New Member and Tank - Fish are Dying - Aquarium Advice

sian0607 · 03-20-2009, 12:54 PM

Hi, I have a 30 gallon freshwater tank that I set up a month ago. This week all of my fish are dying! Need some help with keeping the rest alive!

kangster · 03-20-2009, 01:48 PM

get a test kit first and check all the parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH..etc)
what do you have in the tank and what sizes are they
need details for people here to help you
and relax we have all been through this before just read up as much as you can and the most important thing...be patient
man i sound like an expert...but im not im a newbie like you

sian0607 · 03-20-2009, 02:23 PM

Hi Kangster,
Here is the set-up: 30 gallon freshwater. Started out with 2 dolphin catfish (had them for 2 months in a smaller tank), 1 Upside Down Catfish, 1 Spotted Catfish, 1 Marbled Angelfish, 2 unknown (forgot what they are). They were fine until I added 3 new fish last week: 2 Clown Loaches and 1 more Marbled Angel. All of the fish in the tank are about 2 -3 inches in length. So after I introduced the new fish, they started dying one by one. The new clown loach died first and the other Clown is sbarely alive with fuzzy spots (ICH?). the other two dish had the spots too. Now two other fish look like they are getting the symptoms: Fuzzy spots, lethargy, lack of appetite.
The local aquarium store gave me fungal meds for the water which I added a day ago. I will get a test kit today to check the parameters as you suggested and I just raised the temp by 1 degree today. Thanks for the quick response!!

bluerose · 03-20-2009, 04:48 PM

How often do you do water changes?

missileman · 03-20-2009, 09:52 PM

Fuzzy spots doesn't sound like Ich. Ich looks more like a grain of salt here and there.
Lets see what your water parameters are.
Take a water sample to the pet store when you go to pick up the test kit. They should be glad to test it for you. That way you can confirm their results with your own when you get home.

sian0607 · 03-21-2009, 12:37 AM

Hi Missileman,
My local store already gave me Ich meds and I had placed Anti-fungal meds two days ago not knowing if it was the right choice. I will see if they can test the water anyway, don't know if it's too late. Thanks alot for your response!

kangster · 03-21-2009, 01:37 AM

last time my goldfish had ich, it looked like they were itch and they scratched their body by swimming by the gravel and plants sort of like brushing their body against them and like missileman said ich looks like small grains of salt, not fuzzy at all
i also heard some fish like catfish are very sensitive to medicines and half of recommanded dosage should be used when medicating them
also carbon filters out the medicine you put in so you might want to remove it and put it back when you have done medicating

im really sorry about this ordeal you and your fish are going through and i hope you have a happy outcome eventually...

missileman · 03-21-2009, 10:27 AM

I didn't think of that point Kangster brought up.
You have a lot of scaleless fish. I would be very carefull using any Ich meds with them.
I have a lot of plecos myself and will only use Kordon's Ich-Attack on my tanks.
On the plus side Ich meds take care of more than just Ich.
Ich-Attck treats:
Ich, Fungus, Protozoans and Dinoflagellates. Along with that it will not effect your bacterial cycle like some Ich meds can.

sian0607 · 03-21-2009, 02:56 PM

Hi Kasngster
The catfish were swimming erratically against the gravel and ornatments. I didn't realize that they were scaleless type fish too. Unfortunately, only 1 catfish is still alive in addition to 1 angel and 2 misc (i'll get the name at some point!). Hopefylly they will make it through, and I did remove the carbon yesterday. thx

sian0607 · 03-21-2009, 03:01 PM

Hi Missileman, I will look into the Kordon'ts Ich Attack. I already put one dose of the Ich meds and 1 dose of the fungal meds days ago. I will check with the store to make sure it's not harmful to mix meds. But your brand sounds like the best since I can't tell if it's Ich or Fungus at this point. This forum is great, everyone is so helpful! thx!