white mouth neon tetra +very fat bloated black tetra

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andrew davies

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Messages
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:thanks:hi can someone help please i have a few neon tetras that i am made to believe is cotton mouth white lump around mouth what can i do what treatment please???????????? +i have a black tetra that is rather fat very bloated as if it is ready to burst cant seem to find what is wrong with this fish none of the others have this i have a planted tank bio external filter which i change with a water change once a month and a 20% everyweek also my readings for the tank are as follows.
GH 180
KH 40
PH 6
N02 0.5
N03 160
i dont really understand these reading but going by the leaflet the strips came with it does not look to bad maybe the last reading is a bit high??????
fish in tank about 40-50 all small except 8 clown loaches +2 cat fish small mainly tetras in tank hope someone can help thanks :banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:
 
I'm inexperienced in treating illness, but as far as your filter media I wouldn't change your media every month. I change my media one section at a time. And that's after thee media is falling apart. What is you tank size?
 
How large is the tank? that nitrate number is high, you may want to bump up the water changes. You should consider a liquid test kit, they are more accurate. How much do you feed and what?
 
:welcome: to AA

First thing I recommend you do is ditch those test strips (too inaccurate) and get the API test master kit. Judging by those numbers, your tank is still cycling and your Nitrate reading are way to high (see the link below). Re-test for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH. Then let us know the more accurate numbers, plus your tank size and how long it's been set up. By the stock you have in there, I'd say your tank is OVERSTOCKED if it's still cycling. Clown loaches for example get very big.

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

For now, I suggest doing a 50% PWC right away to start off. DO NOT change the filter media unless it's literally falling apart. It's in the filter media where alot of the Beneficial Bacteria live. If you have to replace it, use the old media to help seed the new one. Established filter media is like gold in this hobby.

I believe the best way to treat cotton mouth is by providing good clean de-chlorinated water. What kind of de-chlorinator do you have? If not then I highly recommend a bottle of Seachem Prime.

Hopefully someone with more experience on cotton mouth can better advise on medication if needed.
 
thanks guys tank is 127 ltrs and i only change the poly wool filter every month not the ceramics or plastic balls or the plastic filters i only feed once a day flakes and maybe twice a week frozen blood worm and catfish pellets only small amounts tho the fish i have are small and the max i can put in there are approx 75 or so the leaflet says tanks been running since 2 yrs last april last 20%water change last thursday
 
not according to the info i had with the tank????????????? 46 fish i have and the max is 64 ??????????
 
That information is seriously, seriously wrong, what brand tank is this?

I'm not pointing the finger of blame at you, you were clearly going off what you thought was valid instruction but yeah, that tank is overstocked IMO.

Get some other opinions first but I'm sure most will agree.
 
aqua 1 make of tank-also i have just checked online and for the size of the tank it does state as max number of fish is 64 of medium to small fish so i dont really know
 
not according to the info i had with the tank????????????? 46 fish i have and the max is 64 ??????????

The ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate numbers will tell us how overstocked it is.
I agree with aaronalam, you were going by information that IMO is not accurate. Those online tank capacity guides can give you a rough idea, but are also not the most reliable.

30 Neon tetras is one thing, but the clown loaches in an uncycled tank are another entirely. For now, lets concentrate on PWC's ... at least 50% ... don't forget de-chlorinator. It'll be an uphill climb with that many fish ... if you can rehome the clown loaches, that'll be helpful.
 
The ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate numbers will tell us how overstocked it is.
I agree with aaronalam, you were going by information that IMO is not accurate. Those online tank capacity guides can give you a rough idea, but are also not the most reliable.

30 Neon tetras is one thing, but the clown loaches in an uncycled tank are another entirely. For now, lets concentrate on PWC's ... at least 50% ... don't forget de-chlorinator. It'll be an uphill climb with that many fish ... if you can rehome the clown loaches, that'll be helpful.
my fault where i thought it was a 127 ltr tank its not it is a 276 ltr tank 60 gallon where i ever worked that out i dont know lol
 
Well 276 Liters works out to about 73 Gal which is much better. Still your going to want to do PWC's. The 8 clown loaches may still be too much for that size tank ... they get big.
 
That's still overstocked even at 60 gallons, I have a 60 (UK) gallon and couldn't imagine putting 50 fish in it, let alone having 8 Clown Loaches.

You need to get rid of them, all of them ideally.
 
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