Special Thanks to Huy(CA) for helping to build this F.A.Q pages.
| · Thanh Long: Since no one replied, I figure I will take a stab at it. I am new to the hobby myself. I am a student at Goldenwest Community College in Orange County. I am a 25-years-old girl (born in the year of the dragon) and available. Vivian, you make me so jealous!!! Just kidding. There's not a lot of medication for the treatment of hole in the head for arowana. The symptoms for hole in the head on arowanas are skin lesions, not standard hole in the head caused by hexamita (typically found in angelfish, oscars, discus, and tetras). Common causes included: poor water condition, lack of minerals and nutrients, and usage of carbon. Common treatments: regular water changes, removal of carbon, and addition of black water (especially if you use reverse osmosis filtered water/distilled water). Good luck. |
| Davie: My fish got injury on it head (a peace of head's skin fell off) on also lost 3 scales on it back, due to the jump and it hit the tank cover...will the scale and skin growth back normal like it look before? What should I need to do to make the healing faster? Thanks Millions for your help. Huy: Don't worry too much! Skin will heal like normal in just about 2weeks. As for scales, the scales will grow back to normal in about 3 weeks or so, but depend on the size of the fish, the color will take longer time to catch up with the rest. Younger the fish, the faster time! All you can do right now is to keep water in top quality, add bit of salt to prevent infection, sit back, relax, enjoy your aro, and waiting for the new scale to grow! :) Good luck, |
| · Huy: Hi Trinh, First of all, I'm not sure understand of what you said about little bubles on your fish. Are you sure it's Ich disease? If Ich, it should look like small whit dots over the fish body, mostly on fins, or these dots may group together and look like a white patch. For the treatment of Ich: Treat with methylene blue or malachite green (use half dose of manufacturing recommend or little less, than increase little more if not effective) increase salt level to 0.3%, and raise the temp to about 33C (raise the temp to about 33C alone sometimes will do the trick since Ich (protozoan) sensitve to high temp). And remember, keep tank water in top condition to help the fish not stress out during the treatment so that no other diseases can try to take advantage. Hope this help and keep us update! BTW this white spot disease is rarely fatal! Good luck! You need to treat Ich disease for about 2-3 weeks to kill all the stage life cycle. You see, this parasite has 3 stage life cycle: 1) growth, spent of the skind of the fish, 2) cyst, when it drops to the bottom of the tank, and 3) infectious stage when zoospores (growth from cyst) seek a new host. According to Baensch of Aquarium Atlas, one cyst can divide into as many as 1000 zoospores which have 70 hours to find a new host! It is not necessary to put Malachite Green or Methelyne Blue continuously for 3 wks. Use the medicine for about 4 days, change water, then can waite 1 or 2 days for the fish to rest and do the next treatment. Good luck! |
| · Chu: Hi Everyone,I need your help on using UV light. Is it a must to used UV light when you are keeping Muntipal Asian Arowana in the same tank? b/c I plan to keep 6 asian arow in 500 gal tank Will I need a UV light for this tank? Thanks a lot for your help. Lee: Why six? Add 3 more and it's better. You might need a bigger tank, perhaps 1000 gallons (about 100 gallons per fish). I like to use UV sterilizer because it does help with algae and some parasite problems. I think you need at least a 75W bulb, with a pump that's pump with the flow rate of 3x the volume of your tank. Huy: Hi Chu, if you use 75 watt UV, you can put on any size tank up to some where 2000gal (base on the manufacture suggested for pond). The main important for UV work effective is the rate of water pass through the light. If water pass through the UV light too fast, it will not have enough contact time to kill the algae, and free floating bateria, parasite... If the water pass the light too slow, it's good in a sense that it will kill all harmfull bacti when they contact the light, but since the rate of turn over water in the tank will need couples of hours for the pump to pass through the light, by then bacti and algae can have time to grow and reproduce! Hope this help! |
| · Tam: Dear Friends, My fish's gill is curly outward, and I'd like to do a surgery on it. So...Can you show me how to do it?Is there any kind of remedy that I have to make him falling into sleep before doing that?, or just wrap it out of the tank, put it on a wet towel and simply cut that part off. Thank you. Danny: Check this site out. Buddy at Bud's Dragon has performed this on his fish. Hope this help. www.oocities.org/Heartland/Plains/9665/rdtlfeb99.html Thanks |
| · NgocAnh: Hi guys, while I am cleaning the tank this moring, my 14" RTG jum out and land on the floor...for a minutes it took my breath away...I quickly catch him and put him back to the tank (I have a hard time to catch him belive me it is not a easy job) anyways, It lost a coup scale, but the think it make is worries about is he drop 1/2 of his tail...what should I do next? when I put him back, he just stay at the coner at bottom of tank for about 1/2 hour but now he swimming normal but it is too fainfull when I saw it tail drop off ...:( please help, thank alot Long Duong: OOOH, that's sad to hear. I think the best you can do is to add salt to prevent secondary infection and add some black water extract to calm the fish. In addition, the trace elements and minerals found in black water extract can help the fish regenerate its cells more quickly. The tail will grow back. Just give it some time. If it's a clean drop, then there's a good chance you will not be able to tell the difference down the road. The worse case scenario is you can do "controlled" surgery after it is healed, if there are noticeable malformations. |
| · Cam: It make me worries so much when I do water change for my fish tank today. I saw many tiny milky-white color worm every where in the tank walls and event inside the filter...what should I do to got risk of them? Is it going to kill my 10" Chili red that I got a few month back? Thanks a lot Huy: Hi all, My tank has some white worms but not much. My opinion is that any kind of animal life survive and grow in your tank as long as it does no harm to your fish (parisite...) is somewhat beneficial for your tank one way or the other or we just don't know the benefit of these animals yet. My tank also has many Malaysian (Trumpet) snail (hundreds of them) and I found out that the snail actually very beneficial since they come out at night and eat all the left over food, waste! BTW my tank has 1.5" of gravel. Unless you don't want to see worms or any unfamiliar animal in your tank, just leave them alone. It's the nature way!Just my 2 cents! Tung (s): Don't worry, these worms are harmless. They're actually a good sign that your filters have matured. I have them as well and I wish I had small fry that can feed on them. :) Kevin: I agree with you about these white worm. The benefit of these worm is they can break down fish's and left over food much much faster then bacteria. FYI, I'm very glad to see your post. Because out of all the aro's board you're the first one that appreciated the beneficial of these white worms |
