2 zebras dead

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AJ
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2 zebras dead

Post by AJ »

lost two zebras over the last two days. It appears that the two which died had small red blisters on the stomach of the zebra. Any suggestions please?
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Post by Dr. P »

Sorry to hear that mate :( . Can you tell us a little bout the frys set up? Feeding etc?
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Post by Adam »

Hi AJ,

Sorry to hear about the loss of your 2 zebras :cry:. Your problem is more than likely linked to the anchor worm infestation you currently have. As Dr P says though, some more details of your tank setup and water parameters would help in pinning down the problem.
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Post by AJ »

The setup conditions are ph 7.3, Nitrite 0.1, Ammonia 0, Temp 82, The tank is a jewel aquarium 350 ltrs, it has 2 external filters, one of which is a fluval 404 and an ehiem thermo, With two aquaclear powerheads and about two inches of sand. Any other information needed? thanx
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Post by Barbie »

Any nitrite reading at all is a sign you're having filtration failure. How long has it been set up? Can you see dark spaces in the substrate? What other fish are in the tank? Any new additions?

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AJ
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Post by AJ »

well i have had the fish in there for about a month or so maybe longer but i bought a few zebras on sunday and added them to the tank, the guy in the shop said i should lower my ph to 6.5 and gave me some acid. So i added that and it was lowered to 6.7, i then added fish could that be the problem? If it is something with filtration how could i solve it? Thanx
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Post by McEve »

What was the PH before you lowered it?

I'm sorry about your loss too AJ :(
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Post by AJ »

my ph was 7.3-7.4
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McEve
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Post by McEve »

I'm talking about things I'm not 100% sure of now, but isn't that a rather large drop if it's from one day to the next? Somebody else will be able to give you a definate answer to this I'm sure.

It was just a thought..
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Post by Adam »

Hi AJ,

You really shouldn't be lowering your PH like that It's far better to acclimatise new additions to you tank water than the other way round. Why stress a whole tank full of fish on account of a few additions.
You must also remember that the PH scale is logorithmic, any decrease/increase is actually tenfold. Example: a drop of PH from 7.0 to 6.5 has made the water 50 times more acidic, get my drift. I still think that the anchor worm is to blame but the drop in PH would also have been a contributing factor in their deaths.
Last edited by Adam on Thu Jan 27, 2005 8:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by jerms55555 »

Mceve I was on that same assumption as well. I was always told you shoudn't drop your ph no more than +-.2 a day. I also felt that zebras do pretty well with different ph as long as you acclimate them well.......I do a 3 hour drip system and I never lost one!

Sorry about the lost :(
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Post by Des »

AJ,
I do not think that lowering the ph would be the cause, since my ph drops pretty quickly and then rises immediately on a water change,with no problems.
I would like to correct Adam though, he is right when he says that ph is logarithmic, but from ph 7 to ph 6.5 is only 5 times more acidic not 50 times. Ph 7 to ph 6 will be 10 times more acidic. ph 7 to ph 5 is 100 times more acidic and the same the other way around.
My own view is that it might have been Ammonia in the tank since it is prevalent above a ph of 7, if I have read your post right.
As I have said before I always put all new stock through a quarantine process, normally using one dose of TetraPond Medifin which is a combined bacteriacide and parasite killer.
I hope You did not remove the anchor worm alive from the fish as this normally leaves part of the worm still on the fish. Medicate first , then remove the dead worms after a few days.
Regards,
Des.
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Post by Adam »

Sorry for the duff info on the PH scale AJ, thanks for puting me straight Des.
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