Amphilophus tank idea...
- Thread starter DMD123
- Start date
Decided to move the little grow out Petsmart devil into the 75 gallon with the RTM growouts. I was expecting an all out war and no issues. The devil is shy but no aggression with the other fish either way. They actually seem to ignore each other.
Been a bit since I updated. Recently I ran a full parasite treatment on my trimac because of weird poo. The treatment was to the water and ineffective. So I decided to go with medicated food. On 3rd treatment day and he has been doing well. Still have a few more treatments to go.
I had posted this elsewhere on the forum about the trimac tail.
The tail lymphocystis is very much reduced and fuzzy swelling done but two tiny spots that are likely little scars remain.
Then the current issue involves the white poo, lack of appetite. Today is day 4 of my treatment process. This is the third time I have done this type of treatment on a fish with both previous times having success with some serious wasting away and duck lips issues. The only difference is with this treatment I added a bit of probiotic to the mixture. I had done garlic, Epsom salt and vitamins before and am doing it this time around too. I was a bit surprised that yesterday afternoon the fish acted hungry so I put a few pellets in and it did eat but again slowly. It was still interesting that it ate because the medicated food treatment usually makes the fish not want to eat.
A trimac has always been on my dream list and I was so happy to have got it but with all the weird stuff, I might as well have raised a difficult species insteadfor all the work this one has been.
The tail lymphocystis is very much reduced and fuzzy swelling done but two tiny spots that are likely little scars remain.
Then the current issue involves the white poo, lack of appetite. Today is day 4 of my treatment process. This is the third time I have done this type of treatment on a fish with both previous times having success with some serious wasting away and duck lips issues. The only difference is with this treatment I added a bit of probiotic to the mixture. I had done garlic, Epsom salt and vitamins before and am doing it this time around too. I was a bit surprised that yesterday afternoon the fish acted hungry so I put a few pellets in and it did eat but again slowly. It was still interesting that it ate because the medicated food treatment usually makes the fish not want to eat.
A trimac has always been on my dream list and I was so happy to have got it but with all the weird stuff, I might as well have raised a difficult species insteadfor all the work this one has been.
Just finished medicated food treatment number four. Was going to add this old thread I did for the duck lips treatment: http://www.wafishbox.com/forums/threads/duck-lips-treatment-on-cichlid.9803/
This treatment has worked in the past and hopefully works this time too. I can’t remember if I had mentioned but its best to use a 5 gallon transition bucket for the process because the fish burps the medicated mix up a little and you dont want that mess in your tank.
Along with the medicated food there is also a 25% water change/gravel vac, DAILY. I do this to see if I find any more white stringy poo and to remove any possible infected detritus getting ingested. So far it looks good with none of the white poo being found.
This treatment has worked in the past and hopefully works this time too. I can’t remember if I had mentioned but its best to use a 5 gallon transition bucket for the process because the fish burps the medicated mix up a little and you dont want that mess in your tank.
Along with the medicated food there is also a 25% water change/gravel vac, DAILY. I do this to see if I find any more white stringy poo and to remove any possible infected detritus getting ingested. So far it looks good with none of the white poo being found.
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fishguy1978
Legendary Member
"It's just a fish." Maybe to the uneducated. I am looking at the volume of water I have and considering how much medication it would take to treat my larger tanks. Compared to what it would cost to replace the fish in each tank the cost of med's is piddley. Never mind the time invested in growing out those placed in our care.
I hope you are successful with the treatment program.
I hope you are successful with the treatment program.
Totally agree with you, and not just for medications, also for fish food (what could be more important than that?) and water chemistry reagents. Do the math; it's a no-brainer.
That said, I sometimes move sick fishes to a smaller quarantine tank for treatment. This can be a tough call, as you have to balance the stress of being isolated against the stress of being picked on by tankmates. Most of the fishes I keep are very social, and do not do well in isolation.
@DMD123, I applaud your efforts trying to nurse this fish back to health; you are a true fish-keeper. Good luck.
This is a very different method of treatment in that information is not readily available and you kind of have to guess a bit. Today is treatment number 5. It is the Metro, Focus, Kanaplex mix. According to instructions 3 doses of Kanaplex should be administered with a back to back treatment option for severe cases... but this is in water treatment, not in food. The Metro is a bit vague in that it says its gentle and to use until symptoms go away.
