just lost a fish.

[tmdavies]

ok i have a 240 litre (63 us gals) tank with 3 goldfish and 2 hillstream loach, i have a fluval 305 canister filter.
The tank has been running for about 2 months maybe less the fish have all been living together for about 6 months tho in my old tank.
I have recently been treating my water with white spot treatment and 3 or 4 days ago i added salt to help clear the whitespot.
I tested my water yesterday my ammo 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5.
Two of my goldies appear to have whitespot but one seems fine.
i have been treating them with the whitespot treatment for about a week now maybe longer and there seems to be no change my water temp is around 21 degrees celsius.
woke up this morning and one of my hillstream loaches was dead. I also noticed some white stringy poo caught on one of my plants not sure what fish it was from tho.
any help is much appreciated

 

[Ickletas]

I'm sure if I'm mistaken then someone will put me right but I think that loaches can be pretty sensitive to medications. My mother in law has Clown Loaches and she lost one after treating her fish for something (I'm fairly sure it was white spot but not 100% and can't remember what treatment she used but she's never used it since) and it turned out to be the treatment (even though ther was a picture of a Clown Loach on the label!). Not sure if your loaches are as sensitive (if at all) but it was my first thought after reading your post

 

[tmdavies]

just got back from work and my fish are constanly gulping with there mouths and my one remaining hillstream loach is right at the top of the tank with its head half out the water. the water is very cloudy aswell.
I have put carbon in my filter. my goldfishs poo is stringy for about and inch then it goes normal.
can anyone help please, dont want to lose anymore i will be performing a 50% water change tomoz

 

[tmdavies]

i have recuced the tank water for more water agitation aswell

 

[Rosenweiss]

Sounds you like you need to get an airstone or two to improve water oxygenation...

 

[tmdavies]

they have been fine so far what would make them suddenly need more air?

 

[Rosenweiss]

The medication in the water could be, or higher temps if you raise the temperature. Any toxins in the water could do it.

 

[tmdavies]

im stuck if i use the whitespot treatment my loaches will die but if i dont they all could die what should i do

 

[Rosenweiss]

Get a cheap 10 or 5 gallon tank, put the loaches in there with some used filter media, and treat the DT.

 

[tmdavies]

DT? but how would i treat the loach for whitespot

 

[Rosenweiss]

Display tank. Are you sure your loaches have it, since they're spotted naturally?

 

[tmdavies]

and my loaches only eat algae of the glass they dont touch wafers if he was in a new tank he would still have white spot and wouldnt have anything to eat :S

 

[tmdavies]

im not sure how whitespot works i thought if one had it they all would have it?

 

[Rosenweiss]

One thing you can do is stop the medication and try treating naturally, by raising the temperature 1 degree every 12 hours and adding a little aquarium salt, building up to a tablespoon per 5 gallons after a week or so. If you do this, you'll have to have more water circulation though, like an airstone, since heating takes oxygen out of the water.

 

[tmdavies]

i have added salt to the aquarium i will try raising the temp aswell

 

[Rosenweiss]

Just be sure to raise it slowly. =]

 

[tmdavies]

kk hopefully they will last the night. thanks

 

[Rosenweiss]

Yeah... and add a bit more salt if you're not adding a lot... those ich parasites can be tough to kill.

 

[Ickletas]

The Ich parasite is only killable (not sure thats even a word lol) in its free swimming stage. Heating up the tank speeds up their life cycle so they get a much smaller window of reproduction. The salt method is a bit like the condition and comb method for head lice in that you are getting rid of the parasite before it has a chance to reproduce.

 

[Ickletas]

Understanding and Treating Ich or White Spot

Maybe this article will help. It tells you what chems are in the treatments and how they affect the fish as well as describing the salt and heat method.