20 long going down the drain

[Dbigfish]

Alright so I have had a 20 long freshwater tank running for about 5 months and the inhabitants were 9 neon tetras 5 gold barbs a clown pleco and a bamboo shrimp. I change about a gallon a day just enough to get rip of pleco poo but still keep the water alive enough for my bamboo shrimp. So I wanted a bumble bee catfish for my larger tank but they were only about an inch long at the store so I put it in the 20 long to grow for a bit. After 3 days he was eating normally, had burrowed a little hole in the sand under a rock, and was healthy. The next day he was out in the day time and not moving but still alive. After the lights went out he swam about normally. The day after that he was dead with a white film covering his face. I removed the body and inspected my other fish for any signs of illness there were none. The next morning my largest barb was dead with blood red gills. I removed the body checked the other fish did a 10% water change and added some stress coat. The next morning my pleco had a white section on its right pectoral fin and half of its face. The next morning he was dead. I maxed my heater to 84.5 and now one of my neons has a white section of its body. It's not fuzzy it's like that section has lost all skin pigment. I went out to petco and got some Lifeguard all in one treatment because it had the broadest treatment range. Well my concerns about this treatment is the directions say to remove all filter carbon, my carbon is built into the filter floss. Also the back of the box says not suitable for invertebrates. Well I have a bamboo shrimp and he is my favorite thing in the tank. I have never really had sick fish before most of mine were wild caught until now and died of old age or live in my back yard pond. So the carbon will neutralize the medicinal effects of the treatment but I don't know how to keep BB alive for 5 days and not have it in the tank. I need help

 

[Wiggles24]

The red gills on your barb sounds like ammonia poisoning. What are your water parameters? What do u use to test them with?

 

[Dbigfish]

I am totally color blind so I can't exactly test with any of the kits or at least I can't read them. (I can see some colors but not others). I live with well water so I don't have the chlorine issue and I change a gallon a day which amounts to about a 40% change a week.

 

[Dbigfish]

Also none of my other fish show any signs of illness. I ruled out ammonia poisoning because all other 14 fish had healthy gills and normal coloration

 

[Dbigfish]

Lost 2 neons today. The one with the white patch Nd the runt. No external abnormalities on the runt

 

[Dbigfish]

2 more fish gone. Not getting much of any feedback

 

[clearancepuppy]

I am so sorry.

You could get the lfs to test your water, or maybe a friend.

I would also mix in some aquarium salt, dissolved first. Dose max Prime and 50% daily water changes for at least a week to flush out toxins. Top to bottom cleaning. I'm not the most knowledgeable by a long shot, but it sure sounds like some kind of fungal infection.

 

[Dbigfish]

So should I just do the large water change, not use the treatment, and let it run its course?

 

[Oohitsae]

is there anywhere you can move your bamboo shrimp for treatment?

what you should do is move him out (usually shrimp cant spread fish disease, nor catch it themselves) and then cut the carbon out of the filter pad, or move the filter onto another tank. You will lose some BB on the filter pad if you don't move it to another tank/container, but it's better than just switching it off, or running it with the carbon. Medication will be removed from the water if you don't remove atleast the carbon.
Then turn the temp down to around 74-76 and oxygenate the water very well. Most fungal/bacterial issues thrive in warm poorly oxygenated water for some reason.
Add AQ salt, and then go to the petstore (if you decide against removing the shrimp) and find some furan-2 or triple-sulfa to treat with. They are both broad spectrum and should do best. A bit more pricey than Lifeguard, but worth it. You could also do a mix of AQ + Epsom salts, 1/2 tsp of each/gallon
Oh and do at the absolute minimum, a 50% w/c per day if you do not treat with actual medication, if you do, then follow directions to a Tee

you'll want to do 2 rounds of treatment minimum for the actual medications, generally 10-14 days of treatment


Also, I cant guarentee this is the best method to do it, but out of what I've tried, doing this is always my most effective method. Furan 2 is my preferred medication for unknown ailments, but if you want to spend a little more Kanaplex is probably the best on the market. I've never bought it because furan-2 is more readily available, kanaplex is generally only available online and I don't think ahead.