Sadness :( :( :(

[Dizzydea]

It's when I thought I had this fish thing down I lost one of my orinoco plecos. I loved him dearly. Not sure what happened my water parameters are nitrite 0, nitrate 5-10 mg, ammonia .25 mg, ph 7.5. These levels are a bit upsetting because I just did a wc and I like everything to be at 0 besides ph of course. I did notice some of my danios fins were slightly tattered. I don't know if I'm just grasping at straws to figure out what went wrong but I think I see very tiny white spots. I have no experience with ick but this event is just very strange. Is a level of .25 ammonia enough to kill a fish? If it was ick wouldn't the signs be more noticeable? I'm fearing for all my little ones now I will post a few picks of my late pleco.

 

[Dizzydea]

The first 3 are after he died and the last one is while he was still in the tank and I noticed he was suffering. In the last pic you can see some white spots on his side is this ick?

 

[Dizzydea]

Here is one of the danios with tattered fins. It's hard to see in the pics but there are also some spots or fungus on the tail I believe.

 

[Candiceg]

Do some more water changes until your ammonia is zero. If your ammonia was at .25 after your water change then it was higher before wc. I couldn't see any ick from picture. How long have you had your tank set up? Did you recently change your filter media?

 

[Dizzydea]

I recently washed the filter media in tank water my tank has been setup for nearly a year

 

[Teakwood]

Do you vacuum the gravel? Maybe there is a clump of uneaten food decaying somewhere releasing ammonia?

 

[Candiceg]

Maybe some dead plants too are all your fish accounted for?

 

[AngelLover]

So sorry he was a very cool looking fish

 

[Dizzydea]

I had a tiny danio just a juvenile he's missing, no dead plants, I gravel vac every 7-10 days I don't see any food but you never know, thanks angel lover I'm very sad he was also an expensive little bugger $ 56.00! So everyone thinks its an ammonia issue? Not ick? As I said before I don't have any experience with ick but I feel if a fish was going to die from it i would have noticed more spots. Some fish also appear to be flashing.

 

[Dizzydea]

One of my fish also has a hole in its side, what the hell is going on in my tank!!!!!! How can things go from perfect to nuts in the short amount of time!!!! Ahhh

 

[Candiceg]

Ammonia is definitely the biggest issue. Anything above zero will harm your fish. Keep doing water changes until the levels are normal. If you have a missing dead fish then that could be the reason for the ammonia and the other problems. Flashing and stuff is from the fish not feeling well. If you have ick you will see the spots multiply on your fish real quick.

 

[Candiceg]

Also have you tested your water from the tap for ammonia?

 

[Dizzydea]

Ammonia is .25

 

[Dizzydea]

Sorry didn't see the tap part, I will look into it. I can't wait till I have my 110 gallo with refudgium set up so things don't fluctuate as much.