Path: utzoo!hoptoad!amdcad!amdahl!ames!hc!ut-sally!husc6!yale!Ram-Ashwin
From: Ram-Ashwin@cs.yale.edu (Ashwin Ram)
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: I messed up
Message-ID: <21580@yale-celray.yale.UUCP>
Date: 19 Jan 88 15:52:58 GMT
References: <1975@s.cc.purdue.edu>
Sender: root@yale.UUCP
Reply-To: Ram-Ashwin@cs.yale.edu (Ashwin Ram)
Organization: Computer Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-2158
Lines: 51
In-reply-to: ai5@s.cc.purdue.edu (Vikram Lall)

In article <1975@s.cc.purdue.edu>, ai5@s (Vikram Lall) writes:
> I was not here for 4-5 weeks, and when I got back, I found out that
> the person feeding my fish had not changed the water.
> 
> I have a Black molly, 2 angels, 2 glass-catfish, 1 red tailed shark,
> and 1 scavenger in a 10 gallon.
> 
> I changed 2 gallons, what else should I do to rectify their health?

You didn't say what was wrong with them.  I'd guess that there is probably
too much ammonia in the tank.  Angels in particular produce a lot of
ammonia, especially under stress.

Change 1/3 water (I guess 2 gallons will do), and put in two teaspoons of
"aquarium salt".  This helps reduce fish stress.  Do NOT feed the fish for a
day or two.  Increase filtration and aeration to maximum.  After four days,
change 1/4 to 1/3 water again.  Check the pH too -- it's probably too high.
Bring it down slowly if necessary.

You might also try adding an ammonia absorbing resin (e.g., AmmoCarb chips)
to your filter, or just placing 1/3 cup of this in a nylon bag inside the
tank.  Make sure you rinse them well first.  I've also been recommended
ammonia removing agents such as Amquel on occasion, but I'm usually against
using too many chemicals (esp. if you're using something to reduce pH).
Depends on how desperate the situation is, I suppose.

If the ammonia level is higher than 3 or 4 ppm, your fish are probably
darting about madly and are under great stress.  There is a possibility that
they may have some sort of parasites too, since the chances of this
increasing as stress increases.  If they are sick but you can't figure out
what they have, put in some wide-ranging medicine (I like Promethylsul, but
there are others around).  You should probably talk to someone at your local
pet store, who probably knows a lot more than I do about this.

One last caveat -- I don't have too much experience with this kind of
situation; the above is basically a summary of what saved my tank in a
similar situation once.  You might want to cross-check with a dealer or a
friend (or even a good book).

Good luck.  Do let me know what you do, and how it turns out.

-- Ashwin Ram --

ARPA:    Ram-Ashwin@cs.yale.edu
UUCP:    {decvax,ucbvax,harvard,...}!yale!Ram-Ashwin
BITNET:  Ram@yalecs


ARPA:    Ram-Ashwin@cs.yale.edu
UUCP:    {decvax,ucbvax,harvard,...}!yale!Ram-Ashwin
BITNET:  Ram@yalecs