econto4
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I will appreciate if someone can help me with this issue. Everything seemed to be alright with my goldfish aquarium until one week ago. I just kept making the regular maintenance and water changes, and everything seemed to be running smoothly.
Suddenly some of my goldfish's tails and other fins started to get affected by something. Some of the fins and specially the tails seemed to be flaked, split like something was eating them. The tissue between the rays of the tails almost disappeared. One of them remained almost with no tail. The strange thing is that not all of them were attacked by this. The first days other than that, their behavior was quite normal and they haven't lost their appetite so far. I read a lot of books and consulted the veterinary. I was told first that I should check/treat for bacteria, which I did, but the problem persisted (I used Melafix and later Baktopur). Then I was told that this was caused by external protozoans and recommended me to use metrodinazol (flagyl) which I did, but did not work either. Then I was told that I should treat the aquarium for flukes, which I did, but did not work. I read that this may hade been caused by a PH crash, but I measured it and was normal as usual. I read as well about electrocution, I checked this, but it is neither the problem. Finally the veterinary told me to check for fungal infections, but it did not work either. I was also recommended to check for violence between them, and I observed the fish for several hours and even filmed them during the night with a special camera, but they do not show aggressive behavior to each other.
In the meanwhile the problem persits. The most affected fish is even loosing scales and the body mucus cover. he also has now a white spot on the head that did not use to have. but it does not look like itch or cotton.
I really would like to know:
- If other than what I have been already told, anyone knows what is the cause for this.
- If so, does anyone know an effective treatment that I could use to cure the affected fish (if still possible at all)?
- What can I do to avoid this from happening again?
As a general information, this is a 35 gallons freshwater aquarium provided with undergravel filter, aeration through a airwall stone, external power filter properly sized for the aquarium, internal power filter, and UV sterilizer. It also has algaes and plants. I use illumination during the day and turn it off during the night. The temperature ranges between 75 and 77 F depending on the daytime. It also has some artificial silicone plants I recently bought for decoration.
I have another similarly equipped/decorated aquarium also with goldfish and I have never had problems. The only difference I have ever noticed, is that in the affected aquarium, there is sort of a "dirt" that grows faster on the internal face of the glass, even though they are both exactly in the same area of the house.
PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!
Suddenly some of my goldfish's tails and other fins started to get affected by something. Some of the fins and specially the tails seemed to be flaked, split like something was eating them. The tissue between the rays of the tails almost disappeared. One of them remained almost with no tail. The strange thing is that not all of them were attacked by this. The first days other than that, their behavior was quite normal and they haven't lost their appetite so far. I read a lot of books and consulted the veterinary. I was told first that I should check/treat for bacteria, which I did, but the problem persisted (I used Melafix and later Baktopur). Then I was told that this was caused by external protozoans and recommended me to use metrodinazol (flagyl) which I did, but did not work either. Then I was told that I should treat the aquarium for flukes, which I did, but did not work. I read that this may hade been caused by a PH crash, but I measured it and was normal as usual. I read as well about electrocution, I checked this, but it is neither the problem. Finally the veterinary told me to check for fungal infections, but it did not work either. I was also recommended to check for violence between them, and I observed the fish for several hours and even filmed them during the night with a special camera, but they do not show aggressive behavior to each other.
In the meanwhile the problem persits. The most affected fish is even loosing scales and the body mucus cover. he also has now a white spot on the head that did not use to have. but it does not look like itch or cotton.
I really would like to know:
- If other than what I have been already told, anyone knows what is the cause for this.
- If so, does anyone know an effective treatment that I could use to cure the affected fish (if still possible at all)?
- What can I do to avoid this from happening again?
As a general information, this is a 35 gallons freshwater aquarium provided with undergravel filter, aeration through a airwall stone, external power filter properly sized for the aquarium, internal power filter, and UV sterilizer. It also has algaes and plants. I use illumination during the day and turn it off during the night. The temperature ranges between 75 and 77 F depending on the daytime. It also has some artificial silicone plants I recently bought for decoration.
I have another similarly equipped/decorated aquarium also with goldfish and I have never had problems. The only difference I have ever noticed, is that in the affected aquarium, there is sort of a "dirt" that grows faster on the internal face of the glass, even though they are both exactly in the same area of the house.
PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!