Dead fish, another dying, please help!

[Lucas82]

I just did a water change to my 45 gallon tank and added some live plants (primarily had rocks in it before). Today my Catfish was dead after he had been missing for several days, and now my little Tetra I had in the tank still has mangled fins and Ick all over him, I'm afraid he won't make it either. My Plecostomus seems to still be ok. Just curious if adding live plants and some driftwood messed with the balance of the tank. Something bad happened. Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[FishDaAx]

Couple question so we can help you out. is your tank cycled? How long have the fish been in the tank? What r your ammonia and nitrite levels? But in a short answer... The plants and drift wood will lower your pH levels but not enough to kill them. one thing u can try to do tho is turn the temp up in your tank if u can. Like 3-4 degrees higher than its at. The warmer water will help to combat the ick!

 

[Fishanatic]

Treat the tank as early as possible. Ich is extremely contagious, and if you don't take immediate action, it will affect all you're fish. Did you boil the drift wood before inserting them? Also, what plants do you have, and as FishDaAx said, what are you're parameters, you're pH and temperature.

 

[Wiggles24]

Get the temp to 86-88 degrees ASAP. This will speed up the life cycle of ich so it will look worse before it gets better. Leave it there for a minimum of a week after you see the last spot if ich. Also vacuuming the tank as close to the substrate as possible will help too

 

[Lucas82]

Re:

I went to the local pet store and had the water tested. The levels were close but the Nitrates were a little spiked. I just did a 30% water change and my Tetra is looking a lot better already, and the Plecostomus seems to still be fine. I added more Prime to the water I put back in. I will turn up the Temp. a little bit. This tank has only been up for a month so I'm sure some problems were bound to show up. Thanks to everyone who responded, let's hope these two fish make it.

 

[Fishanatic]

I went to the local pet store and had the water tested. The levels were close but the Nitrates were a little spiked. I just did a 30% water change and my Tetra is looking a lot better already, and the Plecostomus seems to still be fine. I added more Prime to the water I put back in. I will turn up the Temp. a little bit. This tank has only been up for a month so I'm sure some problems were bound to show up. Thanks to everyone who responded, let's hope these two fish make it.

I would really do a 50% water change.

 

[brennae]

I would really do a 50% water change.

I agree and do another water change tomorrow. You should buy a test kit. API Freshwater Master Test Kit is cheapest on Amazon I have found. ALso try bigalsonline.com. Good Luck!