Is this a fungus?

[Zerc]

ya my biggest req for the new tank is an 8 foot length. (i would love a 300 gallon 10 footer but i haven't figured out how to propose that to the wife yet)

I should have been more careful when i picked out the silver. I was looking over the tank full of them and my only thought was "get something too big for the midas to eat" (I had tried getting a pair of pictus cats to keep my current pictus company, and he promptly ate them both, but he wont touch the one i still have!)
so i didn't look for drop eye as closely as i should have.

 

[DMD123]

ya my biggest req for the new tank is an 8 foot length. (i would love a 300 gallon 10 footer but i haven't figured out how to propose that to the wife yet)

Yep, us married guys have that challenge dont we? How to get the wife to say yes...

When I found my 210g on craigslist I was sure the wife would say "NO!" but surprisingly she agreed. I got the tank,stand, glass tops for $500. All were still new with pet store stickers still on them. The guy had spent over $1400 and never had got it set up. This was cheaper than the new 120g that I got from petsmart!

 

[Zerc]

:shock:

wow, thats a really good deal!

 

[Zerc]

http://olympic.craigslist.org/for/2686890352.html

I've been looking at this for a while, haven't decided yet though.

 

[DMD123]

With a make an offer on it, I would totally look into it. That would give you a lot of time before you needed the "big tank" for what you got going.

 

[DMD123]

Another update: I went hard core and pulled out the wood and plants. I left a couple of the big stones. Did a heavy gravel vac and removed 45% of the water. I know the meds said to only do 25% but there was a lot of junk that the bad bacteria could live off so I figured it would be better to have a clean tank first. The fuzz on the pearsei looks the same but I did see a giant long white stringy poo in the tank. Not sure who did it but makes me feel that the parasite meds are probably kicking in. The fuzz/fungus I will also continue to treat but I think it may be a much easier fight with the tank clean now. Still no active eating with pellets or frozen brine shrimp. But then again my fish have never liked frozen brine shrimp even when they were healthy.

After the massive clean up I think Zerc should pull out his decor also and do a heavy gravel vac. And keep the decor out until the treatment process is done.

 

[Zerc]

i do a full gravel vac whenever i do a WC (except today before class, i only did a wc)

ill take out some wood when i get home, but i'm afraid if i take out too much my small fish(1.5" festae) wont have anywhere to hide from my big orange pig...

oh, everyone ate today, earthworms and bloodworms. i put in some pellets first but i swear i could HEAR them laughing... :suspect:

 

[Anthraxx]

lol i think both of you need to consider the bleach method. aka start over with african cichlids . o and the best way to get a significant other interested.. is to involve them with the process. my gf did a ton of research for me and found out that she wanted discus.. so with her tax returns she got the tank shed always been eyeballing at petsmart and here we are . am i seriously the only one with a GF/wife that likes fish???? u guys really need to try harder! lol

 

[Zerc]

mine likes... salt water...

:x

i told her she can take care of it herself because i do the other two, so far that has kept the salt water tanks out of the house

 

[DMD123]

the best way to get a significant other interested.. is to involve them with the process.

My wife was the one who named the midas. She acts as if she is not a fish person, but I hear her talk to the fish and sneak them food when I'm not looking. Ive also heard her talk to others about it.

 

[Anthraxx]

HAHA too funny. bring her into the process of picking out new stock. and dont be afraid to teach her about how to handle maintenance and all that. i just kinda had a cpl books lying around and she just fell in love with discus. i said go for if you wanna spring for the cost.. and low and behold here we are.. 9 months later and all her discus are still alive.

 

[DMD123]

Another update: I am beginning to feel like Im getting nowhere with the pearsei. I see a bit of fin rot happening and it just does not look like things are getting better. I decided to add pimafix along with the meds I got going. I would feel better if he would at least eat but its going on two weeks of dealing with this mess and he is just slowly wasting away. I have pretty much got to the point where I feel the cost of more meds for the lack of progress Ive seen is just not worth it. If I continue any more treatments it will be in the 29g. I will move those fish into the big tank and try to get the pearsei better in a hospital tank to himself.

Do I need to completely strip down the 210? I think with all the meds what ever is in the tank is dead but what the fish carry worries me. I still want to keep my silver dollars but are they carriers that will infect whatever new fish go in the 210? My hope was to just do a big water change scrub down all decor and everything would be alright.

Well I will be looking for new stock soon... will continue with updates.

 

[Zerc]

I think I read that a lot of these diseases are always present in small quantities, but will not infect the fish unless they get a weakened immune system for one reason or another.

 

[DMD123]

I brought the huge pieces of wood into work and pressure washed them with 150 degree water and am trying to keep them wet by soaking in hot water. Funny how tannins are still leaching out.

Not sure if I will put both pieces back in, it was a pain to clean around them. Also I seem to have had a lot of junk in areas I could not get to.

 

[Zerc]

dang, that would be nice! ive been thinking about just filling the tub with some bleach water and letting them soak for 10 minutes or so, then dechlorinating it and letting it sit overnight.

 

[DMD123]

I dont have a bin big enough to soak my entire piece. I could get a barrel and cut it so that I could soak the entire thing but right now that is on the back burner. Just trying to get my tank as clean as possible and try to fix the pearsei. The hot water pressure washer is pretty cool to have access to.

I would be reluctant to bleach your wood. I would just disinfect with boiling water.

 

[Madness]

That wood would soak that bleach up like a sponge, and you would never get rid of it. I wouldnt suggest that. Hot water will do just fine.

Sorry to here about Frank, 'D', hopefully he pulls through. I noticed my Vieja whatever it is, has a spot of something on its right cheek and under its gill plate on the same side. I put it in a 20 gal so that I can treat it more effectively.

Good luck.

 

[DMD123]

Thanks madness.

This has been the most frustrating experience Ive ever had with my fish! I am hopeful for Frank but how its going I really think Im just prolonging the inevitable. He does not look good and just has that look in his eyes like he's done. Ive spent more on meds now that what Ive paid for him and thats saying a lot since he was an expensive wild caught.

I just cant believe the stupid silver dollars are still around! They just wont die! Glad I can manage to keep something alive. They are very nervous now with the big midas gone. They are a completely different group of fish now. Very irritating because they spook so easily. My tank totally sucks right now. The only thing that is keeping me going is the dumb little convict in the 29g, he is so responsive and a total jerk to the bristlenose that he is a riot. Yep the simplest of fish is what keeps me hanging on.

 

[DMD123]

Got home from work and just wanted to scream! :affraid:

The pearsei is getting worse! The fin rot is setting in and eating away even more. I am done with this, no more money in meds, no more time wasted on an empty looking tank. Time to clean the tank and start over. Dont have time to deal with it tonight but I am just going to have to put him down, and move on. I could try a different med but at this point with him not eating he is weak and will probably just die anyway.

Not sure what to do about the silver dollars they look healthy but are they carriers that will spread this mess to the new fish?

 

[Anthraxx]

bummer dude. sorry to hear that your tank isnt doing well at all.. its gotta be something in the water.. maybe urban runoff or something idk.. really sucks to hear you gotta start all over tho. GL to ya in the clean up process...