Regular Member Crystal Posted September 7, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted September 7, 2018 Hi, I have had this little comet for a little over two weeks and he/she is quarantined in a 10 gal with a filter good for 20 gals, which I’ve been monitoring. water parameters appear good except pH was 8 when I tested earlier. please see the attached videos, I tried to capture the white spot on the head as best as I could. It doesn’t seem fluffy like fungus, it doesn’t look red/bloody like a lesion, and there are no visible small white spots anywhere else. behavior seems typical- eating, foraging, swimming around a lot unless resting at night. does swim to the walls and corners sometimes but is not flashing/darting into plants or gravel and not rubbing up on walls. i wonder if the air stone I’ve been struggling to secure beneath the gravel could have caused harm but the fish mostly swims through the bubbles and avoid the stone. im really stumped, any insights would be greatly appreciated. 4357855F-ABA7-4E18-B0BA-893A4135D518.MOV 2595F400-59C4-4531-B9EF-00C82980CC75.MP4 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member shakaho Posted September 7, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted September 7, 2018 I'd like to see your parameters. A pH of 8 is fine. I saw one of the videos, but I can't see the lesion with the fish so active. If you put the fish in a small container and take some still pictures, we could see better. It doesn't sound like anything serious, but let us know of any changes. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Crystal Posted September 7, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 7, 2018 (edited) Hi Shakaho, Thank you for your feedback. I placed him in a smaller container to get a better look and to my horror noticed blood streak in his tail fin. Please refer to attached photos. Retested the tank water and it appears 0.25-0.5 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate. I feel terrible, as I suspect I messed up my cycle with a 50% water change and partial gravel cleaning I did about 3 days ago. But is this likely if the tank was properly cycled? The faint white spot on his head is less of an immediate concern now since I’m realizing he is likely suffering from the ammonia. I have dosed with Prime, but now I face the problem of potentially having to re-cycle my quarantine tank... Could I use Tetra Safestart Plus to help reset the cycle? is there a water conditioner that effectively dechlorinates water but won’t conflict with the TSS? Edited September 7, 2018 by Crystal 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member shakaho Posted September 8, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted September 8, 2018 3 hours ago, Crystal said: Hi Shakaho, Thank you for your feedback. I placed him in a smaller container to get a better look and to my horror noticed blood streak in his tail fin. Please refer to attached photos. Retested the tank water and it appears 0.25-0.5 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 0 nitrate. I feel terrible, as I suspect I messed up my cycle with a 50% water change and partial gravel cleaning I did about 3 days ago. But is this likely if the tank was properly cycled? The faint white spot on his head is less of an immediate concern now since I’m realizing he is likely suffering from the ammonia. I have dosed with Prime, but now I face the problem of potentially having to re-cycle my quarantine tank... Could I use Tetra Safestart Plus to help reset the cycle? is there a water conditioner that effectively dechlorinates water but won’t conflict with the TSS? Relax. You haven't done anything very wrong. Until your ammonia reads zero before every water change you should change 50% of the water daily. Add the Prime dose for 10 gallons with each water change. Prime will protect the fish from up to 1 ppm ammonia/nitrite for a full day. We often do not cycle a quarantine tank, but just keep the water clean with large water changes. If the fish needs antibacterial treatment, you will probably kill the cycle, so don't worry about it. Please don't waste your money on "cycling products." Even those that actually contain some live nitrifiers, do not contain the ideal nitrifiers for your tank, which are the ones that grew in your tank. Since I don't know the history of your tank, I can't say what caused the small ammonia spike, but it wasn't the 50% water change and I doubt that cleaning the gravel had anything to do with it either. You might have overfed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Crystal Posted September 8, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 8, 2018 8 minutes ago, shakaho said: Relax. You haven't done anything very wrong. Until your ammonia reads zero before every water change you should change 50% of the water daily. Add the Prime dose for 10 gallons with each water change. Prime will protect the fish from up to 1 ppm ammonia/nitrite for a full day. We often do not cycle a quarantine tank, but just keep the water clean with large water changes. If the fish needs antibacterial treatment, you will probably kill the cycle, so don't worry about it. Please don't waste your money on "cycling products." Even those that actually contain some live nitrifiers, do not contain the ideal nitrifiers for your tank, which are the ones that grew in your tank. Since I don't know the history of your tank, I can't say what caused the small ammonia spike, but it wasn't the 50% water change and I doubt that cleaning the gravel had anything to do with it either. You might have overfed. Okay, I think you’re right I propbably overfed. I will stick to a daily 50% water change from now on and keep a close eye on the water parameters. Would you recommend leaving the substrate alone for these water changes or is it best to clean the gravel or should I just remove the gravel and artificial plants? thank you again for the much needed advice, as I’m sure it’s obvious I’m not very experienced. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member shakaho Posted September 8, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted September 8, 2018 When changing water, use your siphon on the gravel to clean out as much organic debris as you can. Also, dump the water from the filter and rinse the filter medium in dechlorinated water. By cleaning the bottom of the tank and the filter, you remove the dirtiest water in the system. Plastic plants can scrape a fish, leaving a surface lesion. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Crystal Posted September 8, 2018 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 8, 2018 Okay I will do that! does it make a difference that they are “silk” plants? im concerned without some form of coverage it will be stressful for the fish 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member shakaho Posted September 8, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted September 8, 2018 Silk plants won't hurt fish. Goldfish have no problem with tanks devoid of anything but clean water, fish, and a filter. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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