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I saw one vaillanti scratch and act sick when they were first introduced, seemingly from being bullied, and when it was separated it got better but maybe tetra parasite guard had something to do with that. There never were any signs of disease on its skin then, just those actions that made it look sick.
After that, only the recent problem that was caused and cured with water conditions, though parasite guard also made the skin symptoms recede before I corrected the ph.
The licorice gouramies didn’t seem to scratch today, they were busy with live artemia so maybe they were too distracted to bother or maybe it really was a temporary sign of stress.
I was told with puffers, it’s normal that they scratch since they have no scales, vaillantis have scales but it’s been said many times that they’re sensitive to skin problems.
I don’t know if it’s the r/o just based on when the water conditions were wrong, it was dramatic how their behavior changed. They hid together and were inactive, in addition to all the strange skin problems. It seemed like it’s more than just the bacteria attacking them, they really didn’t like the wrong ph water, and when it was corrected they were pretty fast to return to normal.The actual cause of the problem I asked about in this thread was putting in the wrong water, r/o water that wasn’t acidic enough. Somehow misread or was careless with the ph tester.
Tetra Parasite Guard cleared the symptoms but until I changed the water to the right values the vaillantis still acted strange.
Now I have 4 paros (the deissneri sold by Wet Spot) and a school of small barbs in this tank, they seem fine except for the paros scratching.
They’re eating and they colored up from what they were when they were in a store in mildly acidic non blackwater conditions.
So everything is fine except the scratching. I want to wait since they’re new to the tank and maybe this is some kind of stress or problem that will solve itself. My experience tells me parasite guard could also be helpful, it hasn’t ever shown itself to be harmful to the vaillantis and has worked every time I used it. (for nebulous symptoms.)
Ingredients:
Praziquantel, Diflubenzuron, Metronidazole and Acriflavin.
I don’t know if I’m over reacting or if the scratching is something that can’t be ignored.
The vaillantis have proven to be not as sensitive as I predicted and maybe this is true for paros as well.
Despite the size of the tank and the presence of other fish the paros seem comfortable. May move them to a 5 gallon eventually, just to make it easier to watch them.Thanks for the information. Is there a fungicide ingredient that is best?
It looks like the patch is slightly larger and more cotton like but it also looks like it is hanging by a thread. The sick fish is still eating, and I noticed that it and its mate still are showing the occasional strange shuddering. Maybe that’s “shimmying” and is a clue.
But that symptom isn’t enough to justify trying to medicate the whole tank, it seems.
I will try and take a picture but I only have a cell phone and an old camera that may not be much better than that. Maybe it’s time to get a decent camera.Patch actually does look a little like fungus now. Not just a flat white film, it is cottony.
The shuddering is still there, maybe that symptom helps figure out what this is since it seems like the very few spots on one fish that now has a patch are the only other things to judge from.Also see all fish in tank shaking or shuddering, not all the time but it looks out of the ordinary when it happens.
Mine were probably about that size at first, they’ve gotten bigger pretty quickly so maybe that’s right when they reach adulthood.
They pair up fast, but I read they take time to mature and breed. I haven’t had mine breed yet though there are two pairs, you’d think they wouldn’t waste too much time, maybe there’s a reason they haven’t yet.It’s true at feeding time they’re the most aggressive, I just looked at them and three of them were in one corner motionless while two others were at random places and motionless, all of them facing in the same direction. They seem like there must be very little aggression when they are left alone for most of the day. Maybe they benefit from each others company during that time period.
I don’t know how good their memory is, I see them swim back into danger right after they get chased, in particular a female that is the only fish with no partner will get chased and then sometimes wander right into the territory of the fish that just chased it.
Maybe it’s just their natural behavior not working in a small space where in the wild they would have escaped.
The two pairs seem to know the invisible line that divides their territories. Right within eyesight of each other, they will display and only if a fish has gone over the line will a serious fight break out. Usually when a fish has gone over the line it will submit and back off, at least that’s what the weaker pair will do if it knows it is in the dominant pairs territory.
I tried to aquascape the tank with as many roots as possible, but removing them and leaving the tank mostly empty except for floating plants and a few roots has drastically improved the aggression problem. I had to disrupt them to try and reset the pecking order. Sometimes it seems like if the fish see each other it actually helps them avoid fighting. Reminds me of when I had a tank full of carinotetraodon lorteti and breaking up the lines of sight just meant they could ambush each other and get a few bites in.
I didn’t even know I had three females before redecorating was successful, but all of a sudden they had their color on. Their territorial behavior is interesting and it seems like a large group really is important, maybe if you have ten or a fairly large group they will “school” somewhat. Or maybe they will just break up into pairs and the crowding will not help at all. The pair I had that I tried to keep alone proved that they atl east need other fish to redirect their aggression away from each other.Fish has gone after blackworms, wonder if this was all just stress symptoms or if it was the medicine actually solving something.
Lucky that it seems to have ended well, at least.It seems like getting 5 fish was a huge mistake, I was told to get six but didn’t realize that vaillantis are apparently really pair oriented. That seems why the extra fish is sick, being bullied and stressed because it had no place in the hierarchy the four fish have.
The two weaker fish are chased sometimes, but aren’t scared to go after food and it seems like they all coexist and only start to chase and act territorial after I’ve disturbed them and they anticipate food.I was told it was a treatment used on fish from similar habitats. It sounded like situations similar to the one I’m having with this fish were solved with the medicine I got.
Fortunately the fish hasn’t seemed to get worse from the medicine, though it is still not eating. So I will clean the tank and out and try the salt and heat treatment. How much salt for a 5 gallon aquarium?Having no idea of what to do, with the fish not eating, it was too tempting to try something that seemed like a cure all. Should have waited for some advice here but didn’t, which was not smart.
The idea of a treatment that would affect many problems since I have very few symptoms other than not eating, is exactly what salt and heat seems to make sense for, but I thought the medicine I got was following that same idea.
A bad mistake and hopefully not a disaster for this fish.The problem fish seemed fine, then was clearly socially excluded from the four other fish and stopped eating. It’s now by itself in a 5 gallon and doesn’t seem to be eating after a few days alone. Saw it scratch once but mostly it seems shy and it looks like it has stress coloration.
Based on this behavior what medicine is worth trying, I assume the stress made it sick since it’s not eating.Seems like the fifth fish is alright today, I put in frozen bloodworms and they all swam around, the fifth one wasn’t as much a part of the group and going after the food like the other four but still looks healthy compared to yesterday. Pretty active, seemingly trying to nip at things and not as slow and didn’t scratch itself though I only watched for ten minutes.
Is scratching and the other symptoms possibly a sign of stress (maybe from being bullied) that may not indicate a disease, or is it some disease that comes and goes and eventually gets much worse? Of course there’s no way for you to know the answer but it is strange that the fish seems much better today. Not sure it actually got any frozen bloodworms, will see what happens later today when I put in bbs. The body and fins look ok, so far.
The medicine you mentioned, I couldn’t find it for sale, I wonder if it’s in any common fish medicines here and if there are some other things to get just in case, to make sure I’m ready for whatever this situation turns out to be.Does this mean decay is dangerous? Too old leaves, and lots of roots, and not enough water changes, allows accumulation of something that makes the fish react with spots? (I though blackwater conditions, including the presence of humic substances, inhibited bacteria and decay which apparently causes the black spots.)
I have lots of live food animals probably scavenging everything, maybe that reduces rotting items a little, or is it not a matter of rotting and just too much dissolved organic matter accumulating on its own that causes problems?
How common is this problem in blackwater tanks?
