Dumb freshwater question

[dralarms]

, Well I gave my daughter all my small fish, to protect them from a very aggresive black moor, and this morning I found 2 of my fish dead and one of my larger fish looking very bad. Looks like he was dipped in a bucket of salt. I think I'm going to loose all my fish now, I think that the ammonia level was so high that it made my fish susseptable to ick. aready treated them but things arn't looking good at all.

 

[Allivymar]

I think your suspicion of high ammonia stressing the fish and making the more susceptible to ich is right on the money. Good diagnosing.

As for saving the remaining ones, what meds are you using to treat? Keep in mind, if you water change (which I gather you do due to the ammonia) you'll have to compensate the med doses to keep the levels up. Its a nasty combination ammonia and ich, but one that can be overcome for at least some of the fish with patience and diligence.

Also keep in mind you'll need to treat the fish until about 3 days AFTER the last sign of ich. The bits you see ON the fish are only one stage, and the stage that actually can be killed by ich is one you can't see. You may want to get a better handle on ich; I suggest perusing this site: http://www.caloriesperhour.com/fish/notes_ich.html . Its full of info about the ich cycle, as well as explaining the different treatments.

 

[dralarms]

Been treating them for ick for almost a week. I think that this time is a lost cause, I think I got it from Wally world. From now on I am going to drive to somewhere else to get my fish.

 

[cdawson]

That's what happens when you shop at walmart folks. Seriously though that sucks. You've got way too many fish in a 10g for one, we've already established the un-cycled issue, as well as having tropical fish w/ goldfish. IMHO 10g tanks are best left for the fish that make the 10g look REALLY big like, small tetras, pygmy cories and white cloud minnows. Anything else, even guppies can't really last long without constant water changes and insane over-filtration. If you wind up losing all your fish I suggest taking it all back and demanding your money back for giving you BS info. You're on the right track comming to this forum and others for help, try your luck again, pre-cycle the tank, then research, research, research and when you've done some more research. Pick out what fish you can keep in a 10g and go from there. It's a little frustrating at first, but the amount of enjoyment you get from your aquarium sometimes outweighs the joy you get from your dog that keeps eating your socks! =)

 

[dralarms]

That's what happens when you shop at walmart folks. Seriously though that sucks. You've got way too many fish in a 10g for one, we've already established the un-cycled issue, as well as having tropical fish w/ goldfish. IMHO 10g tanks are best left for the fish that make the 10g look REALLY big like, small tetras, pygmy cories and white cloud minnows. Anything else, even guppies can't really last long without constant water changes and insane over-filtration. If you wind up losing all your fish I suggest taking it all back and demanding your money back for giving you BS info. You're on the right track comming to this forum and others for help, try your luck again, pre-cycle the tank, then research, research, research and when you've done some more research. Pick out what fish you can keep in a 10g and go from there. It's a little frustrating at first, but the amount of enjoyment you get from your aquarium sometimes outweighs the joy you get from your dog that keeps eating your socks! =)

10 gal . No I got rid of the 10 gal and bought a 55 gal. Space is not an issue right now. The dog would get a supper of hot lead.

 

[Allivymar]

Actually, a week is not an unusually long time when treating for ich; you may not start seeing results until sometime in the 2nd week. Keep in mind at 75f, the ich life cycle is a week, but its only susceptible to meds during one part of the cycle. So you've killed the parasites that are free swimming, but you have to wait for the ones on the fish as well as the ones encysted in the substrate to reach that point of the cycle. Is why you need to continue treating until 3 days after seeing the last spot.

 

[dralarms]

Yea, I read that, I think here, but anyway I now have 1 black moore, 1 fan tail goldie, and 3 white fish with blue and red spots. The 3 fish with blue and red spots are now mostly white and laying on the bottom. If they were dogs I'd know what to do. I'd put them down. anyway my fan tail is showing signs of weakness, floating nose down. the black moore is the only one that is showing no signs of sickness. Checked my Ammonia level today, it's a little high but not much. probally higher than it should be. My wife and I decided if they die we are going to give the tank a through cleaning and set it up and let it run for at least a week before getting anymore fish and it won't be from Wally world. Thanks everyone for the advice and the help. I will pay closer attention to my fish next time.

