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Post by Carl on May 3, 2011 16:26:15 GMT -5
I am happy to read the water where you are staying is helping, likely this water is mineral ion rich and keeping this water fresh (with changes) is important too. I am guessing you are in the Santa Ynez Valley (maybe Lake Cachuma?), if so I know that you are in a good source for natural mineral waters. (I used to both camp here and even more so fly here with clients I took to the wine country of the Santa Ynez Valley)
As for the possibility of Fish TB, I can state with 99.9% certainty that your fish do not have this affliction as I have seen and treated aquatic TB and your fish' do not come closing to matching fish with TB (which is a slow decay and disintegration of the fish)
Carl
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Post by starspun on May 21, 2011 3:42:37 GMT -5
Hi Carl! Sorry, it's been a while since I've been online....had to fit a lot in one trip and now we're heading back up to Canada.... The area we were in was actually down in a valley just west of Santa Barbara, but probably the same kind of water as the place you are talking about:-) (and close too) Beautiful area! Loved the water! ;-) We've been traveling since and I've reverted back to tap water. Many of my tail biters have healed rather quick, and everyone seems to be fine with the exception of one or two. As I said, Kyandii got the same sort of thing as Plato but I trimmed it all off. His fins are showing new growth finally. The other clamped guy has unclamped and is showing a LOT of new growth! The female (Platos sister) who looked done for, totally perked up and appears normal now. Now, as for one of my new Aquabid guys, the none tail biter 'Cloud', I noticed what I thought to be a little tail biting. I thought OH NO, not you now! But then I noticed a big red dot on the end of his dorsal just like Plato, with the same bit of fuzz. My heart sank. I ended up clipping it off right away, and so far so good. The rest of his tail looks shredded and a bit bloody, but I do think this is just him tailbiting. They all seem to start a month or two after they arrive from Thailand. I hope the permanent address back in Toronto will settle them down a bit! Another strange thing....after sleeping for the night, he tried swimming around but seemed bogged down. I then notice a piece of java moss had ATTACHED itself to his anal fin! No kidding! I had to separate it from his fin! Ever heard of this?! Another guy I have doesn't poop and when he does it's white and stringy. This has happened since I had him. I was waiting to see if it would clear up but now I fear it is parasites or something and will begin a treatment shortly. Other than that, we're all doing good I guess! I have no idea how Cloud got this problem, since all their equipment is kept separate. Boggles my mind! Thanks once again for your help. I have a cart ready to go with shells and some testers, but have not had a permanent address because of moving around so much! I noticed the shipping to Canada was a lot, so I am now looking for a friend who can accept it for me and mail it with some other stuff to save on shipping costs. I really think this mineral thing is on the money! P.S. Here is a pic of Clouds poor tail. Looks like tail biting I think....
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Post by Carl on May 21, 2011 11:10:20 GMT -5
I am a bit confused as to the term "tail biting"; is there another fish with "Cloud"? White stringy "poop" can be either parasite caused or Aeromonas Bacteria caused (there may be other causes, but these are the two primary causes from my experience). As well I have think assuming that your new fish is alone that tail biting is not the cause, rather it too may be a case of Aeromonas caused tail rot (Aeromonas is an opportunistic bacteria that is found in many aquatic environments). Medicated baths with Methylene Blue, salt, & Furan 2 may be a good idea. As already noted water conditions play a major role in prevention and treatment. The use of Indian Almond leaves in products such as Bio Lif (along with minerals) can both help create a natural environment but also aid in aeromonas prevention. Have a safe journey Carl
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Post by starspun on May 21, 2011 12:43:17 GMT -5
Hi Carl!
By tailbiting, I mean the common half moon betta thing to do. (All my fish are separated). Everyone seems to be having problems with this on the Betta forum I belong to, especially seems to be prevalent in Thai imported fish. I actually made up the term 'Thailbiting'. HAHA!
Originally folks talked about it being from stress, but I figure it's because they are bred to have such long finnage, they get frustrated with their lack of ability to swim, and thus give themself a little trim! I most people believe this to be the case now....
For example, one very long finned guy I have, Angel, was so weighted down by his tail....he would sink vertically and struggle to get anywhere, especially up. He never really moved around a lot because of this. Once he started regularily trimming himself, his personality changed drastically. He is actually much more well off now that he has discovered his 'freedom trims'. A wild and fiesty little guy.
