Wound on nose, Tipping, Now - Colour dark, one fin clamped

[Topkath]

Update since last night, :(
He's still tipping over, and occasionally has one fin clamped and only uses the other - until he sees you coming, then swims (slowly) to back corner and reverses into it... his colour has also darkened quite a lot and his bars are more prominent.

Overnight, I've increased the water temp to 32deg and added a little sea salt probably less than 1 tablespoon for whole tank (175L) (it seems to be a bit of a general cure-all from what I've read here) but it really hasn't improved him any. Am also keeping kiddiwinkle terrorists :twisted: away from tank with lights off. Any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance..

[Merrilyn]

Hi Kath, is he still eating?

Adding the salt is definately a good move. It will help with the healing, and seems to have a calming effect. You can safely begin with 1 heap teaspoon per 40 litres of water, and increase that to 2 heap teaspoons per 40 litres after a day or so.

It's not too terrific if you have delicate plants in the tank, so you might like to remove them first. That rock you have in there may be causing a problem with your water, by making it very hard. Do you have a hardness testing kit?

Discus like very soft water, and driftwood is much more natural for them. There are no rocks like that found in the amazon, but certainly plenty of driftwood and fallen branches.

I'm thinking he may have a swim bladder disorder, which is making him tilt to one side, and would make him feel a bit off colour. Time should sort that out. Also, being damaged from racing around the tank is a strong possibility. The salt will help him recover from the stress of that too.

I've seen some parents put a portable timber play pen around the tank to keep the littlies away, till they are old enough to understand. Might work for you. :wink:

[goldfish]

where can you buy the salt from?

[marg]

Pure Rocksalt can be bought from your Local Supermarket.

Pays to always keep a bag on hand.

When I first joined tis Forum that was one of the first things I learnt from Ladyred - it is very useful if you have a Fish that is injured or off colour (saves on loading the fish up with uneccessary medications).,

Regards,

Marg.