| · Arut: Hi guys, My girl friend has 16" green arow house in 60" tank, a couple days ago It gill star to cure backward the soft part only, so far the fish eating normal...but it kind of make me and my girl friend worries alot about it beauty and it health. what should we do to make make it become normal again? we do chance water 30% one a week. Thanks in advance. Long An: I would suggest move the fish into a larger tank (with fully cycled filtration system, of course) and add powerheads. If the increased current cannot move the soft fillament back to their original position, try massaging them. This sometimes work. |
| · Kim: Dear Friends, My RTG has lost his 5 scales and pectoral fin since I bought it, of course with a discount price. So, do you think all his scales, color, and 'pectoral' fin will grow back as the way they used to be again? Besides, he just only eats crikets and earthworms, but I wanted to feed him by shrimp, or prawn instead. Please help me out on these questions! Trevor: Given time, the scales and color will come back. How large is your RTG? The larger the fish, the longer the recovery process. Just do frequent water changes and the addition of salt in every water replacement would speed up the recovery process. As for the pectoral fins, I will need to know more specifics to in order to provide you with appropriate suggestions. How much of them was lost? Did the fish lose it because of natural injuries, accident, or fin rot? Different type of loss will yield different type of recovery. Amiably yours, Kim: Thanks for your reply and message. My fish is about 12inches. Apparently, the pectoral fin was lost by an half of it, either by accident or during the fight with others, may be. There is no sign of fin rot that I can tell besides it was growing, but it looks crooked and thinner than the other side. Do you think it will grow back to normal? and how long does it take? I wanted to add salt, but how much salt I can introduce to my tank(165 Gallons). How do you deal with the fish if it will not eat another type of food that you attempted to feed him? Trevor: I guess this would be my last posting, as my presence is not welcome here by some or my presence is creating some negative energy among the group. These are not my intention but they are occuring. You had asked about the pectoral fin and fish not eating: Pectoral fin: Because I can't see the condition of the healing, I wouldn't be able to give you definative answers. My best guess is that it will grow back, though not as straight as the other side. If the hard rays are crooked, when the fish is healthier, I would recommend performing another surgery. At 12 inches, pectoral fins would take about 4-6 months to heal completely. No appetite: I don't remember how long you have brought the fish home. Sometimes, it takes weeks for fish to get used to new environment and start eating again. To stimulate appetite, there are three methods: --Increase the temperature of your tank to 84 degrees F. At higher temperature, the fish's metabolism speeds up and it becomes more active. Active fish have better appetite! --Addition of blackwater extract can improve appetite, as the darker environment and softer water calm down the fish. The taste buds of the fish would also improve. --Regular water changes could also stimulate appetite, the opposite of typical occurence (healthy fish can sometimes choose to fast after water changes). How are you feeding your fish? With what are you feeding your fish? How nad with what has the previous owner fed the fish? Please reply to my personal email if you need further assistance, as I will not be checking any board discussions on any website anymore. Amiably yours, |
| · HenryT: First of all, I'm glad to find a web site specially for Vietnamese arowana fan. Secondly, I need advise in curing my arowanas with parasites problem. I have an 5" Super Red and an 11" RTG, each in a separate tank. The Super Red had anchor worms attached to its fin and the RTG had a fish lice attacked on its back. I plucked them away. However, I'm afraid that there may be others in the tanks, or even eggs! What would be the safest way to clean up the tanks (kill the parasites) while the arowanas are still in the tanks. Vung~Tau`: 1st of all may I asked what kind of food did you feed your arowana? if you feed them feeder (goldfish) then there is a source causing the problem to your fish. I have had experience on this...not on arowana but on Gold Fish. just put your arowana to sleep then used the forcep to take the anchor worm out of it site then used anykind of antibiotic put into the injure site. same as lice...you will get risk all of those worm/lice instanly...for eggs floating round in the water just do like xixibubu suggestion it will work. and try not to feed your fish live food. good luck ! also keep us update how it goes ;-) Trevor: Both Vung Tau and xixibubu are accurate in stating that you need to do water change, add salt, add copper safe, and even using UV light. I would also offer these suggestions: 1. Water change: If you have a wet & dry filtration system, I would suggest doing a 50% water change. If you have other types of filtration systems, do only 30% water change, as I don't want to disrupt the biological balance of your tank. 2. Add salt: I would suggest adding 1.5 cups of salt to every 100 gallons of water, as this would prevent swim bladder problems due to drastic water change (change in hardness, ph, salt level, and temperature). 3. Add carbon and remove carbon: Use a carbon filter to remove any trace of other medications that you have used in the past, as I don't want any chemical reactions that would cause adverse reactions. Remove the carbon after 24 hours. Have on hand a good supply of fresh carbon, as you may need to use it quickly to remove medication if your fish shows signs of over dosage. 4. Add Life Bearer: This medication should be able to distroy any parasites that you have in your tank (and your arowana if you're not careful). Because arowanas are sensitive creatures, I would suggest adding only 1/2 dosage. I have noticed that the fish cough or swim in irregular circular motion if full dosage is used. This is called "over dosage." During treatment, the fish may loose appetite. This is natural, as the chemical used would hinder the taste buds of your fish. More importantly, if you detect any signs of overdosage after one hour, IMMEDIATELY conduct a 30% water change, add salt, and wait for any signs of improvement. If there's no sign of recovery from over dosage after 3 hours after the water change, ADD CARBON! This is where a lot of inexperienced hobbyists lose their prized specimens. Sometimes, it is better to leave your fish sick than to treat, because incorrect treatment can lead to mortality! It is important to also mention that if you decide to add medication to your tank, please do so in the mornings, as you would have the whole day to deal with any situations that arise. Some beginners often carry out treatments in the evenings when they get home from work. This is WRONG since a lot of things can happen to your fish when you're asleep! If you need to go to work, just have someone at home or a friend who comes into your house and check on your fish once every hour. In your case, the situation is not too critical, I would suggest waiting until this weekend. Repeat addition of Life Bearer after 48 hours. Remember: 1/2 dosage! 5. Conduct water change: After one week, carry out another water change (50% or 30% depending on your filtration system). 6. Add Life Bearer: The repeating of use of Life Bearer would ensure that newly hatched eggs will be destroyed! Sometimes, it is necessary to repeat this process up to 4 weeks. 7. Conduct water change and add carbon to remove any trance of Life Bearer. |
