Please Help my whole tank is dying!

[shark21]

I have had my 75g tank up and running for Four years now with no problems..I added a new Angel fish on Friday with out Q/T the fish first...(I don't have an extra tank or obviously I would have) parameters were normal and actually still are ...I do 30% W/C once a week..anyways I added the Fish and the next day when I turned the lights on he was covered in a white Film! All Four of my Peacock eels I have had for a year died between Sat and Sunday including that new fish...I did a 50% W/C on Sunday and today when I got home from work my big Common Pleco was dead too (he was completely wrapped up in a white stringy cacoon!) and my 3 other Angels have white film on their eyes and Fins!! I hope I don't lose my whole Tank! PS: I have 6 gouramis that are still perfectly fine not affected by this at all yet...no white film or spots anywhere on any of them? Any ideas what this disease is? It spread out of control almost instantaneously! I am beside my self right now!

 

[Brookster123]

Holy cow! I wish I could help! Have you been doing serious water changes?!could be a fungus??

 

[shark21]

Yea thanks for the reply! I just did another 50% W/C today...it looks like my pair of Blues may pull through they have very minimal white stuff left on them and my 3rd Angel just his eyes are completely covered in a white film and his pectoral fins have some patches on them...It def. looks like a Fungus....I am just going to keep trying to flush out with WC I guess.

 

[Pamiam]

I am so sorry to hear about your tragedy, I hope things get better and the rest pull through.

 

[ArtistGardener]

I think that is one of those especially virulent strains of columnaris. I would try Kanaplex for a few days. It would be wise to take out some of your biomedia and save it in a bucket of tank water in case it damages your bb, but continue to run your filter (without any carbon/charcoal). What a sad story.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Yes, definatley add meds. I've heard of this happening and it's terrible. Could be a fungus or a parasite that is causing the fish to over produce slime coat because of the irritation. Sorry about you fish and hope it all gets sorted out.

 

[Delapool]

I think that is one of those especially virulent strains of columnaris. I would try Kanaplex for a few days. It would be wise to take out some of your biomedia and save it in a bucket of tank water in case it damages your bb, but continue to run your filter (without any carbon/charcoal). What a sad story.

Plus one - it sounds very quick. Or worse could be a combination. I'd QT any fish in anything you have if they look iffy.

If it is columnaris it may just wipe out particular fish types and leave others untouched.

Edit - as well as meds, salt and lower temp I would try but you really need a QT. The salt will help with fungus or parasites as well, the lower temp will slow it down.

 

[shark21]

Thanks for the advice everyone I am going to try and add some meds today. I took all the plants and decor out last night because all the white stuff was collecting all over the plants. Also Thats a good point to put some media in a bucket in case things go real down hill from here!

 

[Delapool]

Much on the plants? That sounds bad, was that off the fish?

 

[shark21]

Yea....they are fake plants so when the fish swam by it would come off and stick to the plants and then to other fish...I may have just been paranoid; it wasn't a crazy amount covering the plants, just a few strings here and there but I removed anything I could could that looked like it could harbor the fungus? Just to be safe...

 

[shark21]

Lost another Angel fish today too...all thats left is a pair of Blue Angels and 6 gauramis....I am pretty devestated....I never in my wildest nightmares thought I would ever be looking at my Tank completely depleted like this...I am Shocked right now! But I am just going to try and save whats left and start over...

 

[shark21]

Anyone know if it would be safe or a good idea to completely replace the filter cartridges or just put the old ones back in that could still be infected. I know it holds my bio but at this point I don't know which would be worse? Fresh filters with no bio at all or infected bio media?

 

[Delapool]

It sounds to me like your tank is still infected so I don't think the old filters will make much difference.

 

[Pamiam]

I would go with new filters and continually change the water daily. You already have enough good bacterial in your tank, even with the mess that is going on.

 

[Delapool]

How are they going? Getting better?

 

[shark21]

Still can't tell...just finished another 50%
W/C ... I diddnt lose any more fish...and my Blue Angels still have contact lenses but they are eating and acting completely normal..how do you think I will know when the fungus/infection is gone? Besides the Angels looking better?

 

[Delapool]

Still can't tell...just finished another 50%
W/C ... I diddnt lose any more fish...and my Blue Angels still have contact lenses but they are eating and acting completely normal..how do you think I will know when the fungus/infection is gone? Besides the Angels looking better?

Mainly I find the fish look good again. My impression is it is always there, the fish are healthy enough not to be troubled.

Columnaris can stick around in the water column for a month which is a cheery thought. I'm just prepping the QT for the last 3 rasboras which still look iffy.

If you have a spare filter or filter capacity, you could try running carbon (assuming you are not treating with meds) and that should clean some organic material out of the water and help by improving water quality.

 

[shark21]

Yeah I am not using meds because I am not positive what it is...I might try the carbon with a fresh W/C when I get home from work today....I figured it will stick around in the water and bio for a while...I am not even going to think about adding new fish for atleast a couple of months! Even then I am going to cringe dropping them in!

 

[Delapool]

No, totally agree - best to give it a few months to settle down. I also have a suspicion that this reduces stress on existing fish so they can get back to peak condition.

 

[shark21]

True. The ones that are left look extremely calm and the pair of Angels are looking better and better...one is almost completely back to normal and the other has a little white left that seems to be fading with ever W/C!