My tanks at it again. Help if not too late

[MissDragGunn]

Here's the short story. 14 gal freshwater tank water change every week of 25%. I was testing the water last week and it said the water was fine then my dragon gobies started acting funny and tested the water again which was two days later and my tank was not biologically balanced. So I did a 50% water change and go the pH back to normal and nitrite and nitrate and ammonia down to minimal levels. I also changed the filter cartridge cause it was due also(though i know you shouldn't do both new cartridge and water change but the filter was a dark brown). Then one of my dragon gobies died and Surprisingy a red finned tetra. Then at night my other goby stars acting
Up again and my iridescent shark/panganese catfish had
A blood filled eye. He was fine over night then when I got home from
Work both eyes are bloodfilled. Around the mouth. Fins and tail. And he cannot swim. Also three days ago I started a week long treatment of melafix and pimafix.

 

[Fishkeeper26]

What size filter? And are you making sure you are treating the water properly before adding it to the tank?

 

[JustOneMore20]

Hi there! Can you list all the fish you have in the tank? Sounds like you have a bit too many fish in there and it is affecting the water quality. Also, some of your fish choices will get a bit big for a 14g.

Did you put in a totally new filter cartridge or rinse the old one in tank water? If you put in a totally new one, you may see another rise in ammonia and nitrite as you threw away the bacteria needed to take care of those.

Also, how long has the tank been setup? And what are you treating with the melafix and pimafix?

Just trying to help you out and figure out what the deal is...sorry for so many questions.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I agree with Kristin. Aside from the irridescent sharks growing entirely too large for your tank, the dragon gobies are brackish fish and will not live to their potential in a fw tank.

For now, daily 50% water changes are what I'd recommend until we can get some more info on what's going on.

 

[Kat1103]

You stated that u had to bring down the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels there for that means your tank is not cycled. The cycling process is very rough on fish and often some don't make it through. I made the same mistake when I set up my smaller tank. Also, u should never change the filter during cycling (I made this mistake as well). This will set u back in the cycling process because u are removing the good bacteria that u need to cycle. They have links on here to help u with this. Good luck, we all have to learn some how......

 

[MissDragGunn]

Basically two gobies, a tetra, a khuli loach, and the shark. My tank has been established for over a year. I added enzyme start to process good bacteria. I do that with every filter cart. Change. I bring
Down ammonia and the nits by doing a water change. Isn't that how it's supposed to work? Also my last goby and the shark died this evening. I was treating the tank with mela and Pima in case of any kind of fish illness cause the goby died so I figured if there was bacteria it wouldn't hurt to treat the tank. I personally think the shark had popeye cause the symptoms were very similar

 

[MissDragGunn]

Also I'm trying ti get my 55gal set up to transfer what fish I had to lessen the stress of overcrowding. The fish lengths all together were no more then 14"

 

[scottayy]

The water changes are to bring down nitrAtes. Ammonia and nitrItes should always be zero.

It also sounds to me like your tank is cycling or too stocked to handle the ammonia sources.

Are you using tap water, and if so, are you treating it with a water conditioner like Prime?

 

[JustOneMore20]

Did you have ammonia and nitrite before the goby died? If it was after, then the deaths are probably the cause of that...plus changing the filter cartridge out. If its been setup a year, you should be cycled.

How long had you had the dragon gobies? If they are relatively new, could be that they were sickly when you got them.

How often do you change the water? Still trying to see what might be going on here.

The inch per gallon thing isn't a good rule to go by. Plus, you'd want to keep in mind the full grown length of the fish if you were going by inch per gallon and in that case, the Irridescent Sharks can get around 3ft long. Dragon Gobies grow around a foot...maybe a bit smaller.

A 55g will be good for the fish. Keep in mind that Dragon Gobies do better in brackish water.

Hopefully we can figure out what has gone wrong in the tank.

 

[MissDragGunn]

I got the gobies in feb. There were originally sick to begin with but I treated them with mela and Pima and were healthy for a while. The ammonia and nitrate was present but I was able to stabilize within 24-32 hours. I don't have a doubt that the gobies could've died from that but it doesn't explain the shark. I mean that shark has gone through so much more and some and the symptoms do not add to that. I change my water every week due to it being slightly overcrowded. I bought the 55 gal in feb planning ti set it up sooner but work and life took over but I'm working on having it set up and cycling this week

 

[Fishkeeper26]

There are products that have the bacteria to speed up the cycling process. I used microbe-lift when cyclic my tanks and then every other week to make sure there is always enough bacteria.