| · Tu’: I would like to update my fish condition, the cloundy eyes is improved a lot after 2 days of chancing %30 of water and add some salt into it. the fish eye is now almost look clear and normal like it was before. thanks a lot for your help Nameless. |
| · Quynh Dao: When I come home from shool today, I saw my fish lost 3 back scale, also a piece of head skin is lost. I guess he was jump and hit himself on the top cover...What should I do? will his scale will grouth back normal? Thanks Nameless: I am sorry to hear about your fish. But don't worry. The scales should grow back fine. It may take longer to catch up to the same coloration and sheen as the other scales, though. May I ask what type of fish is your arowana? If your fish is a dark top RTG, the regrowth of scales would not be that noticeable/stand out. If you have a high back of any variety, the new scales will take months or years to become similar to the rest of the scales (all depending on the age of the arowana: the younger it is, the faster the recovery). The injury to the forehead will recover the quickest. If it is a young fish, it will heal in about a week. If it's an older fish, just give it three weeks. TREATMENT: I would suggest the addition of salt to your tank, as this would prevent secondary infections from the injuries. Furthermore, in addition to the salt, frequent water changes would also stimulate faster recovery. |
| · Tu’: Like I mention in revioust post(cloundy eyes), I check the water chemistry last night, the level of nitrate and amonia are 0 ,pH is 6.0 and temp is 29~30*C also 5 fish are keep together in the same tank...only one fish has one eye develop cloundy eye, is it possible that eye got cloundy b/c it injury through the fight or by hiting into something? Anyways, I did 30% water chance last night, and add some salt like suggestion, hopfully the cloundy eye will recover...I am thinking do water chance 30% again later tonight, Is it OK todo that or it is too much? Thanks you for your help. Nameless: What type of filter do you have. Frequent water changes for Wet & Dry filtration systems are fine. However, if you happen to have undergravel filtration system and changing water disrupts the biological system, you may run into a problem with amonia high. Tu: I have a big W/D filter also 2 big Ehiem filter for my tank, so it is OK to chance 30% water(age water) again tonight right? also what do you think what was the cause of the cloundy eyes? Any idea? Nameless: You have several fish in your tank, and only one fish has cloudy eye in one eye only. I encountered this with a pair of RTGs. Only one had cloudy eye and in one eye only. My only reason for the occurence was that particular fish had a tendency to rub its barbel and eyes against the glass of the aquarium. The surface of the glass is not always clean; it contains algae, bacteria, fine debris, etc... My explanation would be some type of injury/scratch where the bacteria/fungus had attacked that particular eye. Try to watch the swim pattern of that particular fish and see if he's doing anything/bumping into the things with that particular eye. That would be my best recommendation. As for the water change, because you have a W&D, frequent water changes is fine, as the bulk of your bacteria is attached to the bio balls beneath. Just remember to equalize the temperature during water changes and make sure that your replacement water is free of chlorine. Good luck. |
| · Tu’: I just suspect my arow have one eyes develope a cloundy eyes, what should I do? what's cause the cloundy eyes, is quater quality have anything to do with it? I usually chance water 30% and have been keeping the fish for 2 years now without any problem, but I keep one water chance last week due to busy work schedule, is it anything to do with it? or is it possible when the fish jumb, and hit something and get injury his eyes?....Please help the fish is very importan to me :( Nameless: You have mentioned 30% water change. How often do you do this? Once a week/2 weeks/a month? You have mentioned skipping a week. Usually skipping a week of no water change would not cause cloudy eyes. 1. Did you change feeding regimen (more than normal)? Sudden rise in waste production (increased food consumption) can give rise in amonia, a common cause of cloudy eye. 2. Did you add any medication that can disturb the biological filtration system? This is often the cause of amonia peak. 3. Do you have crushed corals or aragonite as substrates? Sometimes, when you have these as substrates, the ph will rise over time and cause increased hardness. By skipping a water change, the ph could have risen above 8.0. Prolonged high ph causes cloudy eyes. 4. Water temperature extremes. The yoyo effect of hot and cold and hot and cold can give rise to cloudy eyes also. 5. Are you sure it is cloudy eye? Sometimes hobbyists can mistaken fungus development around the eye sockets for cloudy eye (a white film). Cloudy eye can be detected when the aquarium light is turned on. A cloudy/hazy appearance is visible while the fish is turning. As long as the black parts of the eyes are still black, there's hope for a cure. Do frequent water changes (preferably aged water so that there's no chlorine, another contriubuting factor to cloudy eye). Add double the dosage of salt. For every 100 gallon, I would use 4 cups of salt (net--meaning if you have added 3 cups already to your 100 gallon, when doing 1/3 water change, you should add only 2 more cups maximum). You should be able to see noticeable difference after several days. Good luck! |
| · Mai: As many old fish (3+ years old)that I saw they always have drop eyes Comment anyone? Nameless: You are right in stating your observation: older fish tend to have drop eye. However, I believe that it has little to do with age but rather environment and health. I have owned numerous arowanas 3+ years old. None of them have ever had drop eye. [knock on wood] I have also seen fish 10 inches long already exhibitting drop eye. Books have mentioned about the cause of diet and fatty deposits in eye sockets. However, this theory can be disproven by the fact that breeders can correct drop eye by placing fish back into earthen ponds! I firmly believe that drop eye is only a problem fish raised in aquariums and is caused by fish having an affixation with object(s) in the room, and thus, the eye(s) are affected (especially if the objects are situated lower than the tank). Furthermore, the water current and lighting of the tank can also cause drop eye. In areas where there are a lot of currents, the fish would tilt its body to compensate for the balance. During this tilting, the fish's eyes are still affixated on surrounding objects, rather than remaining in one place with the rotation of the head. In addition, in tanks where owners don't change the locations of the powerheads and return water outlets, fish tend to get used to one particular location of the tank. This is one of the reasons why some fish only have one drop eye rather than two. In short, these are my recommendations: 1. Place bright and attention catching objects higher than the aquarium itself. 2. Whenever possible, change the location and direction of your powerheads and return water outlets once a week. 3. At night, always leave a night light higher than the tank (a long term preventive and corrective action). |
