# MY SPILO IS DISINTEGRATING!!!!!



## Euromarker (Jun 21, 2009)

Ok so I acclimated the lil guy in low light like you're supposed to and when i come back from getting dinner that night i put a light on him cuz i wanted to check him out a lil bit. And it looks like his fins are disintergrating. the back one especially. And I am also in fear that he has parasited becuz right where the belly and the anal fin connect you can see bones like on a rhom i had got shipped in and he died like 4 days later. when the rhom died these worms were spewing out of him and i was like OMG you got to be kidding. SO anyway I'm like really freakin out right now. Is there anything I can put into the water that won't maybe treat him but that will definitely treat him?


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## MiGsTeR (Jan 19, 2008)

Try adding some salt and higher your temp for now


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## jonah (Aug 15, 2008)

treat the tank with prazi pro, always do that if i suspect worms


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I would read DonH's artcle on Salt in the saved topics of this forum. It sounds like ammonia burn.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Grosse Gurke said:


> I would read DonH's artcle on Salt in the saved topics of this forum. It sounds like ammonia burn.


Could provide link-lol

http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?showtopic=22679


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

i dont think its ammonia burn. mine shipped at the same time and i got mine after him. might be another issue. most likely tank related.


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

When in doubt, go with Parasite Clear...not too harsh, yet effective for most internal/external parasitic and secondary infections.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

AS fan said:


> i dont think its ammonia burn. mine shipped at the same time and i got mine after him. might be another issue. most likely tank related.


IMO...When you have a fish shipped...and the fins start to dissolve...it is usually caused by ammonia buildup during shipping. I had two fish shipped as well. Same box...different bags.....they are in a divided 125 at the moment. One has pretty severe ammonia burn while the other is in perfect shape. This is just a fact of life when you get fish shipped.....you never know what might happen or how a fish will react to shipping.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

Grosse Gurke said:


> i dont think its ammonia burn. mine shipped at the same time and i got mine after him. might be another issue. most likely tank related.


IMO...When you have a fish shipped...and the fins start to dissolve...it is usually caused by ammonia buildup during shipping. I had two fish shipped as well. Same box...different bags.....they are in a divided 125 at the moment. One has pretty severe ammonia burn while the other is in perfect shape. This is just a fact of life when you get fish shipped.....you never know what might happen or how a fish will react to shipping.
[/quote]

I respect that but i was more so trying to be nice about the fact i think he might of not taken care of the fish based on his post in the past. i just try to say things in a neutral way. doesnt always work. he never mentioned the fish was in bad shape on his first post about the fish in the original purchase thread. the fish he mentions is healthy and active attacking another cichlid which he fed to him.


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

How long was the tank set up and is it cycled?
I figure I'd start from the beginning.


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## Trigga (Jul 1, 2006)

id go with a salt alternative IMO... melafix is made for stuff like that and is all natural

good luck with the spilo and post pics if you can


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## Euromarker (Jun 21, 2009)

AS fan said:


> How long was the tank set up and is it cycled?
> I figure I'd start from the beginning.


I cycled it for about a month before I bought my caribes from pedro. All I did was divide the tank that they are in now. water changes every week about 15 percent --20 percent based on what they have eaten that week


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

we need numbers on the water quality. what was the ammonia source you used for cycling the tank? did you get the caribe at the same time as the spilo if not how long were the caribe in the tank before you added the spilo?


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## Euromarker (Jun 21, 2009)

AS fan said:


> we need numbers on the water quality. what was the ammonia source you used for cycling the tank? did you get the caribe at the same time as the spilo if not how long were the caribe in the tank before you added the spilo?


i have a local pet store that checks a water sample from each of my tanks once every 2 weeks. and I went in their today and they said everything seemed fine. Also I've had the caribe about 2 months now i believe.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

I understand they said everything is fine but for a lot of us to help we have to rule out certain things. water quality changes so fast you have to retest when you have a issue just to rule out the basics. adding a new fish of that size would definitely make the tank have a mini cycle which could cause a problem. due to the fact that we dont know if the fish was ammonia burned from transport because you didnt get a good look at it when you took it out of the box based on what you said we are back tracking trying to make sure there isnt a issue with the tank. also what size is the tank and what filtration are you running?


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## Euromarker (Jun 21, 2009)

AS fan said:


> I understand they said everything is fine but for a lot of us to help we have to rule out certain things. water quality changes so fast you have to retest when you have a issue just to rule out the basics. adding a new fish of that size would definitely make the tank have a mini cycle which could cause a problem. due to the fact that we dont know if the fish was ammonia burned from transport because you didnt get a good look at it when you took it out of the box based on what you said we are back tracking trying to make sure there isnt a issue with the tank. also what size is the tank and what filtration are you running?


I've got a powerhead and penguin 350 which filters 350 gallons an hour i believe. It's a 55 gallon tank. the caribe are all around 3.75-4 inches long.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

yea i hate to say it but its starting to sound like it may be your tank. post up the water test when you get it. I really wish you had gotten a good look at the fish when u took it out of the bag. Is the fish still getting worse or does it look the same? if its the same everything should even out on its own with clean water.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

If it was the tank/water....all the fish would show signs of fin damage...not just the one fish he added. Also...a mini-cycle from overloading the bio-media by adding one 4" fish to 55 gallons of water...would take a while to even show up. If you put in a 4" fish into a totally uncycled 55 gallon tank...it would take more than a few days for the water to deteriorate to the point of melting fins.....unless you are feeding him every hour. I think this is a pretty simple case of ammonia burn from shipping&#8230;and it should be very treatable with salt.

Oh...and the effects of ammonia burn dont show up immediately...it shows up over a few days. There are some signs when it first happens...but the extent of the damage shows up over the next couple days.


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## Euromarker (Jun 21, 2009)

Grosse Gurke said:


> If it was the tank/water....all the fish would show signs of fin damage...not just the one fish he added. Also...a mini-cycle from overloading the bio-media by adding one 4" fish to 55 gallons of water...would take a while to even show up. If you put in a 4" fish into a totally uncycled 55 gallon tank...it would take more than a few days for the water to deteriorate to the point of melting fins.....unless you are feeding him every hour. I think this is a pretty simple case of ammonia burn from shipping&#8230;and it should be very treatable with salt.
> 
> Oh...and the effects of ammonia burn dont show up immediately...it shows up over a few days. There are some signs when it first happens...but the extent of the damage shows up over the next couple days.


Thank you so much for all your imput. I put some meds in the tank to make sure it wasn't anything more serious as well as salt. And I think he's going to recover nicely at this point. Will post pictures when I get a chance.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

I agree with GG

Certainly sounds like Ammonia burn from shipping in this case-

Should be an easy recovery..
Keep us posted please on the outcome...


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## Euromarker (Jun 21, 2009)

AKSkirmish said:


> I agree with GG
> 
> Certainly sounds like Ammonia burn from shipping in this case-
> 
> ...


It really had to be Ammonia burn because he is looking awesome now. I will post pics next week. I got him to eat some beefheart today and he also chased my finger like a mad man...What an awesome feeling knowing that everything will be ok....


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Sounds like ammonia burn, but if the one died had parisites, and they were from the same source treat this one with prazi pro.


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## Euromarker (Jun 21, 2009)

sean-820 said:


> Sounds like ammonia burn, but if the one died had parisites, and they were from the same source treat this one with prazi pro.


the one that died was about 3-4 years ago in a completely diff tank.


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