Used Flourish Excell and now Fish are peeling...

[atuarium]

Hi all,

I think this classifies as an emergency... I have 7 discus in a planted tank and just dosed flourish Excell at double dose to start getting rid of some black beard algae as per the instructions from the planted aquarium forum and now the fish are distressed.

The largest ones appear to be peeling... Their slime coat is going all milky white and lumpy. They are distressed and have gone dark.

I read on the flourish site that the carbon can last in the water up to 24hours.

Is this a situation where I should do immediate water changes or will they be ok?

I have searched the net and one person had natives which reacted strangely.

Thanks.

Justin.

[sammigold]

I dont know for sure... but my instincts would be to do immediate large water change about 50%.... to try and get rid of some of the irritant....

If you have a hospital tank I would consider moving them into that and then maybe dosing tank with cooking salt at rate of 1 teaspoon per 40 litres...

Just to be sure though I would not put salt in until someone more "expert" says to...

But the most important thing I think at the moment is to get their water back to "normal"... what they are usually happy with..

good luck and I am sure someone else will help more soon!!!!

[atuarium]

thanks for your quick reply!

[sammigold]

I just realised what you meant... LOL

I was just browsing and had reached this forum and did not realise that you had only just posted...!

Hopefully it wont be long until someone else helps out... Like I said... Good Luck...

[OscarManAlpha]

I would do a water change ASAP mate....

Just as Sammi suggested.

I would add the salt aswell to help with the slime coat loss.

Keep as posted as to how you go.

Cheers,

Mark

[goldenpigeon]

can we have some more water specs?

raise the heat to 31 degree celcius. do the salt dosing as sammi said and put the fish in a hospital tank if you have one.

are the fish hiding in the corners? any new fish introduced recently?

[goldenpigeon]

i forgot to say also do at least a 50% water change!

[atuarium]

Hi goldenpigeon,

My water specs are PH 6.5, KH 3.0, temp 29 I don't know what my GH is...

I haven't added any new fish, though I just did my usual %50 water change that I do every week.

Only one fish is in the corner, which is the biggest of them. The rest are still out, but 2 of the 4 are very dark on and off, but the other two are fine...

[goldenpigeon]

mate im told that the flourish is basically liquid co2. im told that you need to do a massie water change and to remove the chemical.

also seachem does not recommend this sort of dosing so probably best to follow the bottle next time :) this dosage does kill the BBA but your fish too.

do a massive water change straight away!!! they should be fine. dose em up with some salt too.

hope all goes well.

[sharn]

i know alot of people who use the double dose of flourish excel on their discus tanks, but they slowly up it. a few people have just dumped a double dose in and its wiped out discus :(

good luck and i hope they perk up!

[samir]

are they sitting in a corner or at the top of the tank. is the colour dull and dark ? are the fins clamped and have whitish fungus on them ? the fish have gotten stressed and their immune system has weakened. did the water change do any good. if the water changes do not help and the fins start rotting away you may have to treat them with antibiotics.

[taksan]

Flourish Excel contray to some peoples opinions should NEVER EVER be overdosed to get rid of algae ! overdoses can not only adversly affect fish but also kill the biofilter. Only does FE at the recommended DAILY dose.
I'd recommend a series of immeiate 50% WC's.

[Waldo]

I agree. There are other means to distroy algae and beleive it or not no-one regulates what they write on the back. Ammonia removers are perfect examples of this. Since when does a bacteria break down Nitrates? ~ Seachem Balance

[atuarium]

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies. Fish are fine now... I'm going to take sharns advise and slowly creep it up to double dosages. There have been a couple of people over at the aquatic gardens australia forum that have used this method to rid themselves of BBA. I have tried other methods to no avail and I have had this algae for 7 months, so this is the last option left.

The fish are doing fine, back to eating and their normal colours... They are strong little buggers.

thanks again.

Justin.

[samir]

tried reducing light hours and a uv sterilizer ?

[goldenpigeon]

hey Justin,
dont overdose, the exel will kill it anyway with a normal dose... it just takes longer. just do the normal dosage and it will go away soon enough. and you get to save your fish!

[Bill T.]

I got these "flying foxes" from OAFI. They happily munched up the black hairy algae & they do seem to keep it under control - nice and natural - they also do a good job of cleaning my gravel. Plus they do have character!

[sammigold]

Your right bill, but you have to make sure you get the right ones as there is another fish that looks really similar to the siamese flying fox that eats algae but not anywhere near as much....

The "Real" Siamese Flying Fox are distinguished by the characteristic black mid-lateral stripe running all the way through the tail. It grows to a maximum size of approximately 14cm. they are renowned fortheir ability to consume hair algae. HTH

[RichVic]

Just want to agree with the previous 2 posts, I've had Siamese Flying foxes for around 3 months and only noticed how good they were, when hubby pinched them and put them into his 'garden' tank a 6x2x2 with CO2 and lots of light. They not only cleaned up his tank in a little over a week, but mine has been inundated with algae - three different types - he wouldn't give them back and has purchased 4 new ones for mine! LOL Typical! HTH

[Bill T.]

14 cm - wow! Mine must be about half way there!
I got mine from OAFI - the guy there told me about the two types and was adamant that he would only sell the right ones.

[sammigold]

I am sure that he would know ... hes pretty knowledgeable....