| · can you please advice me on the procedure of : cutting the soft part of my arowana? : it would be kind of you to list down steps by : steps. Kevin Foong: 1) get the fish into the plastic bag after lowering the water level. 2) Drop transmore (see instructions on label)into the bag and not into the tank. Wait for the fish to be unconscious. 3) Remove the bag together with the fish into a container. 4) Place the fish on a cloth. By using a pair of sterilised scissors, remove the soft tissue. (Do not injure the gill of the fish) Operation should not exceed five minutes. 5) Place the fish back into the tank (make sure transmore is not spilled over to the tank from the plastic bag earlier) 6) Increase aerations. Face the fish towards the air bubbles. 7) Wait for the fish to regain conscious. 8) Try to change water 3 days prior to the operation. Do not feed for the next three days after the operation. 9) Use heater to prevent recurrence. · Louie: Tilted Gills (Overturned Gills) Cause - Bad water conditions, space constraint, insufficient dissolved oxygen and sudden water temperature change. Symptoms - In the initial stage of the disease, you will notice that the fish shows irregular movements of the gill covers, its breathing will also be rapid. Later the soft membrane of the gills will curl outwards and not in line with the body. You can see the gill filaments(Red) exposed. This is very dangerous as it will result in death of your fish as the gills can no longer function properly. Remedy - Immediately change water, provide more aeration, add more air stones to increase the level of dissolved oxygen in the water. Change the filter media and add coral sand. The advance stage of this disease would see the soft part of the gills hardened and thus that leaves you no choice but to perform an operation (let the professionals do this!!!). After the surgery, place the fish back into the tank and increase the amount of dissolved oxygen in the tank, if necessary direct the airflow of the airstone towards the gills of the fish to help accelerate consciousness. After regaining its consciousness, let the fish rest and turn off all lights to let the fish recuperate under dim conditions. Feeding is not required if the fish shows no signs of interest in food. Change water everyday (20-30%) for 3-6 days to maintain good water quality. Salt may be added to reduce parasite attacks and help to increase recovery rate. Hope the above helps. Louie (LVL307@edsamail.com.ph) --Previous Message-- : My 15 inch rtg has not been eating for the last : 3 weeks. Everytime it tries to eat mealworms : or cricket it will just spit after : swallowing it for : a few seconds. The problem when one side of : the gill start to curl. Immediately I : change the water and have been changing to : 2 times a week. But still no effect. Any : suggestion will be appreciated. |
| · Kelvin Fong: Swollen and Protruding Anus Cause - Bacterial infection. Intestine injury due to eating "sharp" feeders. This is quite a difficult to cure disease. In many cases, the infection (redness) may disappear but the protuding anus will still be visible. Symptoms - Stomach anus becomes reds and protuding. In later stage, the fish will stop eating, the swim bladder will lose its function and the fish will be out of balance. This disease could be fatal if not treated probably. Remedy - Raise water temperature to 34°C gradually (1 degree over 2 hour). Add 1% coarse salt to the water. Increase air supply to water. Do 25% water change every 2 days. Add tetracycline (yellow powder) as per the supplier written instruction. Add black water or Ketapam leaves to soften the water. Stop feeding for the time being. Do not feed feeders that have sharp edges (eg. remove the shrimp head gear before feeding it to the arowana) Regards |
| · Quynh Dao: Hello Everyone, some how my ~10 chili red doesn' want to eat anything for 2 days, he's not event boarder to touch anything the I feed him (supper worm, criket...those are his favorist food) I check water quality, so far eveything normal....what should I do =( please help Aruzee: It's normal for that size of fish to stop eating for somtime. My Cross Back once didn't eat for about a month and my Red did once not eating for two weeks. Just keep your water clean and just tease it with different kind of food and see which one will it take. Not normal: if your fish stops eating you are not caring for it correctly, no offense to azuree but im sure something is wrong with your tanks. look at your xbacks fins. maybe you overfeed and ruin your water quality. Aruzee: The fins were not because of overfeeding but more towards stress on high ammonia level in the new tank after I move into my new house. After realising that I carefully medicate my water till it is acceptable for my Chili Red but unfortunately the X-Back already develop fin rot the next day. Huy (Aro): I also agree with Aruzee, it's a normal thing for aro, but could be due to water quality or something change outside the tank that scared the aro??? I don't know for sure, but my red also happen for not eating for couple of days last week. It resume eating after couples days later. Nothing change for the last couple of weeks. Maybe because of food, feed too much, or ...????? But anyway, most if not all aro keepers had experiencing this phenomenal before, so i guess it's a normal thing for aro to do this. Just change the water, increasing temp a little bit, add some more salt, and check the aro and keep water in good quality to make sure the fish is still active and happy. Kevin: guys, for now it's normal because we don't what cause But until someone can come with a diagnostic method than it's not mornal. |
| · LongDo: My 16" RTG nock down the tank cover, and jump out and hit the floor luckyly I was there....so far he lost 5-6 his back scales and one of his barbel got cut 4/3 of it size...what should I do? will the barble growth back?....Thanks a lot for your help! Tat: Take care of the water condition and its feeding and your RTG would heal, if there is no other signs of injury. You can add Aqua Nova or some salt to help the slim coat to recover. Sometimes the barbel might not grows back to its original shape, if it is seriously damaged. One recomendation on tank cover. I use ankle weight to keep my tank covers closed. These are vinyl covered lead pellets, soft to handle, and would not damage the tank if the aro hit the cover hard. Some people use velcro on the tank cover, but this would not "give" a bit when hit and might injury the aro, or worse, break the cover. Good luck in your RTG's recovery. · Hoi: How to got risk of the tini white worm in tank? is it danger to your fish heath? Thanks for your help Kevin: those white worms are harmless to your arowana, in fact I found them to be very useful, breakdown waste faster!!!. You can kill then, just by increase the salt concentration up to 0.5% v/v |
