need help with my flowerhorn

Question
QUESTION: HEY

im from the city of Bangalore in India...and i have a few questions to ask to you.......can u plz hlp by advising me what i should do to treat my flower horn fish.....its been acting weird from the past month right after i shifted her in a new 2feet by 2feet tank.......in the beginning i thought of it as the regular stress of shifting of tanks but in about a week i noticed a slight bulge in in her belly.........when i tried inquiring my resources told me tht it was some kind of indigestion and gave me the ocean free medicine which worked!!.........but now it looks like shes too weak from not eating from so many days and it looks like shes using up a lot of energy only to get to the surface to eat some pellet food........plz hlp me

condition of my flower horn:
1. it is always settled in the bottom of the tank
2. it is most of the time just sitting in the left hand corner
3. it looks like she wants to eat but is too weak to go all the way up to the surface to eat......it does eat a lil tht way but jus falls back down after it grabs a couple of pellets

PLZ GIVE ME SOMETHING THT WILL MAKE MY FLOWERHORN SWIM NORMALLY AND EAT LIKE IT USED TO AGAIN.........


REPLY ASAP THNX

ANSWER: Hi Syed,
Your fish seems to have Swim Bladder Disease, and also your tank is too small to house a Flowerhorn.  The minimum tank size would be 4 feet by 2 feet, and bigger is best.  A Flowerhorn that does not eat is very sick, and extremely stressed.   You could try to feed her frozen peas that you blanch, and let cool.  Remove the outer layer of the peas before feeding them to her.  If she eats the peas, wait one day to see if she wastes.  She must waste.  If this does not work, you must treat her with an antibiotic such as "Kanamycin" or "Tetracycline" or "Furan-2."  Do not wait, as this disease progresses quickly, and will lead to Dropsy.  Dropsy is very difficult to cure, if not impossible.  Do a 25% water change before treatment.
Make sure that your water is free of Ammonia, and Nitrites, and your Nitrates must be low.
I hope she pulls through
Lynda

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hey lynda
thnx for the informative advice but i got another question for you.is this tetracycline medicine the same as teramycin?.......if so ive treated her with this medicine n she does waste now.....but doesnt eat much id try the frozen peas tht u told me to feed her but will tht get her back to normal health?.shes about the size of an average palm length hope you reply just as fast as the previous answer

thnx again and sorry to bother you

ANSWER: Hi Syed,
You are not bothering me, and yes Teramycin, is in the same family as Tetracycline.  "Kanamycin" has proven to be very good for Swim Bladder Disease, but unfortunately sometimes, it is very difficult to find.  Triple Sulfa is also good, and Furan-2.  I would like to mention that if your pet is stressed, you must find out what is bothering her.  Stressed Flowerhorns, are very difficult to cure.  Check to see if her PH has changed, or if there is something in the tank that is bothering her.  
If she does get better, feed her good quality food, and never overfeed her.  Vary her food, so that she gets all the vitamins she needs to be strong, and healthy.  Week fish are subject to parasites.  Parasites are always in the water, and attack weak fish.  Observation is the key.
I hope she recovers.
Lynda

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hey...im back again!
well i tried the frozen pea thing but it just doesnt work and also im unable to get my hands on the kanamycin.......shes kind of stressed a lil i guess cos shes got those black stripes on the rear end everytime but i jus dunno whats bothering her cuz theres absolutely nothin in the tank except for the filter light and the heater......im gonna give u full details now coz i hope tht ud come up with the best solutions for my problem here.........the temp of th water is a constant 30 and i switch of the light during night times...the 1 doubt i have in mind is the condition of my water...its got a lot of saline(i hope thts wat you call it).the lil water tht spills out has a white colour to it when dried....thus i wanna know a method to keep the water best suitable fr her....would it be better if i bought one of those hanging power filters?.....or if u do have any other solutions please do tell me.......sorry fr the essay...all i want is for my fish to live..hope u understand sorry again and thnx

Answer
Hi Syed,
The Flowerhorns need acidic, to neutral water. ( 6.8 to 7.0)  If your water is too alkaline, you must try to bring it down by using driftwood.  Wash the driftwood well, and put it in a pail for about one week, rinsing it everyday until you get the tint out of it.  Never use chemicals to lower your PH.  They do not work, and do more harm, than good.  She should be in 28 Celcius.   Since your water has white colour to it when dry, it is very alkaline.  I'm sure this is a reason why your Flowerhorn is stressed.  Flowerhorns do not live in alkaline water, and they never will get use to it.
You should decorate her tank so that it resembles the flowerhorn's habitat.  Since the Flowerhorn lives in acidic water, her water should not be salty.  Too much salt would harm her, and this may be a cause as to why she is not well.  Do a water change of 40% to try to get rid of some of the salt.  Siphon your water from the bottom.  Since the Flowerhorn, when healthy eats lots, wastes lots, you should do a 20% water change twice a week so that your water is always clean, or once a week of 30%.  It is very important that you have no ammonia, no nitrites, and nitrates must be low.  If you have ammonia in your water, or nitrites, this is very bad for fish, and they are the number one killer of fish, so make sure your water chemistry is perfect.
You need a good filter.  I would recommend Fluval 404, but they are expensive.  You could go with an Aquaclear 500, but sometimes it is best to invest a little more on the filter since you might upgrade your tank later on.  The Flowerhorn grows very big, and eventually will need a 75 gallon tank.
 Flowerhorns should have meaty diets, worms ( Clean the worms by putting them in oats for a week before feeding them to her) crabs, and shrimp, and any other types of meaty food.  Feed her twice a day.
Try to get the salt out of the water with a 40% water change now.  You must get rid of it.  Do this, and in 4 days remove 20%, and continue to do this until your salt is out of the water.  Be careful not to upset your water chemistry.  Do not remove more water than this.  
I would also like to mention, when cleaning your filter, never rinse the sponge under tap water, but rinse it in water that you have removed from the tank.  This is because tap water will kill the good bacteria in your sponge.  A sponge is good for a very long time, until it is old, ragged, and falling apart.  Change your carbon every month, and rinse the carbon under tap water, but never the sponge.
For now do not medicate, work on getting your PH down to 7.0.  This is crucial.  
Keep me posted on how she is doing, I hope that when her water is down to neutral, she will feel better.  This too must be done slowly, never bring the PH down too quickly.
I hope this will help.
Lynda