Help, red gills... 1 dead

[V10]

Q1. What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).

All fish appear to have irritated gills, reddish. 1 gourami died last night. I'm a newbie to the hobby so not sure what to look, don't see anything else strange.

Q2. What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.

PH=7.4, Ammo=0ppm, Nitrites=0ppm, Nitrates=10ppm, Temp=79, Soft Water

Q3. How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?

46 gallons, Started fish cycle in March, finished end of April 06.

Q4. What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.

Millenium 3000 HOB Filter, est. 295gph.

Q5. How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?

6 Zebra Danios (varied 1-2"), 5 Harlequin Rasboras (all 1"), 1 Gold Dwarf Gourami (~3"), (1 deceased 3" neon dw. gourami).

Q6. When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?

Last water change and gravel vac done last Friday, Jun 30th. about 20%. I'm pretty good at doing 20% water changes each weekend.

Q7. How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?

Danios cycled the tank, started with 4 in march, after cycle, added 2 more, couple weeks later added 5 rasboras, a couple weeks later added the 2 dw. gouramis. During this period, I only noticed small nitrite increases in which extra 15%-20% water changes were performed to keep levels down. I acclimated fish 30 minutes in bag for temp adjustment, then added about 2-3 ouces of tank water to their bag over 15 minute increments until full, then netted fish from their bag and put into tank, discarding bag water in sink.

Q8. Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?

No new decor, did start using a new decholirinator about 3 weeks ago, ran out of my original Jungle "Start Right", and started using Tetra AquaSafe. Also started adding recommended dosage of Tetra EasyBalance with Nitraban, which I'm afraid is causing the problem, but not sure.

Q9. What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?

Standard tropical flake, I did give them a bit of a new food a week ago which sunk to the bottom too fast, it was a "crunchy" type of flake that the deceased gourami seemed to really like, but I changed back to the flake since the "crunchies" went to the bottom before the other fish noticed them.

I may be over reacting, but it appears to me that the gills of the all the fish are red, and don't remember noticing it before, I'll attach some pic's of my gourami, she's hard to photograh so excuse the blurriness. Is there anything I can do?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Try a 50-60% water change and see if that helps at all. A small irritant could have gotten into your tank somehow. Also try adding in fresh carbon and see if that helps. Red gills usually is a high ammonia/lack of 02 problem, or possible contamination.

 

[Zagz]

I agree with DT. Do a water change asap, add fresh dechlorinator and if possible add an airstone or lower the water level a bit to get more oxygen into the water.

 

[V10]

ok, just finished 60% change, tank has a large airstone that runs 24/7, so I don't think oxygen is an issue, no gasping or anything. We've had family over for the 4th, so I'm wondering if my wife was spraying air freshener in the area of the tank or something. Hopefully it will get better. Should I do another pwc tomorrow, or wait a couple days.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I would do one more tomorrow, about 50%, and then see how things go from there. I also second adding as much activated carbon that you can put in the filter for the next couple days to remove anything that might still be in the water.

 

[Zagz]

Air freshner that got into the tank could certainly do it for sure. Activated carbon should remove it within a couple of days with extra water changes. Good luck and keep us posted how the fish do.

 

[V10]

Well I've been performing daily water changes on the tank, and added lots of activated carbon to the filters, (installed an eheim 2126 saturday), gills are still red on the gourami, and now she is not eating. She is active, and chases food, but at the last second, turns away or spits it out. The rasboras and danios are extremely active and eating normally.

Any ideas as to why the gourami is acting hungry, but then does not eat? All water tests are checking out to be normal, ph has been steady at about 7.2ish. Infact, yesterday I saw 2 of my Rasboras were spawning (with a pesky little danio right behind them ready for the snack).

I do have a 10 gallon tank that I bought as a QT but it has never been cycled, should I move her to that? I don't want to cause more stress than needed.

 

[Zagz]

Did you by any chance quit using the Nitraban? I would try that if you haven't. Have you see the gourami poop at all? Are any scales raised and out from the body, any bloating at all? Does he go and eat off the substrate later?

 

[V10]

Yes, stopped using the nitraban, and now that you mention it, I have not seen the little strings of poop on that fish in a while that I used to see. I'm not familiar with the fish enough to tell if he's bloated, but no scales are poking out. You think she's constipated? Is there anything I can do to treat that? After feeding, he goes to it and backs off, or spits it out, then later she kinda picks at some of the algae on the driftwood, or just sits still.

 

[rich311k]

Try to feed her some peas. Nuke them for a minute, peel them, chop them up and feed them. It may just do the trick.

 

[Zagz]

Definately try the pea trick, it won't hurt regardless. Constipation is a possiblity.

 

[V10]

can't get her to eat anything, peas or flake. I found a page on the net that suggested the following and wanted to get your guys opinion on it.

Some fish are more susceptible to constipation than others. Usually fish with more compressed bodies like angelfish and silver dollars. Symptoms are loss of appetite and swelling of the body. The cause is almost always diet.
Usually, with a change of diet, the condition rights itself. But in stubborn cases try dried food that has been soaked in medicinal paraffin oil. Glycerol or castor oil may also be used. If the diet is changed on a regular basis and live foods offered occasionally this condition may never occur.

Is there any other diseases or a virus that would include no eating as a symptom?

 

[Puriti]

Internal parasites, but you'd probably see stringy white poo and after a couple weeks it may get skinny if it lives that long :?