| · Andy: Can anyone explan what is the benefit of puting salt into your aquarium? since Arowanas is freshwater fish? What kind of salt that you put inthere? can I used salt used for salt water fish put in to my tank? Thanks you very much for clear this mess. Huy (CA): Check out this website http://www.dphnet.com/sub-article/cat-02/salt.shtml Hope it will clear things up about salt! :) Take care, |
| · Hoi: How to got risk of the tini white worm in tank? is it danger to your fish heath? Thanks for your help. Kevin: those white worms are harmless to your arowana, in fact I found them to be very useful, breakdown waste faster!!!. You can kill then, just by increase the salt concentration up to 0.5% v/v |
| · Jum: I have no experience with arrowana with infected? vent? Anybody ever have this problem? How did you cure it. His aquarium is about 220 gallons, excellent water quality, PH of 7, temp 82, 30% water change every week. The fish eats like a pig. Kingworm and crickets. Any ideas. I didn't want to give advice because I have never dealt with this myself. Chia: Tell your friend try Maracyn-Two, if that doesn’t work, then go on and use Penicillin in tablet form. Since my friend have a similar problem with his green. As for the penicillin you can get them cheap at this link: http://www.countrysidepet.com/fishpentablets.html With that size of a tank, ur friend going to need a whole lot of tablets. |
| · Tam: what are possible the cause of hole in the head of fish ? Azuree: Enemy #1 for hole in the head: Carbon media Tat: Renew works a bit slower than activated carbon, but would not give the aro a bad case of skin ailment. In the past 3 years I use a couple of Sea Chem products and have very good results. Check into "Purigen" and "HyperSorb", these two resin works very well. I soak it in bleach to reactivate it when the majority of it turns brown, usually once a year. So far there is no gill curling in my very crowded tank, even when I cannot change water for over 3 months! Xixibubu: You can put other filter media such as "Amonia Remover" or any kind that don't have cabon in it...Cabon fiter media also suspect as the cause of eating away scale in (RTG or CB)beside cause hole in head of fish. You still can used Cabon media to remove toxic, over dose medication or odor in tank but just put in for few days and don't let it in there for more than a week. The use of Cabon filter seem cause problem for Arowanas,discus only...for any other kind of Freswater fish it's still safe to used. Hope it help =) |
| · Binh: I notice after I feed my aro. he usually come down at bottom coner of the tank and stay there...but at night he swim back normal again. Is it normal? what should I do? Thanks a advaise. Aromania: what do you feed you fish... metal ? j/k.. well, that is kinda normal and it depends on how big the fish is... after a full meal, fish tend to rest at the bottom unless you feed you fish 70% of what he/she can take per meal... but don't overfeed you fish this may cause the fish to rest at the bottom. hope my theory is applied to you prob. |
| · Loc: Hi Guys, I am new in this website, someone that I meet in the pet store talk to me about this vietnamese website about the dragonfish, I glad that I found there are a lot vietnamese member on this board, good job dragonfish2000& Miss Vivian...I have a question, wonder if any of you can help, Is it a gills cure assosiate with the ages of the fish? I have 7 years old orange red, I have been keeping him for 5 years without any problem,lately his gills start to cure backward...fish is in custome made 5x2x2.5ft tank, Thanks you for your help. Azuree: Your tank is suffice enough to house that arowana for the rest of its life. It must be the water parameter is not right, you might want to check the level of ammonia in your tank. That was how my arowana suffered from gill curling before and had to operate it to straighten it back. Jum: How long did it take for the gills to regrow? Did they look the same as before it ever got gill curl in the first place? Also, how did you do the operation? Azuree: It'll take a while if the arowana is about adult size, if its still juvenile then only a month will it take to heal. Please visit www.azuree.com and it's under my Cross Back Golden gallery and the last month I posted on it. The fins is growing back again and the gill has fully recover. |
| · Michael: The scales on my RTG looks like they are starting to peel. The skin on his chin is reddish and looks like it is dissolving and little pieces of skin are falling off. His barbels also had this problem and fell off. I tried some anti-biotics but it didn't seem to help. He occasionally lays at the bottm of the tanks. Dies anybody know whats wrong with him. Trevor: The following questions are meant for me to understand your situtation better so that I can offer a comprehensive advice: How long have these symptoms exist? How large is your fish? Is the fish still eating? What was the exact antibiotic did you use? What are your water parameters (temp., ph, nitrates, etc.)? How often did you change water? Did you feed with live feeder fish? Did you add enough salt in your water changes? How large is your tank (volume)? What type of filtration system do you have? From your brief description, I could think of several possible causes: --Your fish could have gotten an infection, which was contracted from feeder fish or tankmates. If not properly treated, a simple ick infection could manifested into what you described. --Your fish could be suffering from "wasting away," a common term aquarist often use to describe a condition similar what you describe. These are commonly attributed by poor water parameters and overall "happiness" of the fish. My Recommendations: Day 1: Conduct a 30% water change with aged or conditioned water. Add salt (make sure that you have enough salt, i.e. 2 cups for every 100 gallon). Add a mechanical filter with FRESH carbon for 24 hours (on top of your existing filtration system, if possible). Make sure that the replacement water has ph as close to 7.0 as possible. (If your original water is too far from this reading, you may want to SLOWLY adjust the ph with chemical additives or peat pellets.) Increase temperature to 85 degrees. Provide as much aeration as possible. Use a powerhead to generate some current; not too much, though (to flush the damaged tissues and slime off the fish's body). Day 2: Remove carbon completely from filtration system. Conduct another 30% water change. Add salt (with a 30% water change, the maximum salt you can add now is 2/3 cup. Keep temperature at 85 degrees. Day 3: Depending on your feed back, I may recommend the use of medications. However, medication should be used as last result! You will be surprised. Although arowanas are freshwater fish, they need lots of salt; the salt can cure many illnesses or relieve many symptoms. Please reply to my questions as quickly as you can. Throughout my recommendations, I have extreme concerns