Mickey Mouse and Reg Wag

[s_mhdaniel]

Hey all!

I have been searching around the internet for a long time, and I have finally decided to come to you all for some help.

I have a ten gallon tank that has 6 red wags, 1 mickey mouse wag, and 1 scissor tail rasbora. (The reg wags were born in my tank, and the mother is the mickey mouse wag, the father wag a red wag, and died awhile ago due to old age).

I dont know the ammonia, nitrate or nitrite levels, but the ph is at 7.0.

I recently changed the water in the tank as well and gave the tank a good cleaning. I did this a few days ago.

Recently, my mickey mouse wag has been having trouble swimming and eating, and now it just lays at the bottom of the tank. The fish has been like this for 3 weeks now, and we put it into an isolation tank. And now today, one of the reg wags have been showing the same symptoms as the mickey mouse wag. I took the reg wag out of the community tank and into the isolation tank with the mickey mouse wag.

Does anyone know what might be going on and a way to help them? I don't want to see them suffer

 

[JOMA]

did you cycle the tank? sounds like ammonia poisoning to me

 

[s_mhdaniel]

The tank only gets cycled when i am home from college, for my parents dont have time to do it, and i cant have the tank in my apartment. It was last cyled over Christmas break, and again a few days ago.

If that is the case, should i re-enter those fish into the community tank, or keep them in the isolation tank?

The mickey mouse wag has been in the isolation tank for two weeks with no sign of improvement. All it does is lay on its side at the bottom of the tank, basically lifeless, and shows no interest in food. The water in that tank has been changed every two days or so to keep the water healthy.

 

[s_mhdaniel]

Update: My red wag who fell to what ever illness a few hours ago just died but my mickey mouse wag is still alive, in the same state that i had mentioned before

 

[s_mhdaniel]

Another update:

My Mickey mouse wag is still lifeless on the bottom, and since it has only been laying on its one side, it looks like its eye is starting to flatten out and conform to the bottom of the tank.

Any suggestions?

 

[Vircomore]

I'm not sure you understand what the Aquarium Cycle is exactly. The "cycle" is something that occurs constantly inside the aquarium to process the waste from the fish and turn it into less dangerous compounds in the water.

The problem is that - if your tank has been sitting untouched for quite some time - the Nitrate levels are probably through the roof. If you then do a large water change - the drastic change in water parameters could cause stress to your fish.

If you have a fish store near you that does water tests, you should try taking a bottle of the tank's water to them and have them test it. That will probably tell you what is going wrong.

 

[Vircomore]

Also, are you making sure to use a dechlorinator with the water changes you do? If you're putting chlorinated water into that isolation tank every 2 days - even though it may be "clean" - the chlorine could be doing serious harm.

 

[s_mhdaniel]

it is dechlorinated water, so thats not the problem, and i did do a big water change in the main tank, and all those fish are ok, but in the isolation tank, i am changing out the water every two days for the mickey mouse wag, and that had been happening for 3 weeks now, and it just isnt getting any better

 

[Vircomore]

What is your feeding routine for the Platy? He/she could be constipated. If you have any frozen peas on hand, try blanching a few in boiling water, cutting off the outside skin, and see if he/she will eat the insides. Increasing the fiber in its diet should help to flush out any digestive issues.

Algae wafers / flakes are also good sources of fiber.

 

[s_mhdaniel]

I have been using flakes, but now it wont eat at all. Its sides are sunken in, and shows no interest in anything anymore. when i go up to the tank, it just lies on the bottom of tank and just opens its mouth the breathe every once and a while

 

[andreahp]

I feel bad. I agree with Vircomore that the water in the tank should be tested for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. If the water conditions aren't good, fish can get ill very easily or be affected by high levels of any of the things I just mentioned. Do you have a chain store like Petsmart or Petco near you because they can test your water? Is there a filter in the tank? As for "cycling", before any fish can safely be added to a tank, the filter needs to go through the nitrogen cycle (which you can read about all over the internet) - once that happens, the water needs to be tested regularly for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Just putting fish into a tank and leaving them unattended isn't wise. How long have these fish been in the tank? I'm just concerned about your other fish.

 

[s_mhdaniel]

i have had them for over a year, and the babies are now about 6 months old, there isnt much i can do when i am at school because i go to school 5 hours away and cant have my tank in my apartment, and its my mom who refuses to take care of it properly. i plan on getting a master testing kit soon, once i get to a pet store (nearest one is 45 minutes away). I am working on convincing her to work on caring for the tank because I know about cycling and have been trying to keep it on a regular schedule.

as for a filter, i do have one, and i also have a bubble stone.

Trust me, I am concerned about my fish as well.

As for my mickey mouse, it officially died a few minutes ago... from now on I will be working on trying to keep everything even in my master tank.

Any suggestions for a good (and cheap) testing kit?

 

[andreahp]

i have had them for over a year, and the babies are now about 6 months old, there isnt much i can do when i am at school because i go to school 5 hours away and cant have my tank in my apartment, and its my mom who refuses to take care of it properly. i plan on getting a master testing kit soon, once i get to a pet store (nearest one is 45 minutes away). I am working on convincing her to work on caring for the tank because I know about cycling and have been trying to keep it on a regular schedule.

as for a filter, i do have one, and i also have a bubble stone.

Trust me, I am concerned about my fish as well.

As for my mickey mouse, it officially died a few minutes ago... from now on I will be working on trying to keep everything even in my master tank.

Any suggestions for a good (and cheap) testing kit?

I'm sorry to hear about your fish not making it. Cycling isn't done "on a regular schedule" (maybe you're thinking of water changes?). I'm assuming since you've had these fish a while that your tank is already cycled (meaning that your filter has a colony of beneficial bacteria), but unless someone is doing the following for you:

1) regularly testing the water for ammonia (needs to be 0), nitrites (needs to be at 0) and nitrates (should be kept at 20 or less) - these are called "parameters",
2) cleaning whatever is at the bottom of the tank (I assume it's gravel) and
3) changing some of the water once a week, your water quality is going to be poor and fish will die. The test kit most people use, myself included, is the API freshwater test kit. I have only been doing this for 3 months myself but I make sure to check my parameters because I don't like losing fish either