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Modest_Man
Well-Known Member
I have force fed fish before (mostly stingrays) and it's much easier to dose a container with clove oil or MS222 to calm them down before tube feeding. Easier on the fish and way easier on me. We only resorted to force feeding as a last ditch effort because of how stressful it is catching and handling the fish every day.
Been a while since an update. The little Petsmart Devil is doing okay on its own in the one 90 and the rtms are in the other 90. This is about to change with some new stock coming in. Will update that as it progresses.
The 300 has been a pretty smooth running tank with the 4 male amphilophus. They all seem to know their place in the pecking order and none of the aggression is too bad.
The 300 has been a pretty smooth running tank with the 4 male amphilophus. They all seem to know their place in the pecking order and none of the aggression is too bad.
Had not updated this in a long time. In the end I decided not to disturb the 300 by adding that little Petsmart devil. I rehomed him and left the big tank as is. The current stock makes the tank look full for sure with Petsmart Red Devil x2, Midas x2, Bala Sharks x 3, Endli bichir x1, Ansorgii bichir x1.
The amphs are actually pretty well behaved with a little pushing but no major issues. An occasional nip at a bala shark and totally ignoring the bichirs. Im super happy with the activity level and color in this tank. I guess the key is that I dont really have too aggressive of amphs. Once the Hoga was removed from the tank, my Petsmart devil stepped up and keeps everything running smooth without having to beat on or chase everyone around too much. The real trouble maker is the smallest true midas who punches way above his weight and challenges even the much bigger fish. He is the one I need to watch as time goes on. Interestingly he is the slowest growing and a bit of a runt in comparison to his sibling from the same batch who has quite a bit of size on him.
Out of my tanks (7 at the moment) this has to be the one that is running the smoothest and that overall Im happy with how it turned out. The garage tanks are kind of a hot mess of trimac growouts spread out in three tanks. Need to do some serious rehoming soon.
Thats the latest on this one... and sorry for not having new pics.
The amphs are actually pretty well behaved with a little pushing but no major issues. An occasional nip at a bala shark and totally ignoring the bichirs. Im super happy with the activity level and color in this tank. I guess the key is that I dont really have too aggressive of amphs. Once the Hoga was removed from the tank, my Petsmart devil stepped up and keeps everything running smooth without having to beat on or chase everyone around too much. The real trouble maker is the smallest true midas who punches way above his weight and challenges even the much bigger fish. He is the one I need to watch as time goes on. Interestingly he is the slowest growing and a bit of a runt in comparison to his sibling from the same batch who has quite a bit of size on him.
Out of my tanks (7 at the moment) this has to be the one that is running the smoothest and that overall Im happy with how it turned out. The garage tanks are kind of a hot mess of trimac growouts spread out in three tanks. Need to do some serious rehoming soon.
Thats the latest on this one... and sorry for not having new pics.
I had not updated this in a bit because it was such a smooth running tank until now. Honestly I never thought it would work and it did for a long time. Probably due to the fact the head Petsmart red devil ran the tank so well. No real chasing on his part, basically a face down of a fish and it got back in line. This was awesome to see these 4 big amphs get along so well.
Notice I had begun with the "until now"... The big devil injured itself severely on a piece of driftwood in the tank and has passed. Then of course other problems develop (rule of three's) the next largest midas is now having a swim bladder issue and cant really run the tank so the other two are causing chaos and there is no peace or calm at the moment. Without a peacekeeper in the tank I think my big amph tank is done with. I have to reevaluate what to do now. I hate tanks in constant turmoil. I have my garage tanks for the troublesome fishes, the living room is supposed to be calm!
So I am thinking about what to do next. Try and raise out another batch of amphs? Or completely change the choice of cichlid?
Notice I had begun with the "until now"... The big devil injured itself severely on a piece of driftwood in the tank and has passed. Then of course other problems develop (rule of three's) the next largest midas is now having a swim bladder issue and cant really run the tank so the other two are causing chaos and there is no peace or calm at the moment. Without a peacekeeper in the tank I think my big amph tank is done with. I have to reevaluate what to do now. I hate tanks in constant turmoil. I have my garage tanks for the troublesome fishes, the living room is supposed to be calm!
So I am thinking about what to do next. Try and raise out another batch of amphs? Or completely change the choice of cichlid?
fishguy1978
Legendary Member
mbu puffer