about your filtration system (not enough bacteria to regenerate after frequent water changes) and ph (too much water change with drastic ph range). Please let us know of any changes in condition. Thank you. MichaelThe fish has been like this for about 3 months. He is about 14-15 inches and eats only mealworms. He is eating very well and seems normal in behavior. I used to change the water once every 2 weeks but now I'm doing it once a week. The water has always been kept at 78 degrees and I think the PH is 7.5. I'm not sure what the name of the anti-biotic I used is because I threw the package away but it was in a capsule. I've never added any salt to the aquarium because I'm not sure how much to put it. The tank is 125 gallons with a wet/dry filtration sytem. He did have symtoms of ick (white spots) but the spots are gone but he still has the infections and scale problems. He live in the tank by himself without gravel or anything. I also think its the water condition because I was gone for about 2 months so I couldn't change the water during that time. Although my friend told me he ate normally during the time I was gone. He seems to be improving a bit with the water changes I have a few questions: Is raising the tempurature to 85 too much of a change for him? Is it the same salt used in marine aquariums? I've always had a concern with the wet/dry system becuase most people seem to use canister filters. What do you think? Is it ok to use soft water? Is it possible to add carbon to a wet/dry filter? Huy(CA): I know it is very hard to diagnostic a fish without actually seeing it, and it's also hard to do a suggestion when we don't have enough info, history, and equipment (microscope) and book about the disease in fish. Most of us doing is actually guess and rely on his/her own judgment and experience. Here is one of the website about the disease in discus (mainly) and most of other stuff that really useful to know. http://www.dphnet.com/sub-article/article.shtml About raising temp to 85F, I think it's a standard temp when treatment a sick fish. Some book (The Asian Arowana by DFI) suggest raise temp to 33C which equal to 91F! Since your tank is kind of big, it will take some time to raise the temp from 78 to 85F so there will be no problem. Do not raise the temp up too fast, fish will need to adjust to the new temp. Try to increase areation by additional air pump as less dissolve oxygen in higher temp water. At any point if you see your fish get more active or violently swimming, stop increase temp. The fish might feel uncomfortable since his immune system is week, less tolerant to the change in environment. The use of marine salt: I don't know but I presume that it is safe for freshwater fish, but the concentration might be different so it's better to use salt for freshwater.Check out the article "The use of salt" under the Disease section in the website above. I personally think the wet/dry filter system is one of the best filter out there in the market, and since it is quite expensive compare to canister, that's why, I think, most peole use canister. The use of soft water: If you mean use filter water such as DI or RO water for water change, it is ok, but in your case, it might not be a good idea! You mention your tank is 7.5 in pH. Since the fish is sick right now, try not to change water chemistry too much as it will cause more problem even we give the fish "perfect" water. His immune system is weak, so he can't not tolerate wide change of water chemistry unlike when he is healthy. Stable environment is the key. So whatever you do, try always to keep the pH and temp same as the tank water when you do the water change. As Trevor suggestion, it is perfectly ok to add carbon to your tank. The purpose of adding carbon is to let carbon absorb some of the medicine that you added and any other toxin in the water. To get the maximum effective of carbon in shortest of time, try to place carbon bag in the place of your filter system where water will pass slowly through the carbon bag, not around the bag. The following info is taken out directly from "The Asian Arowana" by DFI Skin Diseases: Cause: Infrequent chages of water. Ammonia built up. Use of activated carbon as a filter media. More applicable to X-back. May be fatal. Symptoms: Some of the scales seem to be melting away, resulting in a crooked appearance. Tiny holes along the lateral line gets larger as each day goes by. At its final stage, skin around the head region also starts to rot. Treatment: Treat with methylene blue, malachite green, 0.3% salt and raise the temp to 33C (91F). Change water regularly to ensure good water quality. The fish should recover within one month's time. Michael: The fish has been sick for a while now so should I use some sort of medication like methylene blue or use carbon and continue with frequent water changes? Cookies: Your fish symptom sounds like my fish symptom before. The only differce is mine also has ick and dropsy scale. Luckyly, I found out early when the fish is still active. This is how I treat the disease. (1) I change 20% water(2) I add Melafix to the tank. This medication, I think, is excellen for treating open wound and dropsy scale (3) raise temp to 86. (4) Keep carbon in the filter. (5) Day2, I add 3 table spoon of DOC WELLFISH's Aquarium salt.(6)Day 3, I add 6 Rid-Ich medication to the tank, still keep carbon in the filter. Day 4,5,6, I keep adding Rid-Ich to the tank. Day 8, the fish becomes active and start eating again. Trevor: I have just returned from San Diego. Sorry I was not able to respond earlier. It's almost 12:30 AM, and I have to wake up at 5:00 AM to prepare for work. I just want to briefly give you some assurance that the treatment plans suggested by Huy and me are still applicable. Huy did a great job at giving the details and validation. As you recall, the we had suggested to use the carbon for only 24 hours. Prompt removal is critical, as prolonged usage of carbon would deplete the minerals and trace elements necessary for the fish to recover. Your wet and dry filter is the one of the best in the market right now. Frequent water changes would not cause much disruption in your biological filtration system. You had stated that you had never used salt. Like I said earlier, salt is very critical in the healthy keeping of arowana. Continue to use salt in your water changes. Try these suggestions for 2 weeks. If you do not see any changes/improvement, please let us know. Thank you and good luck. |