They say the rosetails display this behavior more often, but so far in my experience they have trimmed less. I have a deformed rosetail named Drake who near swims in circles, but he never bites. He just deals with it somehow. Plato was also a rosetail (although he was perfect in finnage!), but had such insane control and grace, thus never found the need to bite. All my others have bit, some are growing back, and some after they start growing back, will start biting once it's too long again.
When Cloud arrived to me in the mail, he had tail nipped a bit because of the trip. It had grown back but now, the nipping is appearing in the exact same place, that is why I am figuring it's a biting issue. I will treat him in some meth blue just in case, since he really seems to be going at it. I have to keep all my water SUPER prestine because almost all of my males are now tail biters:-(
Except Drake and also Wave who is still quite young and not as long finned as the others. The breeder of wave also says that Thai fish are ridiculous like this and she has never bred a tailbiter. So that's a good thing!
I even have one pet store fish who does the same, have had him for about 8 months maybe? He bites, then grows back, bites then grows back. He seems much better off with the short tail as well, sadly enough....he's a veiltail too, so, ya....
As for the poorly pooping fish, Wave, I do think you are right on the parasite. He eats, but no poop for days and days. How is this possible? We started to call him the amazing non-pooping fish....but now it's not so funny. It's been going on for too long and has not resolved itself. The breeder I got him from is one of the best in North America and says none of her fish have ever had parasites (she puts a drop of Aquarisol into each gallon of their clean treated water, and I have been doing the same for prevention) so she thought maybe it was a bit of constipation. No bloating on his end though, so I think I will start the meds. I will read about this Aeromonas Bacteria and restart their Betta Spa (IAL) treatments. Looking at your Bio Lif product to see how it differs from Betta Spa, may have to add some to my cart as well!
Thanks so much once again for your advice! :-) Will keep updating, and hopefully this mystery disease does not return in any of my fish!
Oh yeah, ever heard of a plant attaching itself to a fish?! Haha! Weird Java Moss I have over here....
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Post by Carl on May 21, 2011 17:43:51 GMT -5
OK, I learned something new! Have you actually seen the fish do this? I have not ever witnessed it myself. As for the parasites, if your breeder says they have never had parasites, I would tend to believe them & consider the Aeromonas possibility. I would definitely re-start the Betta Spa treatment, however when comparing to the use of the Betta Spa versus Bio Lif/Wonder Shells combination it fall far short & not because I sell Bio Life, rather I sell Bio Lif and not Betta Spa for a reason; Bio Lif is much less refined providing more of the beneficial aspects of Indian Almond Leaves, and when combined with Wonder Shells, the constant positive mineral ion replenishment is something the Betta Spa cannot even provide other than constant water changes and addition of Betta Spa. To be even more blunt, Betta Spa has done a wonderful job marketing their product (not that it is poor), but in the real world tests many of my friends have performed in their aquarium service business, this product has fallen short (the science also explains the results too) See the Aquarium Chemistry Article which explains this in detail (including the charged battery analogy) Carl
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Post by starspun on May 23, 2011 1:53:07 GMT -5
Heya! I have seen my fish do it, sadly. Most of the time I miss it. But I have on occasion (rarely) seen the fish in action, chasing their tails like a dog! Usually they just shred it, but I've actually seen a couple of mine with holes in the middle, where their little mouths took a nice bite. It's ridiculous! I will try to treat my one guy for the Aeromonas and let you know what happens! Oh here is a video of the tailbiting. This is exactly what I've caught them doing, especially my pet store guy, Fishwish. Heck, this one in the video looks exactly like him, same bite pattern too, LOL! www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1n0T2gP3_YAlso, very interesting about the Betta Spa, going to read the article now. Will for sure pick up some Bio Lif! Thanks once again! :-)
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Post by Carl on May 23, 2011 9:21:44 GMT -5
Thanks for the video.
After watching this video, I would have to disagree as to the cause of this tail biting; from my observation this fish is showing natural male Betta aggression and simply sees his tail as another mail Betta.
He may be seeing his reflection which in turn is stimulating this.
I would try keeping either bright light or no light at all (such as covering him). Between this and medicated baths (with Methylene Blue) this should be able to heal well.
Carl
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