Clueless!!! Please help

[lexylopez]

I bought a leopard Dsicus yesterday... I didin't check the fish that much knowing that its a commercial LFS, and I know the employees there. Just today I found out that it has white spot and fin rot... I don't wanna give it back bec. of sentimental reasons :oops: (dont ask) It's size is around 1 1/2 in. I placed the Leopard together with my 3-5in Discus, I have 9 of them. My original 8 discus seem to be fine, but I'm worried if they might get the disease too. Am short on tanks and I'm trying to save money as I possibly can. The temp is around 28 C , Ph 7... The leopard uses only 1 fin and doesn't fully extend its dorsal fins... like its always afraid or something. It has red poop (maybe bec of Tetra bits), and its eating habit is quite normal ( I feed em' bloodworms)... Should I just leave it there or is it really necessary for me to buy a new tank? If ever what size? :( :( :( B.D.Y. Happy New year to All!

[G-1000]

Hi There,

I will give you some general advice which will help until a more experienced forum advisor can help you out.

I would increase the temperature a little bit to about 30 degrees celsius, so that you can disrupt the life cycle of the organism that causes whitespot. This should help a little bit.

The fin rot MAY (and I say MAY because I am not 100% sure) be due to pH burn when introduced into the main tank - so unless it gets more distinct and obvious I wouldnt try to treat it atm.

A proper water change with aged water of a very similar pH will help the situation.

Other than that - I am sure one of the forum advisors will have a more detailed response a little later today.

G

[lexylopez]

Hi There,

I will give you some general advice which will help until a more experienced forum advisor can help you out.

I would increase the temperature a little bit to about 30 degrees celsius, so that you can disrupt the life cycle of the organism that causes whitespot. This should help a little bit.

The fin rot MAY (and I say MAY because I am not 100% sure) be due to pH burn when introduced into the main tank - so unless it gets more distinct and obvious I wouldnt try to treat it atm.

A proper water change with aged water of a very similar pH will help the situation.

Other than that - I am sure one of the forum advisors will have a more detailed response a little later today.

GThanks G-1000 I'll be waiting for other members. Its just that I just get so paranoid whenever they get sick or if there is something wrong with the water...

Regards,
Lexy

[Merrilyn]

Hi Lexy, welcome to the forum. Glad you could join us.

I won't give you the usual lecture on the need for quarantining new fish LOL. I think you may have realized that already.

Okay, now G_1000 has given you some pretty good advice. Increase the temperature in the tank to around 32 degrees and add some salt to the water. One tablespoon per 40 litres of tank water. There is no doubt that the other fish will catch white spot from the new arrival. Raising the temperature will speed up the life cycle of the white spot parasite so that you can kill it while in the free swimming stage.

You will need to get a white spot cure from your local fish shop, and follow the instructions to the letter. White spot is easy to cure if you follow directions, but terribly hard to cure if you don't do the follow up treatments.

The fin rot could be bacterial, or due to pH burn, or it may be that the other fish are pecking at the fins of the newcomer. It's more important to cure the white spot first, as it can be fatal if it gets a hold on the fish. The fin rot we will attend to later. You may even find that the salt will efect a cure.

Daily water changes are terribly important to remove as many of the parasites as possible. Once they fall off the fish, they hide in the gravel, and explode into hundreds of free swimming parasites, just looking for a host. So, in a very short time, ten spots on your new fish suddenly turn into hundreds on every fish in the tank. Doing a thorough daily gravel vac will remove the cysts before they have had time to reproduce, again cutting down on the population.

Some of the free swimming parasites will also be removed by the water change. You need to start treatment sooner rather than later. With white spot, hours matter.

Good luck, and keep us informed.

[lexylopez]

Hi Lexy, welcome to the forum. Glad you could join us.

I won't give you the usual lecture on the need for quarantining new fish LOL. I think you may have realized that already.

Okay, now G_1000 has given you some pretty good advice. Increase the temperature in the tank to around 32 degrees and add some salt to the water. One tablespoon per 40 litres of tank water. There is no doubt that the other fish will catch white spot from the new arrival. Raising the temperature will speed up the life cycle of the white spot parasite so that you can kill it while in the free swimming stage.

You will need to get a white spot cure from your local fish shop, and follow the instructions to the letter. White spot is easy to cure if you follow directions, but terribly hard to cure if you don't do the follow up treatments.

The fin rot could be bacterial, or due to pH burn, or it may be that the other fish are pecking at the fins of the newcomer. It's more important to cure the white spot first, as it can be fatal if it gets a hold on the fish. The fin rot we will attend to later. You may even find that the salt will efect a cure.

Daily water changes are terribly important to remove as many of the parasites as possible. Once they fall off the fish, they hide in the gravel, and explode into hundreds of free swimming parasites, just looking for a host. So, in a very short time, ten spots on your new fish suddenly turn into hundreds on every fish in the tank. Doing a thorough daily gravel vac will remove the cysts before they have had time to reproduce, again cutting down on the population.

Some of the free swimming parasites will also be removed by the water change. You need to start treatment sooner rather than later. With white spot, hours matter.

Good luck, and keep us informed.I had no choice but to buy a new 20 gall tank with heater and sponge... Ahhhhh!!! I was trying to save that money for new year :,( I took out the leopard and still placed some salt on the old tank just in case. None of them seem to have any spots or whatsoever.. I poured some anti parasite few hours earlier when the leopard was still on my 75gal tank... Maybe I got lucky! :) DOn't wanna Jinx it though... I'll keep you guys posted. If there are any other advice you can give me for my HOSPITAL tank, please do. I feel sorry for the little fella though.. Hes' all alone and scared...

[goldenpigeon]

give him a place to hide in his new tank. a terracotta pot with part of it cut out will do good.

you can go to your lfs and buy a white spot treatment.

i think you should look further into why he had got white spot. was it your fault or the shops? i know you may be loyal to them but if they are selling diseased fish then maybe you might want to rethink who you buy your more expensive fish like discus from.

do you have a picture for us? that would help heaps


good luck :D

[gotti]

Your fish shouldn't have contracted fin rot in the matter of 24 hours.
My advice is to look carefully before you buy