alive.
So here's my questions:
1) I read up on HITH and everything says to keep water conditions perfect. Well, I can't.... I'm going through a cycle. pH and everything else is perfect in the range, I've done water changes, I don't overfeed, both filters are working great, etc. The only thing wrong is that my temperature is at 74F. The highest recommended temp for goldies is 72F. He's been in 82F without incident until now. Is there anything I can/should do in regards to water?
2) What can be used to help HITH? As I mentioned, his poop is white and stringy so he's more than likely got an internal parasite. I know what meds to use for that, but not sure about HITH.
3) Is HITH even curable? I get 50/50 from information I've read.
4) How horrible of a person am I for not rushing to save him? (flame me all you want, but I can't help it. I'm at the control of the wife and she will not budge even an inch).