# Green Terror Won't eat



## Mega_a (Jun 27, 2010)

Hey,
Today I looked into my tank and my green terror has lost so much weight, his face is sunken in. I even changed his food from those freeze dried blood worms to the forzen kind that he loves. My green terror won't touch any of it. He also his breathing hard. Luckily, he isn't going up for air yet...
He has been acting unusual as well. Normally, he bosses around my pleco instead he has been hiding from it.

I have researched the symptoms and most of points to an internal parasite... capillaria, I believe? What medicines would you recommend and how long do you believe the treatment should go on?


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## Mega_a (Jun 27, 2010)

General hardness 0
carbonate hardness 0
pH 6.5
Nitrite 1
Nitrate 40

I just checked my water...


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## Mega_a (Jun 27, 2010)

I thought you may want more information.

I have a 29 gallon tank, with only the green terror and the pleco. I have had the pleco for over 3 years and the green terror over 1 year. It has never acted like this before.

I do use tap water and i do use a dechlorinator every time i change the water.


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## twohuskies (Mar 1, 2008)

Mega_a said:


> General hardness 0
> carbonate hardness 0
> pH 6.5
> Nitrite 1
> ...


NitrIte should be zero.

NitrAte should be below 20.

First and foremost, I think you should do a 30-40% water change. The NitrIte could be poisoning your fish. Get the water parameters in shape before attempting any medications.


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## Mega_a (Jun 27, 2010)

I have already done the water change about 40% and nothing has really changed. He still won't eat and he still is hiding.

Also there are little white dots on his head, which at first I thought was ich. But instead of being concave they are convex.


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## Mega_a (Jun 27, 2010)

Mega_a said:


> I have already done the water change about 40% and nothing has really changed. He still won't eat and he still is hiding.
> 
> Also there are little white dots on his head, which at first I thought was ich. But instead of being concave they are convex.


The water is :

general hardness: 0
Carbonate hardness:0
pH: 6.0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 40


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Stop feeding. Any more food will only exacerbate the water problems.

Well, it sounds like the cause of the problem was water quality- but what exactly he contracted is uncertain. I would avoid medicating until you get the water fixed.

Do you think you had 1ppm nitrIte? That would be very toxic and would take awhile for your fish to recover.

What do you have for filtration, and what is your maintenance schedule?


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## Mega_a (Jun 27, 2010)

I usually change the water every week about 20 %.

Unfortunately, He passed away last night. 
My pleco is still fine and I am going to try to fix the water. I really can't lose him too, I have the sucker for ever. My pleco has none of the symptoms that my green terror had... so thats good news.

I changed the filter a few weeks ago, I use to have one of those bio-wheels , penguin 150. I currently have a fluval 240.

My tank even has the air bubble stones in improve aeration.

So how do i fix the water?


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

I'm sorry for the loss... hopefully the pleco will make it.

With the change in filters, I'm guessing you disrupted your nitrogen cycle: now all you need is time for the bacterial colonies to get established again. When changing filters, it's a good idea to squeeze the dirty filter media into the new filter... thus transferring the beneficial bacteria.


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## Mega_a (Jun 27, 2010)

triscuit said:


> I'm sorry for the loss... hopefully the pleco will make it.
> 
> With the change in filters, I'm guessing you disrupted your nitrogen cycle: now all you need is time for the bacterial colonies to get established again. When changing filters, it's a good idea to squeeze the dirty filter media into the new filter... thus transferring the beneficial bacteria.


Thanks, I will definately do that from now on.


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## PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn (Dec 26, 2005)

triscuit said:


> I'm sorry for the loss... hopefully the pleco will make it.
> 
> With the change in filters, I'm guessing you disrupted your nitrogen cycle: now all you need is time for the bacterial colonies to get established again. When changing filters, it's a good idea to squeeze the dirty filter media into the new filter... thus transferring the beneficial bacteria.


disagree slightly there.

whilst squeezing the grunge in, I would also advise running the filters together,

the grunge will contain some bacteria - but mostly wastes.

by running in tandem it allows the transfer of bacteria over to the other media in the new filter.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn said:


> whilst squeezing the grunge in, I would also advise running the filters together,
> 
> the grunge will contain some bacteria - but mostly wastes.
> 
> by running in tandem it allows the transfer of bacteria over to the other media in the new filter.


 :wink:

Definitely another solid way of doing things, but I would be curious about which way would populate a new filter more efficiently. Running tandem filters works, but you are relying on free floating bacteria to colonize, whereas squeezing junk directly places bacteria and food into the filter media.

Best way, really is probably to grab the old media and put it in the new filter. :thumb:


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