Jasonhowling
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2018
- Messages
- 10
Hi,
I've been reading this site for a few months now but never as a user. I've decided to join.
I'm hoping you can help me with a current issue with the my fish tank.
Around 4 weeks ago, we lost our first fish, a Molly. This fish has been unwell for a couple of days, being very lethargic and sitting at the bottom of the tank. I did some research and i segrigated the Molly (i don't have room for a hospital tank) and treated the tank for Swim Bladder. A few hours later, the fish died.
A couple of days later (and prehapse this is where i went wrong). I went to purchase some new fish to stock the tank up and introduce some new fish.
I purchased over the course of two days.
1. 2x Dwaf Gourami (8cmish)
2. 2x Dwaf Gourami (4cmish)
3. 3x Platty
4. 1x Guppy
5. 4x Cardinal Tetra
----------------
Already in the tank
1. 5x Guppy
2. 2x Platty
3. 6x Cherry Barb
4. 4x Cardinal Tetra
5. 3x Ghost Shrimp
-----------------
Why did i get so many fish? Because we'd had a very very good run with the tank over 6 months from setting it up. No issues with water quality at all and we had a good water change/cleaning routine. The filter on the tank is also very good.
----------
A couple of days after adding the new fish to the tank, we had an outbreak of whitespot. The first i've seen of it. Alomost immediatly after noticing we went down to the local pet store and got some White Spot & Paracite treatment. I also purchased some Frozen Garlic Shrimp for them to eat.
Over a week or so, the white spot cleared, and not a single fish was lost.
Then one morning, the largest of the Gourami died. Looking back, it has VERY similar symptons to the initial Molly we lost, but as this was a new fishbread in the tank, i thought it was just normal behaviour. I treated for swim bladder again.
A couple of days later, the other Gourami died.
Since then, every couple of days, we've been losing a fish. We put it down to a bad batch of fish from the store, as ALL of the fish we'd been loosing were from the newest batch. Until a couple of days ago when one of the original Guppied died. This evening, another one of the original guppies has died.
I'm not sure where to go from here. We've tried a lot of things but outside of doing a full flush and re-start of the system. I don't know what do do.
Below is a few things to note before i answer the mandatory questions.
-------
I've changed the water a few times since this has happened. Normally around 50%. When i complete a water change, i wash and clean one of the media from my filter then treat this media with 'Filter Active'. I also add Tap Water treatment, 'Easy Balance' & 2x Aqua Balls.
A few (2?) weeks prior to the intial molly dying, we changed the gravel over to have slighlty larger (and a different colour) of stone. I left it 2 weeks until the first water change after we did this to let the bacteria build up.
One of my guppies, around half way though the incident has a small tear in his tale. I'm templted (and due) to treat for finrot and fungal tomorrow.
[EDIT]One of the Cherry Barbs grew an ulser on its face around half way through the issue. This was treated with stress coat and is now gone.[/EDIT]
My shrimp have shreaded, hidden away and since come back out, all while his was going on.
We saw one fish attack the first Gourami before it died. The fish that did the attaching has since died.
We have a few Alge (Brown and Green) spots around the tank. I've just been cleaning this off with a scrape for now as i don't want to add treatment in for that. (Tank is not in direct sunlight).
I have not treated the tank with copper/salts. Copper will kill of my shrimp as i've been told.
Unless anyone suggests anything otherwise, my plan tomorrow is to treat the tank for fin rot and fungal with a 25% water change.
---------
1~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.).
1. 2x Dwaf Gourami (8cmish)
2. 1x Dwaf Gourami (4cmish)
3. 2x Platty
4. 2x Guppy
Being very lethargic and sitting at the bottom of the tank. See story for more details.
2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
TANK
These are tanken with test strips.
Amonia - <0.02 ppm
NO3 (mg/l) - 15
NO2 - 0
GH - 8od
KH - 20od (max read)
PH - 8.0
CL2 (mg/l) - 0
Note - KH has always been high. We have very hard water where we are. As the previous fish have been fine we've not wanted to do anything different (such as adding RO water)
Note - PH is high this week. Not sure what the cause is, i'm also not sure how to lower it.
Note - This tank is always filled with fresh tap water. These details are below.
Tap Water
NO3 (mg/l) - Trace
NO2 - Trace
GH - 8od
KH - 20od (max read)
PH - 7.4
CL2 (mg/l) - 0
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
60L the tank has been set up for around 8 months now.
4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
I'm not sure here.
The filter is all built into the hood. A long pipe drops into the back quart of the tank about half way down. Water pumps into the hood and goes though.
Media > Ceramic > Media > Back into tank.
I have a large airstone in the middle. Its a Hugo Kamishi tank.
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
Please see list above. Specific sizes are listed.
6~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?
We are now approacing the 2nd week but i plan to change tomorrow. T
his is not normally as i normally change 50%ish every week/week and a half along with a grave clean via suction. I found out today, i should really be doing 25% weekly?
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
The intial set of fish, i've had for around 4-8 months now.
The newest set of fish are 4 weeks max in the tank.
I've never got the hang of acclimating them. I normally sit the tank in for 5 minutes and then add them to the water. I've never been able to get the hang of mixing the water to the fish with the tank.
I also never normally treat the water when adding new fish. Lessons learned.
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
Aside from the treatment, No.
As stated in the story, we did a gravel change a few weeks prior but everything went well.
9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
Normally flakes (A little more ground up than they come)
They've had a few rounds of Frozen Garlic Shrimp since the issues started as the buy at the pet store said it's good if White Spot treatment and stress.
I de-frost the frozen food in water before adding into the tank.
-----------
P.S sorry for the huge message. I wanted to give as much info as possible. Were at our whits end here.
