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mekon mekon
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  • Posted on: 8/3/2013 10:09
VERY SICK ORANDA - PLEASE HELP ! #1
PLEASE HELP! I am sick with worry over my very ill oranda. Everywhere i go i get conflicting advice and i'm so stressed and he is so poorly. A week ago i noticed a large sore on the side of his body.... The day before i had noticed him "sitting" on the heater so i assumed it was a burn off the heater. I got a heater guard and added melafix to the tank.

A day later i noticed some black marks on his body and one on his head. Then he started to bloat and have problems swimming. I thought this was swim bladder so tried the pea trick which appeared to help briefly.

Now though he has stopped eating and is even more swollen and is swimming into the side of the aquarium really hard. I visited an aquatic shop and they gave me some protozin.

I am on day 2 of the treatment but he is still really bad. He is starting to "pine cone". I fear the worst. He is either swimming around crashing into the side of the tank or lay on his side/back breathing heavily.

Help Please ! I'm desperate.

I feel terrible. Is there anything i can do? I am doing 25% water changes every day (i have been for about 5 days now) as i know the nitrate and nitrite level is too high.

Aquarium size: 160 litres

Filtered using an external DIY trickle filter. The filter has layers of 3 foam types, Kaldnes K1, alfagrog and carbon (the carbon was removed as per instructions on the protozin bottle.

3 airstones

Temperature usually 20 (celcius) 68 (farenheit). I have now raised the temperature in the tank as i understand parasites dislike this.

Although i think it may be bacterial now. So i don't know whether the protozin will do anything to help. Or will it make it worse even? Should i stop the protozin treatment?

Ammonia 0
Nitrate 50
Nitrite 0,5 (Not seen nitrite before tonight)
GH >21 (I was told bogwood would lower this, which i have now added)
KH 12.5 (darker than 10 but not as dark as 15)
PH 7.8
CL 0


Very grateful for any help.

Thanks
Fishlady Fishlady
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  • Posted on: 8/3/2013 10:24
Re: VERY SICK ORANDA - PLEASE HELP ! #2
Have just replied to your PM, but posting in the forum is a better idea as you'll have more people offering good advice.
mekon mekon
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  • Posted on: 8/3/2013 14:16
Re: VERY SICK ORANDA - PLEASE HELP ! #3
Hmmm. You were right, those test strips can't be that accurate as i just tested some tap water and according to the strip the readings are:

TAP WATER:

Nitrate 50
Nitrite 0,5
GH >21od
KH 15
PH 6.8
CL 1,5

TANK WATER:

Nitrate 75
Nitrite 0,5
GH >21od
KH 15
PH 6.8
CL 0

Haven't re-tested for ammonia yet bur that is a different kit.
Fishlady Fishlady
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  • Posted on: 8/3/2013 14:41
Re: VERY SICK ORANDA - PLEASE HELP ! #4
If you go to your water supplier's web site you can get a report for your post code which will show the typical values for various water parameters in your immediate area.

I expect you're with Severn Trent as you're in Worcestershire. If so, click this link and type your post code into the box that comes up on the page. When the results page appears scroll down and report back what it says in the left hand column ("Typical Values") for "Hardness German" (third item down), conductivity, nitrate and pH.
mekon mekon
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  • Posted on: 8/3/2013 15:47
Re: VERY SICK ORANDA - PLEASE HELP ! #5
Hi. I just took a video of him to 2 different aquatic centres and they both said there is nothing they can do for him.

I'm devastated.

The one said that the kndest way to do it was chop his spinal cord and volunteered to do that for me. Sorry but NO WAY am i letting that happen.

The other said to use anasthetic and leave him in there for half an hour.

I have booked him in at the vets tonight jusr in case they think it might be treatable. Or if not i'm confident they will do it humanely.

Yes IS bloated but he's always been fat. He isn't that much bigger than usual but the pine coning shows something is seriously wrong.

I have borrowed an oxygen cannister from my Mum. I'm thinking if i pump oxygen into the tank rather than just air, that might help?

Or am i clutching at straws?
Fishlady Fishlady
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  • Posted on: 8/3/2013 16:14
Re: VERY SICK ORANDA - PLEASE HELP ! #6
Adding oxygen won't help I'm afraid. If there's difficulty with his respiration it is more likely to be as a result of the nitrite in the water. Nitrite binds with haemoglobin in the fish's blood and prevents it from taking up oxygen in the bloodstream effectively so unfortunately if you have good aeration adding more won't help. What can help is adding Seachem Prime or aquarium salt which prevents the Nitrite from binding in that manner and so allows the fish to make use of the oxygen. The other essential is repeated large water changes to remove the nitrite from the water.

If he really seems to be beyond help, the best way to euthanase is using clove oil to send him to sleep and then vodka to prevent him waking again. This link explains how to do this. Clove oil is available at most chemist shops.

mekon mekon
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  • Posted on: 8/3/2013 19:20
Re: VERY SICK ORANDA - PLEASE HELP ! #7
Hi. The deed is now done. He is at peace and no longer suffering. Poor little soul.

That's it for me and indoor fish. I will stick with pond fish in future as i know what i'm doing there + you don't get so attached to them.

My user name "mekon" is what i used to call him coz of his enormous wen.

After reading nitrites in the tap water too, i'm not convinced that the tank did have nitrites in there. I wish be asking for a refund on the kit tomorrow.

God bless you mekon. :'( :'( :'(
mekon mekon
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  • Posted on: 8/3/2013 19:22
Re: VERY SICK ORANDA - PLEASE HELP ! #8
....and thank you for your help today. I appreciate it. Cheers.
Silverfish Silverfish
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  • Posted on: 8/3/2013 21:36
Re: VERY SICK ORANDA - PLEASE HELP ! #9
Oh hi mekon, I saw your post on a different forum.

So sorry to hear he's gone, but I think you did the right thing, once they have dropsy it's not a good place to be, and they don't usually come back from it.
So you did the best thing for him.
Fishlady Fishlady
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  • Posted on: 8/3/2013 21:41
Re: VERY SICK ORANDA - PLEASE HELP ! #10
Sorry to hear he's gone, but from what you said here and via PM, he was unlikely to recover so you've done the right thing for him by helping him on his way.