| · Henry T: Just notice that my RTG started to develop drop eye (the left eye). I urgently need advise of how to cure. Mr. Tat, please share your successful story of how to care for your Red and Blue with drop eyes. Also, is there a chance and how to have a 13" silver, a 13" RTG, and a 9" Chili Red leaving in the same tank? BTW, your aros are so big and beautyful, I'm looking forward for mine to be the same. Tat: Red and Blue's dropped eyes were corrected by simply simulating its enviroment of a pond. I found this method of curing in DFI's web page. I noticed a slight tilt in the vertical axis in one of Red's eye, when I brought it home, that conditions worsened as it grew. At one time I had the sides covered for 3 months, but there was not much improvement in Red. Not until the same condition started in Blue as well as red'd other eye that I decided to cover the tank sides again. I knew that 3 months time would not help their condition and made myself learnt to appreciate and interacting with them from the tank top only. I keep a very 1 very dim night light on one side of the tank to provide indirect lighting throgh the night. A new moon's light on a clear night would be a good description on the amount of light provided. The worst and the hardest part of their cure is not able to see their full color swimming around the tank. After a year both of Red's eye as well as Blue's recovered. I decided to keep the tank covered so as to allows their eyes to firm up their development until I move them to the larger tank. That is my success story in "curing" drop eyes. Hope that their eyes would maintain a healthy posture. As for their mixing it is another story of many sleepless nights, and very careful montering of their behavior. Your group might be too old to get them together, specially if they grew up in their own tank. You might try if you have a very large tank, even then you would need a lot of other fish to keep them distracted from attacking each other. One observation that I want to share, if you are trying to start a mix tank, is that the arowanas would fight most just after their feeding. I think may be the food give them the energy, or prompt them to set the pecking order. I made sure that I spend time to observe them at those periods. That behavior still exist between the two asians. Dimming the light would help them quiet down a bit. HenryT: Thanks so much for comming to the rescue. However, I would like to do it right from the start so hoping that you won't mind answer couple more related questions in curing drop eye: 1. You mentioned that using a dim night light at night. What is to use during the day? Will the day light be enough? Should I never use the tank light during treatment? 2. Can I still feed the fish as usuall (meal worms and crikets on weekends) or I can only feed floating food? I have been enjoy reading everyone's posts, especially yours. I don't mind if your reply is lengthy, worth every word of it. I feel bad that I hasn't been helpfull to this board lately since I only started the hobby in May. I have alot to learn before I can offer any assistant. Tat: Plz don't feel bad about not helping. There are more than one way in helping in the board. One is sharing ones experience, knowledge, or reseach results. Another way is to answer those who needs help or information, but this is only one half of the formula, because someone needs to ask the question first. Remember, asking questions on valid concerns would help all members to gain the knowledge of the person answering; besides there might be those who have more updated information to share thus increase the knowledge level of the board as a whole. So, ask questions, put it to work, gain the experience, then share with us what your findings are. You are contributing to this board. As for the tank, I use regular tank flo tube. Tried different ones, but settle with ones sold in Home Depot. It is made by GE and cost only 5 or 6 bucks. Its cover is orange with a yellow sun. I feed them normally and they pick up food from the bottom all the time, but with no ill effect. I think it is the stress on the eye muscles, when the aros have to look out to us using only one eye, that caused the part of that mechanisium to fail. Small tank that does not allows them to look out facing directly, or perpendicularly to the front surface might contribute to the worsening of this condition. HT: I felt the same way when I covered up my tank: what's the point of owning the fish when you can't view it and observe it for any problem? So I came up with a simple solution... With the cover on the front side of the aquarium, I cut along side the edges down to about 3 inches under the water level line. Then I folded that piece down to open up a window for me to view the fish and, at the same time, still not allow the fish to look down outside of the aquarium. (This works like the horse's eyes-cover that only allow it to look straight). When done with viewing, I would flip the piece up to completely cover the aquaium. Tat: I just want to mention that at one time I covered the tank up to about a qarter inch above the water line. Found that that level did not work for the aro will be peeking out at the surface at the same time I tried to peek in. Finally I settled on completely covering up all vertical surface. May be if you have a very dark room and with only light inside the tank you might be able to observe the inside like HT suggested, without disturbing them. Now I can say that the sacrifice of not able to enjoy them like I would is worth while. I just hope that the condition will not arise when I relocate them to the new tank. Some time ago I saw a set up in some Japanese web site that I feel would work just as well. In the pictures it show that there is a black curtain drawn covering the front of the tank. This tank is recessed inside the wall and the lighting seemed to be well confined to above the tank. I think that one can sit infront the tank to enjoy viewing the arowanas, with the room lights complete off, and the tank light lit. I guess if you want to spend enough to do the set up, it will be possible to enjoy the arowanas. HT: I did it for prevention purpose. My fish did show a slight tilt of one eye. Yes, it did cure. I couldn't confirm that the cure was because of the treatment, or because of it adjusted itself, since it only took a few days for it to be back to normal. I still kept the set up afterward and hadn't seen the problem reoccured. |
| Hi, Thanh Long... Are you the male Thanh Long or the female Thanh Long at Goldenwest College? Although both nitrite and nitrate have negative effects on fish, nitrite is much more toxic. Both terms are best explained with the nitrification cycle and the beneficial bacterias (nitrobacter and nitrosomonas): food --> waste --> amonia --> nitrite --> nitrate --> It takes a long time for the bacteria that change nitrite into nitrate to establish; but once colonized, they are very reliable and effective. In an aged aquarium, it's rare to see spikes in level of nitrite. On the other hand, in a "regular" aquarium set-up, the level of nitrate will continue to rise until taken out of the system by way of water change. In complex set-up, some nitrate could be removed by: anaerobic bacteria (bead colonies), chemical reactors (de-nitrate), or aquatic plants. It's needless to say that's why common hobbyists would stay away from the hassle and expensive means by just doing regular water changes. [Though it is also reasonable to believe that regular water changes would also introduce new trace elements and minerals, which are usually used up by the fish or are taken out by filteration system.] Here's an interesting note I have learned: Unlike the bacteria that breaks the amonia into the nitrite, the bacteria that break nitrite into nitrate have very strong colonies and large numbers. For instance, after a water change, hobbyists would sometimes skip feeding so that there's no amonia spikes. The reason being it takes time for the bacteria that breaks amonia into nitrite to establish, resulting in accumulation of amonia to a high level. The same is true for aged aquarium, it would still go through amonia spikes at the addition of fish/biological loads. That's why it is adviseable to add fish gradually. On the other hand, the bacterias that change nitrite into nitrate are not reliant on bioloads, once established! That's why hobbyists would rarely see spikes. Anyway, that's probably more than what you would care to know. In short, my suggest is: perform regular water changes to ensure healthy fish and nitrate level remained below 40 ppm (parts per million). Good luck. Amiably yours, Trevor |
