Mystery Deaths in Both Tanks

[osxjamie]

Hello. I just joined your site and basically to ask this question. I know I'm one of those oh so horrible people that take without giving but maybe now that I know this site is here I will start participating. Anyway here is my problem.

I have two tanks, a 55 and a 29. All of my fish are dying of this mystery disease in BOTH tanks! I don't switch fish out so there's no way that it could have been transfered. Worse than that I can't figure out what is wrong. All of my water levels (ammonia, nitrates, etc) are within good ranges. The fish right before they die have alot of spots. I know you're thinking ICK, but this is much different than ICK. I've had fish die of ICK before and they usually die when the spots are only so thick. Well in my case these fish are absolutely covered head to fin in these spots, big spots. They kinda have dimension too, like some of the spots will start to peal off. I've treated for everything I can think of. My 29 gallon community is down to a single oranda and a fantail goldfish. All platies, gouramis, everything is dead. My 55 gallon is likewise very depleated. What can I do? I just went out and bought new filter cartridges and took out the old ones, and yesterday I vacummed the 55 down to about half water level so that was a MAJOR water change. I hope it works. Any ideas. Thank you all SOOOOO much.

 

[An t-iasg]

Welcome, osxjamie!
I'm sorry to hear of your tank problems. I don't keep the fish you mention, but here are some ideas to start off with:

My 29 gallon community is down to a single oranda and a fantail goldfish. All platies, gouramis, everything is dead.

I wouldn't keep goldfish with platies and gouramis. Goldfish require cooler water than the platies and gouramis. The platies and gouramis could have been stressed due to the large number of fish in that tank. Stress often weakens a fish to the point of disease. Also, goldfish are very messy fish, and these two that are left are all I would keep in that 29 gallon tank. I wouldn't add any more goldfish or other fish. You need to have adequate filtration to keep up with the goldfish's waste also. Someone who knows more about goldfish can help you determine if your filtration is ok.

I just went out and bought new filter cartridges and took out the old ones

By removing the filter cartridges and vaccumming all the gravel, you probably disrupted the good bacteria you need to maintain the cycle in your aquarium. This good bacteria lives in your filter cartridges and in the gravel. They break down the ammonia that the fish produce. You may have needed to do that to remove the disease-causing agents, but you will have to watch your cycle carefully. Here are some links on cycling:
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html At the bottom of the page, click on "Contents" to see more articles.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=21
Hope this helps a little!

 

[osxjamie]

Thank for your thoughts. I had just got the fantail last night. It was an adoption: a blind fish no one wanted so I thought why not, I don't have any fish left anyway, so overstocking wasn't an issue when the problems began. And as far as temperature goes, I have been told that 72-73 is a good meeting point between the fish I had in the community tank. The organda being the only goldfish at the time, I was told he could deal with the warmer water and being the only original survivor I guess that is so? Maybe not. If anyone has any thoughts on that be sure to let me know.
When I did such a massive water change and vacumming to my 55 gallon I was well aware of the danger I faced losing my bacteria, but I thought it was a necessary evil. When I changed out the filters I left one of the old ones in on both tanks for a little bit to transfer some bacteria. Is that a good idea? Thanks alot

 

[An t-iasg]

Hi osxjamie,
I hope the fantail will do well for you. I think someone else had a blind fish here, and the hardest thing is getting it to eat since it obviously can't see food. If you can do that, barring any other stress or disease, it should be ok. Are the oranda and the fantail together in the 29 gallon? Like I said, I wouldn't add any more fish to that tank. Some people here may say that two goldies in a 29 gallon is on the verge of being overcrowded. But just watch out for the faintail and try to keep his stress level down.

About the temperature, 72-73 is definately too cool for gouramis. They need to be at 78-80 degrees. Is 72-73 degrees the optimal temp for goldies? I don't know. I think different goldies have different temperature ranges. I just know that they really should not be mixed with tropical fish that usually require a temp of 78-80. Maybe if you edit your topic title to add something like "Goldfish help needed" someone who knows more about goldfish will answer.

Using an established filter on a new tank, or when changing some of the filter media, will help preserve some good bacteria. I would still keep an eye on your ammonia levels, and hope that the bad disease-causing bacteria or fungus will not be a problem again.

 

[TankGirl]

You may need to treat the tank with an antibiotic or something to handle this rampant disease - I am not sure what it is. Here is a link http://www.aquatronicsonline.com/hobbyist/hobbyist3.htm to a site that lists some symptoms and treatments, maybe you can find it there.

Good luck -

 

[ChileRelleno]

Beat me to it TankGirl ...

 

[gozetec02]

Many times people overlook adding aquarium salt to freshwater because, well its a freshwater tank why would you add salt. The aquarium salt I am speaking of comes in the white cardboard container like the kind milk comes in. Its about $2.00 and works wonders. You add like a teaspoon per gallon which is not alot. The principle is that the bacteria can't handle the salt content and they die. When I had my FW tank I had a major problem with infection and Ich after adding the salt the tank flourished and I never had a problem again.

My suggestion is to add the salt its a great way to cure many common bacteria based diseases.

 

[osxjamie]

UPDATE
After loosing all of the fish in the 29 gallon community tank I took the last living, although very ill, fish to my LFS and was told it was a horrible case of fungus. At the end I noticed the fish breathing in and out of their mouths a white almost "cooked milk" looking mess. I feel horrible for my fish that they all had such a horrid death, but at least now I'm a little more educated and am now knowledgable about preventative measures to ensure it doesn't happen again. Thank you all for your help and suggestions.