I've been reading this site for a few months now but never as a user. I've decided to join.
I'm hoping you can help me with a current issue with the my fish tank.
Around 4 weeks ago, we lost our first fish, a Molly. This fish has been unwell for a couple of days, being very lethargic and sitting at the bottom of the tank. I did some research and i segrigated the Molly (i don't have room for a hospital tank) and treated the tank for Swim Bladder. A few hours later, the fish died.
A couple of days later (and prehapse this is where i went wrong). I went to purchase some new fish to stock the tank up and introduce some new fish.
I purchased over the course of two days.
1. 2x Dwaf Gourami (8cmish)
2. 2x Dwaf Gourami (4cmish)
3. 3x Platty
4. 1x Guppy
5. 4x Cardinal Tetra
----------------
Already in the tank
1. 5x Guppy
2. 2x Platty
3. 6x Cherry Barb
4. 4x Cardinal Tetra
5. 3x Ghost Shrimp
-----------------
Why did i get so many fish? Because we'd had a very very good run with the tank over 6 months from setting it up. No issues with water quality at all and we had a good water change/cleaning routine. The filter on the tank is also very good.
----------
A couple of days after adding the new fish to the tank, we had an outbreak of whitespot. The first i've seen of it. Alomost immediatly after noticing we went down to the local pet store and got some White Spot & Paracite treatment. I also purchased some Frozen Garlic Shrimp for them to eat.
Over a week or so, the white spot cleared, and not a single fish was lost.
Then one morning, the largest of the Gourami died. Looking back, it has VERY similar symptons to the initial Molly we lost, but as this was a new fishbread in the tank, i thought it was just normal behaviour. I treated for swim bladder again.
A couple of days later, the other Gourami died.
Since then, every couple of days, we've been losing a fish. We put it down to a bad batch of fish from the store, as ALL of the fish we'd been loosing were from the newest batch. Until a couple of days ago when one of the original Guppied died. This evening, another one of the original guppies has died.
I'm not sure where to go from here. We've tried a lot of things but outside of doing a full flush and re-start of the system. I don't know what do do.
Below is a few things to note before i answer the mandatory questions.
-------
I've changed the water a few times since this has happened. Normally around 50%. When i complete a water change, i wash and clean one of the media from my filter then treat this media with 'Filter Active'. I also add Tap Water treatment, 'Easy Balance' & 2x Aqua Balls.
A few (2?) weeks prior to the intial molly dying, we changed the gravel over to have slighlty larger (and a different colour) of stone. I left it 2 weeks until the first water change after we did this to let the bacteria build up.
One of my guppies, around half way though the incident has a small tear in his tale. I'm templted (and due) to treat for finrot and fungal tomorrow.
[EDIT]One of the Cherry Barbs grew an ulser on its face around half way through the issue. This was treated with stress coat and is now gone.[/EDIT]
My shrimp have shreaded, hidden away and since come back out, all while his was going on.
We saw one fish attack the first Gourami before it died. The fish that did the attaching has since died.
We have a few Alge (Brown and Green) spots around the tank. I've just been cleaning this off with a scrape for now as i don't want to add treatment in for that. (Tank is not in direct sunlight).
I have not treated the tank with copper/salts. Copper will kill of my shrimp as i've been told.
Unless anyone suggests anything otherwise, my plan tomorrow is to treat the tank for fin rot and fungal with a 25% water change.
---------
1~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.).
1. 2x Dwaf Gourami (8cmish)
2. 1x Dwaf Gourami (4cmish)
3. 2x Platty
4. 2x Guppy
Being very lethargic and sitting at the bottom of the tank. See story for more details.
2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
TANK
These are tanken with test strips.
Amonia - <0.02 ppm
NO3 (mg/l) - 15
NO2 - 0
GH - 8od
KH - 20od (max read)
PH - 8.0
CL2 (mg/l) - 0
Note - KH has always been high. We have very hard water where we are. As the previous fish have been fine we've not wanted to do anything different (such as adding RO water)
Note - PH is high this week. Not sure what the cause is, i'm also not sure how to lower it.
Note - This tank is always filled with fresh tap water. These details are below.
Tap Water
NO3 (mg/l) - Trace
NO2 - Trace
GH - 8od
KH - 20od (max read)
PH - 7.4
CL2 (mg/l) - 0
3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
60L the tank has been set up for around 8 months now.
4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
I'm not sure here.
The filter is all built into the hood. A long pipe drops into the back quart of the tank about half way down. Water pumps into the hood and goes though.
Media > Ceramic > Media > Back into tank.
I have a large airstone in the middle. Its a Hugo Kamishi tank.
5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
Please see list above. Specific sizes are listed.
6~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?
We are now approacing the 2nd week but i plan to change tomorrow. T
his is not normally as i normally change 50%ish every week/week and a half along with a grave clean via suction. I found out today, i should really be doing 25% weekly?
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
The intial set of fish, i've had for around 4-8 months now.
The newest set of fish are 4 weeks max in the tank.
I've never got the hang of acclimating them. I normally sit the tank in for 5 minutes and then add them to the water. I've never been able to get the hang of mixing the water to the fish with the tank.
I also never normally treat the water when adding new fish. Lessons learned.
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
Aside from the treatment, No.
As stated in the story, we did a gravel change a few weeks prior but everything went well.
9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
Normally flakes (A little more ground up than they come)
They've had a few rounds of Frozen Garlic Shrimp since the issues started as the buy at the pet store said it's good if White Spot treatment and stress.
I de-frost the frozen food in water before adding into the tank.
-----------
P.S sorry for the huge message. I wanted to give as much info as possible. Were at our whits end here.