Everything in my tank dying off

[MarkA123]

I have a 28g which used to have 6 cories, 3 platies, 2 apple and 1 mystery snail. Its been cycled for about 3 months. I started out with 1 female velitail betta, then added 3 albino cory catfish, then added 2 more cories, all was well. Then i added 3 platies, 2 male 1 female. All seemed well, not sure if the platies caused the problems. I then about a week later added a very sick almost dead albino cory, which i was told if it died i could get a full refund, and it had no sign of diesease, just looked llike it had been put in a bowl full of acid, and then burned and exoerimented on. Sure enough, as expected it died1 day after being bought. I found all my fish eating it and promptly removed what little of the remains there were. About 3 days later another cory who was in perfect condition until i found him was dead, the other fish were eating him. 2 days later my betta died, no signs of anything on the dead body or before death. I woke up this morning to find another cory laying on the bottom almost dead, appears to be barely living, his eyes are all inflamed and red, very pale. And i cant find one of the male platys, and i have almost nothing for him to hide in, only silk plants, sand and driftwood, filter is sealed and top is secured. Both my apple and mystery snails appear to be sick. ive ran tests daily on everything with my api liquid master, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 15, ph 8.2 which is normal for my tank. I examine and perform head counts 5 time daily and no sign of a diesease or agression, no injury or anything abnormal. Ive not changed feeding scheldule or what i feed, nor have i changed water changes or added any chemicals except for my usual declorinator. Whats happening? I have a 150w heater kept at 79-80, penguin 150, freshwater natural sand, designed for fw aquariums, lightly spread out, not deep enough for gases and stirred by fish, and silk and driftwood. i also have lights and a secure lid. I change 5-10 gallons once a week and clean the sand.Feed every other day tropical flakes betta flakes and pellets and bottom feed wafers. Treat all water with aquasafe. Please help, everything seems fine at one miniute then the next there dead, with no signs of any abnormal things.

 

[Tahl]

I'm new to aquariums and especially new to diagnosing problems. I would let the more senior members diagnose it, but my tank just went through something that was a lot like this after the introduction of 6 fish that I didn't quarantine. I'm sorry about the loss, but hopefully you still have a chance to save some of your fish.

A few questions though:
The cory from the store, was his skin transparent enough to see his digestive track?
Do any of your fish have a lack of appetite, in particular did you notice the ones that are already dead not eating?

 

[BigJim]

I then about a week later added a very sick almost dead albino cory, which i was told if it died i could get a full refund, and it had no sign of diesease, just looked llike it had been put in a bowl full of acid, and then burned and exoerimented on.

I think you diagnosed your problem already. If you're not going to quarantine your fish, it's imperative to choose stock that's healthy. Sorry.

 

[MarkA123]

The cory was transparent, but i dont know if it was transparent enough to see his digestive tract, i didnt know that would help diagnose. non of the fish had loss of appatite, they ate like pigs like always, except for the new one, it was too injured to move to the food and probalby didnt even know it was there, but the others eagerly ate the food. why do you mention it

I'm new to aquariums and especially new to diagnosing problems. I would let the more senior members diagnose it, but my tank just went through something that was a lot like this after the introduction of 6 fish that I didn't quarantine. I'm sorry about the loss, but hopefully you still have a chance to save some of your fish.

A few questions though:
The cory from the store, was his skin transparent enough to see his digestive track?
Do any of your fish have a lack of appetite, in particular did you notice the ones that are already dead not eating?

 

[MarkA123]

thanks, i learned that now, but it showed absolutely no signs of diesease, just looked like it had been dipped in acid and treated poorly, all the other fish in the store, especially in the cory tank were active and healthy, i even watched them eat to make sure. So what diesease do you think it is? since i dont have a picture is there a link of freshwater dieseases and treatments and diagnoses you could post? thanks

I think you diagnosed your problem already. If you're not going to quarantine your fish, it's imperative to choose stock that's healthy. Sorry.

 

[Tahl]

When I was first establishing my tank, I bought 3 different gourami. The gold gourami was the furthest along in the parasite and I didn't realize anything was wrong because when I got the fish their feces was all pink and I assumed that was the correct color. After about a week, in my main tank some of my other fish had started dying off and I noticed that the gold gourami was starting to act very lifeless and wouldn't eat. By this point, his feces was a white color and the color of his skin was very faded and I could see red marks that I believe were parts of his digestive tract. In the process of this, I lost 2 angelfish, a bala shark, and a red-tailed shark before I started treating the fish with API General Cure Powder (Anti-Parasite) and Jungle Anti-Bacteria medicated fish food. After I started treating them, the feces of all the fish in my tank went back to normal (other than the gold gourami that didn't have an appetite to eat the food) and the tank has been a lot calmer since.

 

[mudraker]

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I then about a week later added a very sick almost dead albino cory, which i was told if it died i could get a full refund, and it had no sign of diesease, just looked llike it had been put in a bowl full of acid, and then burned and exoerimented on. Sure enough, as expected it died1 day after being bought

First, never, ever, ever, ever put a sick fish in your main tank. Yes, you can get a refund on the now dead one you put in, but no lfs will replace what you already had. All of the symptoms you describe on the cory you were promised a refund on was obviously very diseased, probably with more than one type of infection, fungus, and/or parasite.

I would do a 40-50 pwc and begin treatment for both bacterial and fungal infection immediately.

Maroxy would probably be a good start. It will treat many fungal and some bacterial infections. Follow the directions to a T.

 

[MarkA123]

ok, do any of those meds contain copper or salt, should i change the temp, and should i stop using carbon? thanks

.

First, never, ever, ever, ever put a sick fish in your main tank. Yes, you can get a refund on the now dead one you put in, but no lfs will replace what you already had. All of the symptoms you describe on the cory you were promised a refund on was obviously very diseased, probably with more than one type of infection, fungus, and/or parasite.

I would do a 40-50 pwc and begin treatment for both bacterial and fungal infection immediately.

Maroxy would probably be a good start. It will treat many fungal and some bacterial infections. Follow the directions to a T.