Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

Fish in distress and i dont know what to do!

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26 Aug 2008 17:17 #1 by Nozebleed (Anders Van Cranlers)

Fish in distress and i dont know what to do! was created by Nozebleed (Anders Van Cranlers)

Hi..I have a Dwarf Snakehead Fish Channa Pulchra..I have it housed on his own in a 180L tank he's been in there about 12 weeks..there was 20 fish in there when he first arrived!! he's grown quite a bit.

Recently he has been really distressed and i dont know what to do next..

On the advice of various shop assistants i treated the tank for firstly slim and velvet and then white spot..but the fish still seems distressed..the fish did have a shite spot on his lip and tail but they cleared up.

for the last 4 weeks or so the fish has been rubbing,flicking,twitching and hovering at the top of the aquarium,he has also been doing some weird mouth strtching and darting to the top of the water for air..almost like the guy is chocking..i dont know..just looks severe..his back fin and tail fin are lying flat rather than outstretched..if you know what i mean. i've also seen little white/silver like worms (i saw 1 worm like creature) swimming round in the aquarium..which ive never seem before..what are they.

after treating for slim,velvet and white spot he has improved but still is scratching of objects.
Is there anything im not doing? what can i do next? should i just completely empty the tank start a fresh?

Im freaked here..what can i do?

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serratus (Drew Latimer)
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26 Aug 2008 17:35 #2 by serratus (Drew Latimer)

Replied by serratus (Drew Latimer) on topic Re:Fish in distress and i dont know what to do!

Hi, Drew here from AV, the white worms are prob. planaria, generally a sign of a dirty aquarium/overfeeding, they feed on the excess waste food very common with oscars and other large messy fish, will clear up if tank is given a gravel clean and food is reduced.
If you only have the juwel filter i would consider getting an external filter, as i said before, others here will agree, juwel filters by themselves are ok for small amounts of fish but heavily stocked tanks or big messy fish they are not going to be able to cope! I know you only have him on his own but the worms are a sign of this!!!!
They are quiet a rare fish, as you know, it would be a shame too loose him!!! There are only a handful in Ireland!!! am i right in saying your mate got one as well, how is his????

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mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
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26 Aug 2008 17:42 #3 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)

Replied by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods) on topic Re:Fish in distress and i dont know what to do!

i would suggest worms! so a good wormer would be my first action there is all lightly hood this is from wild stock so with this in mind i would consider worming on a regular basis.

worms some times hide with in the body in cyst or eggs that protects thus you have to catch them regular dosage of worms.

i previously read were one person would treat all wild stock with a three stage process over 4 to 6 weeks and then there after regular treatment.

but a picture of the worm and the fish would be helpful.

this is all i can suggest at the moment as i have no experience with this fish

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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26 Aug 2008 18:02 #4 by Nozebleed (Anders Van Cranlers)

Replied by Nozebleed (Anders Van Cranlers) on topic Re:Fish in distress and i dont know what to do!

howdo drew..yeah i bought it from yourself and he's a beauty..my mate bought a lung fish from wackers the other week..freak show..i have a few more snakeheads ordered but i wana get the tank sorted asap..i'll do it first thing in the morning.

I will buy an external filter..the jewel aint good enough..but is it possible to kill off the worms? what treatment works best? i know ive only seen 1 worm but if there's 1 there could be 100..
thanks again..

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serratus (Drew Latimer)
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26 Aug 2008 18:19 #5 by serratus (Drew Latimer)

Replied by serratus (Drew Latimer) on topic Re:Fish in distress and i dont know what to do!

They are all wild, but were microscope scraped/conditioned/wormed etc.. when they arrived...months ago!! but suppose if you were feeding him fish it is a pos. that he picked up worms or something else!!
Im in tmw so call up n ill give you a good price on an external!!!
Worms should dissapear in time, can you post up a pic. of them??? Just to confirm that they are!!!
I have the other snakeheads on order, should be in soon, but get the tank sorted first...
Lungfish get big, if its a SA its gonna get 3-4ft!!!! and if its an african tell him to watch his fingers...they bit Very hard!!!!

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mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)
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26 Aug 2008 21:45 #6 by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods)

Replied by mickeywallace (Michael Wallace Cath Woods) on topic Re:Fish in distress and i dont know what to do!

While i would agree with serratus I prefer to ear on the side of caution. While it is a good probability that it is white worm. I would never discount anything especially in these strange days and with out a photo one cant be sure

if possible bring to AV and get some one to id or treat as a precaution to avoid further damage. you have take all precautions and treatments water changes treatments etc

one thing i learned over the years was the treatment i dis counted or hasted over was the one need and lost some lovely fish

octozin may be an option do other might have better suggestions

Mickey Wallace & Cath Woods

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