 

[dralarms]

Well folks,

It turns out that one of my fish has an "internal" parasite. BAN WALLYWORLD :x At least when buying my pets.

Any way found this nice pet shop 30 min away. helped me out on what to do. Got my tank cleaned out, washed all my stuff. refilled the tank, treated for clorine, and he said to treat for ick, even though I have no fish right now. So I did, also got a bottle of cycle. used most of that. Tank looks empty, grandbabies upset cause the fish are missing , but I'm goin gto go get a few "platies"? on Friday. Let them help the tank to cycle. then next Friday I'm going to go get some tropical fish, I'm done with the goldfish. I'll keep you updated. Thanks again for your help.

 

[ShadowMist]

With having Goldfish, especially in a 10 gallon, you're going to be doing lots of water changes (like every 3rd day). Goldfish secrete large amounts of ammonia from their feces. That's why it's recommended to not keep other fish with Goldfish (besides the fact they both require totally different temperatures). One thing that would GREATLY help the ammonia problem would be to either get rid of the Goldfish or move them to another tank.

 

[dralarms]

Sorry but it's a 55 gal tank.

 

[dralarms]

Also found out something else, I was buying a black moore and putting it in with my goldfish, The lfs said that they don't get along well. Said only put them in with other "bugeyed" fish or what he called cestual (sp).

 

[AtodaJ]

Glad to hear to sticking with it and trying to get the issues resolved. I've read through all the posts and here is my "2cents"... hehe.

I think the advice you got from the last store you went to was pretty good. If I were you I'd take it very slow from now on. I'd add some Zebra Danios instead of the platties as they are quite hardy and will be pretty forgiving during the cycling process. They are fun to watch too.... very active! Be sure to monitor your readings every other day until you know the cycle is finished. Don't let your ammonia get above .5 and/or nitrite get above .25. Perform water changes to do this. Don't feed so often. Most peeps tend to overfeed their fish when starting out cuz they are afraid of starving them. Feeding 3-4 times during cycling is too much... too much regardless actually. I'd go once a day during cycling... keep it light. Your fish won't starve.

As for the product "Cycle".. it doesn't work. All you are going to do is create an unstable tank if you continue to use that stuff. If you are looking for a cycling additive then the ony one that has been reported to actually work is called Bio Spira by Marineland. I've used this myself and it really does work. But Cycle and the other imposters don't cuz they contain the wrong bacteria. Just search this forum for Cycle and Bio Spira to read the reviews from this community.

Hope my 2 cents help along with the other excellent advice provided by this community.

Good luck!

 

[dralarms]

Thanks, But I guess I'm going to have to stick with the cycle. Already used it to start the tank. I'm gonna watch the levels but to tell you the truth, after seeing this shops tanks, I have to take his word on stuff. Just guessing but it looked like he had 50 or so tanks and not 1 dirty, and only 1 cloudy and that was because he was treating that one. Wouldn't even sell me a fish out of it. So I was pretty impressed with his operation. Unlike walmart wh has all their fish "filtered" from the same system. this man has each tank on it's own filter and water supply so no cross contamination.

 

[platylover]

Sounds like you found a great LFS. I would stick with that one! I agree with AtodaJ about the zebra danios being hardy and fun to watch, they are VERY active, but I also know that platies are hardy also and will withstand the cycling process. I even had two of my platies mate during my tank's cyling process.

Best of luck to you on the new setup and keep us posted on how things are going.

 

[dralarms]

Sounds like you found a great LFS. I would stick with that one! I agree with AtodaJ about the zebra danios being hardy and fun to watch, they are VERY active, but I also know that platies are hardy also and will withstand the cycling process. I even had two of my platies mate during my tank's cyling process.

Best of luck to you on the new setup and keep us posted on how things are going.

Cool, Now another dumb question, How do you tell if you have male or femail betta's?

 

[Zic]

Male bettas are the ones you normally see in little bowls at your lfs. They have longer fins and are usually more colorful. Males will not tolerate another male, but you can have a tank full of females and they get along OK.

 

[dralarms]

But can you tell from looking. (if a post a picture, can you tell?)

 

[Zic]

yes. Post a pic and we'll let you know what it is.

 

[dralarms]

Ok here we go.

Hope that works.

 

[platylover]

Wow! That Betta has beautiful color! I am not an expert on bettas but I believe that it is a he. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.