# Help Quick!!Ammonia Burn!!!



## Fishman (Mar 1, 2003)

Guys I picked up 2 cariba, 2 reds and a gold spilo this weekend. I met the seller part way and transported them back to my house in a rubbermade container over 3 hours!

When I picked them up they already had ammonia burn on there eyes and were very sluggish! They were neglicted badly!
They all made it alive to my house and they are now in my tank with no ammonia!

My question is what do I use to help them heal up?
They have cloudy eyes and they are sunken in!
Their overall color is not good what should I use ?
Salt? Stresscoat? Raise temp?

Need help all! I dont want to loose any!
What a deal if they all make it!!
Thanks in advance!


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## SERRAPYGO (Feb 4, 2003)

If DonH doesn't reply to this I would suggest private messaging him soon!


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)

or :donhcomequick:


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

If you can, isolate them in their own separate cycled tank with no gravel (to facilitate water changes) and keep the tank dark. Just give them good clean water and add salt. Administer salt at 0.3% (about 3 lbs/100 gallons). Split the amount of salt into 3 equal parts and add once a day for 3 days to avoid any further stress/shock. At that dosage, salt is effective against most common parasites and helps the fish recover from bacterial/fungal infection (to a certain extent). Keep an eye out for a secondary infection (sorry&#8230; no pun intended).

The sunken eyes are signs that they are emaciated and malnourished from poor care. Throw some "clean" feeders in the tank and leave them alone for now. Good luck and keep us updated.


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## Fishman (Mar 1, 2003)

I added aquarium salt as soon as I got them in their own tank about a tablespoon per 10 gallons! Is this enough or should I add more?

I got them yesterday and the gold spilo that was in the same water with the pygos the whole trip has no ammonia burn at all!
I dont know how! He must have been in his own tank that is why I think the pygos were neglicted! Because they are all fairly bad shape!

They spilo and the one Cariba are eating shrimp and they have lost all of their cloudy eyes!

The large 7 inch red is doing fairly good and is swimming around and his eyes are better than yesterday! A little bit cloudy!
The other red at 5 inches is about the same as the big one!
But the last Cariba is in real bad shape his eyes are so cloudy and his whole nostrel area is white! His fins are tattered but he is swimming a little bit!

Thanks for the help DonH!
When ever I have a problem you are always there to help!


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## Fishman (Mar 1, 2003)

Oh by the way I tested the water he brought me the fish In and It was at about 8-10ppm after diluting it with my water partially!

These P's are very tough if they can live through this!


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Good to hear that most of them are improving so quickly...

As far as the salt, I'm not too keen on using tablespoon or teaspoon measurements. Not all spoons are created the same and everyone has their own guestimate on what constitutes a tablespoon. The most accurate way to measure dosage is by weight. I just put a bucket on a scale and weigh the salt (less the weight of the bucket). Granted that there is quite a bit of margin for error when using salt, I still prefer to measure the salt as best I can to get to 0.3% (which is accepted by many as the dosage rate for common ailments).

BTW, you should have measured the pH of his water also... bet you it's pretty low (otherwise the p's would be dead).


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## Fishman (Mar 1, 2003)

I measured his Ph to get it somewhere close to my tank and it was at like 6.4! I said heck with getting it perfect with my tank I just put them in my tank!

It could not hurt them to bad when the water they were in was so bad!!


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## Xenon (Nov 15, 2002)




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## BuzzLitYr (May 20, 2003)

Not to jump in here but I have a question... Some say 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons, so 10 tablespoons for 100 gallons. However DonH is saying 1 pound per 100 gallons each day for 3 days.??? That is a pretty large difference no?

Being a newbie I am probably just missing something...

BTW, good luck with the fish

Buzz


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Fishman said:


> I measured his Ph to get it somewhere close to my tank and it was at like 6.4! I said heck with getting it perfect with my tank I just put them in my tank!
> 
> It could not hurt them to bad when the water they were in was so bad!!


 Actually, you CAN hurt them by putting them in better water... Let's assume that the pH in your tank is 7.4. You are dumping them into water that has 10 times the alkalinity of the water that they are accustomed to. The only instance where I would do this is if I was certain that there was a pH crash and the fish would face certain death if they were not put in good water immediately. But then again, you probably thought that it would be from the description you gave of the fish...







That does speak greatly about the resiliency of pirahna. 


> Some say 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons, so 10 tablespoons for 100 gallons. However DonH is saying 1 pound per 100 gallons each day for 3 days.??? That is a pretty large difference no?


The 1 tbsp/10 gallon rule you often hear about is for prophylactic use of salt. The amount of salt is replaced with every water change. I do not believe in using salt as a general "tonic" but reserve it for use for treatment only. Salt is a GREAT first line of defense for a lot of common ailments because it doesn't kill your nitrifiers (to a certain extent), does not get removed with carbon/UV, and most importantly, it does not push very sick fishes "over the edge" like many meds do. That being said, when a low level of salt is present at all times, you start getting into debates about parasites developing a resistance to it, how it's actually an irritant causing the fish to shed excess slime, and where in nature do you find p's living in water that contains 1 tbsp/10 gallons of water...









Salt at 0.3% is considered treatment level and not intended to stay in the tank for more than 2 weeks. This duration takes into account the life cycle of parasites and time for the fish to recover from infection. The salt is then taken out through dilution by subsequent water changes.


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## GARGOYLE (Feb 12, 2003)

more great info by the MAN. Thanx again


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## Fishman (Mar 1, 2003)

Well guys here is an update on my fish!

I have bad news and I have good news!

The good news first! The two larger reds are alot better and their eyes are slightly cloudy but it is disapearing!
The first Cariba is doing great and getting along with my reds just fine!

The gold is the best of all eats like crazy and this is my first spilo and this guy is very aggressive towards food!
Spilo are really nice P's! Very colorful too!

Well here goes the bad news! I had the very sick cariba in with the larger reds! Healing them all up in the same tank! Well when I got home from work to day I was going to move the Cariba to a 10 gallon and up the salt dosage but he was floating at the top of the tank when I got home!

He was not dead he was chewed in half by the other 2 sick reds! Damn I should have removed him to a seperate tank yesterday!









Well you live and learn! Atleast I got 4 great fish for 80 bucks and a three hour drive! Its all good I quess!









Thanks Again to everyone and most of all DONH! He is a lifesaver!!


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