Fish dying. Possible TB?

[fishstruggle]

Hi everyone,

İ am relatively new to the hobby. İ have a 6 gallon planted tank which had 3 endlers and a myself snail. 3 weeks ago one of the fish died. İ had the fish for approximately a month at the point and the tank had been cycling for a month before adding any fish. İ didn't notice any signs of ich or external injuries. My water parameters at the time were as follows:

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 0 ppm
pH: 8.2 (comes out of my tap like that)
Temp: 78-80F

A week ago the remaining two fish started acting strange. They weren't swimming as much and their trails were bent downwards. They also were not interested in eating. İ added in a sponge filter and air pump (İ have a HOB which İ left in agreed adding the sponge filter) to increase the oxygen in the water and that seemed to help the fish for a day or two.

Two days ago I woke up and another fish was dead. Now the remaining fish seems to be acting off. He's not swimming as much, not eating, and his tail is bent downwards. I'm not expecting him to survive much longer.
My water parameters are still all 0ppm and the pH and temp are 8 and 78-80F. When İ looked up the symptoms İ mentioned above fish TB popped up but I'm really hoping that's not what's going on.

İ would really appreciate any advice.

 

[Andy Sager]

What are the current test results?

 

[fishstruggle]

What are the current test results?

What do you mean by test results? Are you referring to my water parameters? They are still as follows as of this morning

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 0 ppm
pH: 8.2 (comes out of my tap like that)
Temp: 78-80F

 

[Andy Sager]

What do you mean by test results? Are you referring to my water parameters? They are still as follows as of this morning

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrites: 0 ppm
Nitrates: 0 ppm
pH: 8.2 (comes out of my tap like that)
Temp: 78-80F

Okay. Do you understand the nitrogen cycling process? If you did nothing but just let the tank run for that first month, nothing was happening in regards to the creation of the biological filter ( a.k.a Cycling). You would have needed to be adding an ammonia source ( i.e. fish, ammonia, decaying fish food, etc) for the tank to start the cycling process. After 3 weeks of having the fish and the snail, your water parameters should be showing SOME ammonia unless the filter you put into the tank was already an established filter from another tank. If the filter you added is not from an established tank, I would have your water tested by a shop or other test kit to confirm that everything is truly at 0. Fortunately, the drooping tails are not automatically fish TB but unfortunately, the other possibilities are not good either. Poor water quality is a possibility which is why you need to have accurate test results to rule out ( or in) that as a possible reason for the fish not doing well.
So let's start there.

 

[fishstruggle]

Thank you very much for your reply!

That first month İ was adding ammonia to the tank. İ was able to "watch" the ammonia İ added being converted to nitrite with my testing kit. İ have a lot of plants in the tank so İ never captured a nitrate peak with my test but İ could add ammonia to 4ppm and have it back at 0ppm the next day. Once İ reached that point I added the fish and the snail. İ check my water quality every day or every other day and have never gotten anything other than 0ppm for everything since adding the fish. İ use the API freshwater master test kit and today İ added a bunch of ammonia to a bowl of water and tested it and got a reading of 4ppm so I'm pretty sure the testing kit is still good and I'm using it correctly.

Thank you so much again!

 

[Andy Sager]

Thank you very much for your reply!

That first month İ was adding ammonia to the tank. İ was able to "watch" the ammonia İ added being converted to nitrite with my testing kit. İ have a lot of plants in the tank so İ never captured a nitrate peak with my test but İ could add ammonia to 4ppm and have it back at 0ppm the next day. Once İ reached that point I added the fish and the snail. İ check my water quality every day or every other day and have never gotten anything other than 0ppm for everything since adding the fish. İ use the API freshwater master test kit and today İ added a bunch of ammonia to a bowl of water and tested it and got a reading of 4ppm so I'm pretty sure the testing kit is still good and I'm using it correctly.

Thank you so much again!

Okay, good to hear. ( Congrats on having that 0 nitrates. Your plants must be doing one heck of a job. )
So we know it's not a water issue so it's an illness or a condition. Droopy tail can be a swim bladder condition or from malnutrition as it could be TB.
What have you been feeding the fish?

 

[fishstruggle]

I've only been feeding them Fluval Bug Bites spirulina & insect larva recipe since İ got the fish. They get a small pinch once or twice a day. For the past week or so I've noticed them getting less and less interested in eating and now the remaining fish doesn't even come up to the surface when İ try to feed him.

 

[Andy Sager]

I've only been feeding them Fluval Bug Bites spirulina & insect larva recipe since İ got the fish. They get a small pinch once or twice a day. For the past week or so I've noticed them getting less and less interested in eating and now the remaining fish doesn't even come up to the surface when İ try to feed him.

That could be part of the problem. Not enough food. They should be getting as much as they can eat in 2-3 minutes 2-3 times per day. Since these are Endlers, that's still not going to be a lot of food per feeding but it's going to be more food in total for the day. They also should be getting vegetable matter as one of those meals daily.
While the foods you are feeding are not the worst ones for these fish, there are many companies making foods specifically for Guppies and that is what will be a better diet for your Endlers along with the spirulina and other frozen foods like Brine Shrimp, Mysis Shrimp, Bloodwooms and/or Daphnia. Variety is the best way of feeding fish so they don't get locked onto one or two foods only and reject others when they are offered. Variety also helps get more nutrients and vitamins into the fish. If it were me, I'd be feeding a meat food for breakfast, a Guppy specific diet for lunch and the spirulina flakes or gut loaded frozen brine shrimp as the last meal of the day. ( I usually feed my fish at least 3-4 times per day. )
As for what you can do for this fish, it sounds like it may be too late for a recovery so you should be prepared to lose it. If you wanted to try, you could add a multivitamin like Vita-chem or Seachem Vitality to the water daily to help the fish get a major vitamin boost. This can help get the fish interested in feeding again as well. If it does start feeding again, you can cut back on the vitamins to once or twice a week as long as you are giving a variety of foods.
At this point however, it may be more expensive to try and treat this fish than it would be to replace it but that's a decision YOU need to make. You have to be comfortable with your decision so I can't make it for you.

Hope this helps.

 

[fishstruggle]

Oh wow! İ feel absolutely awful that İ starved the fish to death. İ went off the advice of the PetSmart employee but İ really should have done more research.

The pet stores around me don't seen to carry multivitamins for fish. İ can get the ones you suggested from Amazon but they won't come until Wednesday. İ will order them and hope he's still alive by then but I'm not optimistic.

Thank you so much for your help!

 

[Andy Sager]

Oh wow! İ feel absolutely awful that İ starved the fish to death. İ went off the advice of the PetSmart employee but İ really should have done more research.

The pet stores around me don't seen to carry multivitamins for fish. İ can get the ones you suggested from Amazon but they won't come until Wednesday. İ will order them and hope he's still alive by then but I'm not optimistic.

Thank you so much for your help!

Sadly, the box stores do not have a good reputation for having workers that know what they are doing. That doesn't mean all of them ( I know some people who have worked for the companies that were very knowledgeable but they didn't stay there for long. ) but it's more than not.
If you have questions, use this forum to get answers before doing what you are asking about. We are here to help.