Help !! Aussie Tusk laying by the side of the tank, breathing heavy !

G

gtdarock

Guest
Hey guys ! I just got home from work, and my Aussie Tusk is in the back of the tank, against the glass, breathing very heavy. I just check the readings....Amm- 0 Nitrite - 0 PH 8.2 Nitrate 20
What should I do -?
 
R

rcreations

Guest
Hard to say... if your parameters are good and there are no parasites, not sure. Could have something to do with the sugar dosing, if you added too much? That depletes the oxygen in the tank and the Tusk is not a very hardy fish. I don't know, that's all I can come up with.
 
sanchoy

sanchoy

Member
-Is this a new tank? (if so has it cycled correctly)
-If you have a quarantine tank remove immediatly/ and provide alot of oxygen
-keep rechecking parameters
-have you added anything new to your tank?
 
G

gtdarock

Guest
Hey Pete ! He was doing fine, until now. Yes I am dosing with sugar everyday..........man, another bad mistake
All the readings are fine, and no parasites. And I did move around all 6 of my powerheads last Friday, I wonder if its that -? Hey Sanchoy, the tank has been running for almost a year, and it was cycled properly. I do have a QT up an running, but the display has about 6 large powerheads in it. The newest addition to the tank is a Bluethroat trigger, who has been hiding since I introduce him. My brother just checked on the Tusk, he is still breathing....but not so heavy..........and I'm stuck at work till 7pm !!
 
R

rcreations

Guest
You should stop the sugar dosage for now, until everything is back to normal. Hopefully the fish will recover.
 
G

gtdarock

Guest
I am hoping so too. I did dose with Prazipro last night, I am hoping that helps. Do you know where I can get Prazipro online -? And shipped fast -?
 
G

gtdarock

Guest
Hey guys ! He moved around a little last night, but still breathing heavy......what should I do -?
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
I'm afraid this sounds like a last gasp for the tusk. BTW, I assume, having a tusk, that this is a FOWLR tank. Why sugar dose? Your nitrates are nowhere the level that could harm fish. Nitrates at 20 ppm,in a FOWLR tank, is on the very low side.
 
G

gtdarock

Guest
Hey SR ! The Nitrates level at one time were at 80, now 20, because of the sugar. But I didn't add all week. But he is moving around again, its just that he is still breathing hard. But all the levels are still good, talk about mind boggling. The only other thing I did, was earlier this week, I added 20 branches of mangroves from Hawaii. Could that affect the tank or use up a lot of oxygen -?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by GTDAROCK
http:///forum/post/3093667
Hey SR ! The Nitrates level at one time were at 80, now 20, because of the sugar. But I didn't add all week. But he is moving around again, its just that he is still breathing hard. But all the levels are still good, talk about mind boggling. The only other thing I did, was earlier this week, I added 20 branches of mangroves from Hawaii. Could that affect the tank or use up a lot of oxygen -?
Do you have a skimmer on there? I sure hope so if you are dosing sugar. I dose Vodka and have not had any issues.
 
G

gtdarock

Guest
Hi Sep ! I turned off the skimmer all week, because I dosed with Prazi-Pro on 7/20. Should I put it back on -?
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by GTDAROCK
http:///forum/post/3093810
Hi Sep ! I turned off the skimmer all week, because I dosed with Prazi-Pro on 7/20. Should I put it back on -?
Not Sep but oh yes, put the skimmer back on. Get some oxygen in the water. Carbon dosing, sugar, vodka, vinegar, lowers dissolved oxygen in the water.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
Oh yeah, definitely turn the skimmer on. You can't dose with vodka or sugar and have the skimmer off. It doesn't work without the skimmer, in fact it makes your water conditions worst. Read that article I sent you yesterday on dosing and follow that, dosing exactly as they say there, not more and don't rush it.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Prazi-Pro is a de-wormer for flukes and other worm-like parasites. Any reason why you chose to use it? I use it on all new fish in QT and its great at that stage. I've never seen a situation where I'd use it on an acclimated fish; although it will work on tapeworms, etc. I agree with all the above posts and you're kind of stuck. Skimming is vital for sugar dosing, but will make the prazi-pro useless. I'm convinced that sugar/vodka dosing works; but it is still fairly contraversial and really requires a lot of experimenting---depending on your tank. I sure wouldn't be worrying about sugar dosing with nitrates at 80 ppm; assuming you don't have inverts. (Doubtful if you do, if you have an H. Tusk.) Some folks will disagree, but even at that level, nitrates will not hurt fish at all. IMO, this is one of the biggest misconceptions in our hobby. BTW: any update on the tusk? If you can keep nitrates at 80 with water changes, no problem. If they keep going up anyhow, it may be time to look for a cause.
 
G

gtdarock

Guest
Hey guys ! Sorry for the reply.......very busy with work............
Hep Spanko, I put on the skimmer a few days ago, but he is still breathing heavy. Pete,I did a water change everything Amm and Nitrite 0, Nitrates 40 ph 8.2 but as I observe now, it looks like everybody is breathing heavy, so something is up, but what-? I took the lids out of the canopy and the glass lids, I also have 6 powerheads in the tank. Three on each side.Two are on the top and one on the middle, of each side. Looks like all my fishes need more oxygen-? Everybody eatign and swimming fine, except the Tusk. SR, I used Prazi, because I thought the Tusk had something. I hate Nitrates !
 
crypt keeper

crypt keeper

Active Member
Trates wont hurt a fish. people have way higher trates than you do and their fish are fine. Its something else going on.
 
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