| Do you know what it takes to legalize asian arowanas in the USA? If you know something that would help please post and share your opinion/ideas. This is my version: Lets look at this again. See the abstract below. This public notice is in propose rule stage published in Oct. 1999 and also Apr. 2000. There is no continuation for 2001. I’ve communicated with the Scientific Authority regarding the abstract and this is what I know so far from talking to John Field, Fisheries Specialist-Biologist, Division of Scientific Authority U.S. FWS. “Abstract: We will determine whether to reclassify the Asian bonytongue, a freshwater fish popular in the aquarium trade, from endangered to threatened with a special rule to allow the importation of specimens from operations that are registered with the CITES Secretariat. Several facilities have been registered in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Our decision on whether to reclassify the species, only some of the populations, or to take no action at all, will be based upon a review of the population status and management, including the protected status of the species in the range countries. Timetable: Next Action Undetermined” The U.S.A Endangered Species Act This is the pig shit that is keeping hobbyist from legally importing asian arowanas as pets because the fish is in the ESA list. Exceptions to this prohibition can be obtained by permit. However, you need to justify how your activity will enhance the survival or recovery of the species. This requirement applies regardless of whether it is obtained from CITES registered breeders or not. I only know, zoos, public aquariums, scientific research institutions need apply because you need the finance, facilities, expertise and reporting hassles to FWS. Unlike hobbyist their purpose and goal are to enhance, propagate and recover not keep them as pets. The Four Players 1.FWS 2.Management Authority(Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore) 3.CITES Registered Breeders. 4.You the general public FWS is in the business of conservation, protection and recovery. In order to collect and gather information on non U.S. asian arowana, FWS get and/or rely on information from Plants Committee (PC9-2000). For instance in a recent meeting Indonesia recommended retaining golden arowana (Scleropages formosus) on Appendix I, based on biological criteria. FWS uses this type of information to substantiate ESA endangered status. Another way FWS gets information by going to the origin country. John Field visited Indonesia in June 2001 who also spoke with a breeder, an ichthyologist who was knowledgeable about asian arowana biology and history of trade and the Director General of Fishery Culture. Based on the conversations, he believes there are no recent survey data available from Indonesian government or other institutions that would help define arowana population in the wild. So what does all this mean? It means with NO wild population data, FWS cannot examine and review the arowana status under the ESA. Management Authority of Indonesia, Malaysia just need to sit pretty and comply with CITES to protect, recover and law enforcement to the fish survival. Are they doing that? Obviously not enough that’s why it is still endangered. Worst we cannot even get wild population data. CITES Registered Breeders. They need to be aware that in USA the ESA pull rank over CITES. For example Indonesia, Malaysia authorities even AVA Singapore can invite key officials to see, smell and touch their operations but what good is it. Are they looking at the wrong direction? Maybe! Why? Because they are only thinking of captive bred fishes to sell which is not what the FWS wants. Think about it if FWS only comply with CITES we would have legal arowanas long time ago right? Breeders are not pushing their management authorities to help recover and get survey of wild population data. If they want to tap the biggest aquarium product consumer market in the world, they need to help push the recovery so that management authority can give population data so that FWS can examine so that reclassification process can begin so that breeders can send their fishes here and make money. It’s not a direct process, you have to repopulate the wild before you can do business. The key is to know what FWS wants not what breeders or hobbyist want happen with all the success in captive bred fishes. General public – FWS will pursue relevant information regarding the conservation of the fish. You can give information to John_Field@fws.gov They didn’t put the abstract for the public to view for nothing. Get them the information so that the listing process can begin. Now more paper work because next comes the Listing Process. Listing process is one of the basic functions performed by FWS in carrying out responsibilities under ESA. The process becomes meaningless if there are no wild population status. In order to reclassify or delist a species which includes the arowana, “FWS must follow this strict legal process known as a “rulemaking (regulatory) procedure. The rule is first proposed in the Federal Register, a US government publication. After a public comment period, the service decides if the rule should be approved, revised, or withdrawn. The process takes up to a year, or longer in unusual circumstances and encourages the participation of all interested parties, including the general public, the scientific community, other government agencies and foreign governments”. IF I am a small time CITES registered breeder currently selling some of my arowana indirectly to the USA. I don’t care how they end up in the US black market. So long as I am selling them and making a living. I want more of the USA market. I’ve found out what the US authorities want and need to reclassify the fish from endangered to threatened. I’ve found some connection with the local officials with influence and a well financed partner here. My goal now is to seek the aid and help my countries management authority find a solution to help the wild population recover. I will have to brown-nose and suck-up to the decision makers of the US Scientific Authority. Invite them, pay their way to the far east, let them look at my operations and bring them out to look at the protected reserves where arowanas are recovering. Most of all provide them with big official wild population numbers. I am stupid because I know I will not get exclusive rights to the whole USA market for my efforts but at least it’s another market where I can sell my arowanas without having to answer all that same questions over and over again which is sorry cannot help you: illegal to export arowanas to the USA, but here is how you do it… hahaha!! |