Fish have Red Gills and are Dying

[brooke2103]

Hello in need of some advice quick. I have had a 40 gallon tank for about 2 months now. It contains molly's, guppies, a plek, tetras and another sort. All the fish have been fine until 2 days ago when I added some fish that needed a home. All my fish now have red gills and several have died. what could be causing this? and is there away of rescuing the rest? I am concerned it could have been the new fishes infecting the others. I put all the new fish in the 40 gallon tank and my gold fish into the new fishes small tank and they seem fine at the moment. I put the gravel from the new fish in with another one of my tanks that houses baby molly's and they too now have red gills but none have died. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[mollykid]

Fish have red gills and are dying

It could be ammonia poisoning can u post pictures ?

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

Fish have red gills and are dying

Check your ammonia level in all tanks.
Red gills are a symptom of ammonia poisoning.

Ammonia poisoning symptoms:

Fish gasp for breath at the water surface
Purple or red gills
Fish is lethargic
Loss of appetite
Fish lays at the bottom of the tank
Red streaking on the fins or body

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/disease/p/ammoniapoison.htm

Here is a grid chart with symptoms and causes. See if you see more symptoms here:
http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Common-Freshwater-Fish-Diseases/13/

 

[brooke2103]

What sort of pictures do you need. What can I do to sort it out now. Im watching one tetra dying as we speak :-(

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[mollykid]

A picture of the fish with those gills and please post a pic of the tetra too

 

[brooke2103]

Sorry I cant get much clearer. Most fish are at the top of the tank. My plek keeps shooting up to the top. Yhe tetra floated down trying hard to swim but is now lying upside down at the bottom but not able to swim


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[obiwankenobi]

I'd get the shells out of the tank if sourced from beach and check ammonia level. 50% water change and 25% every day until back to safe levels.

 

[Caliban07]

If you change 50% of the water with fresh then this will dilute whatever ammonia is in the tank by 50%

You may need to keep doing 50% water changes to keep the ammonia down. I would return the plec also as he is most likely the culprit for the high ammonia.

You need to cycle the tank too. And feed less.

Do you know anyone else who has a fish tank?

Seachem prime water conditioner will help too but water changes are a must right now.

 

[brooke2103]

I love the plek. The tank had been fine for 2 months with the plek in. Added my friends fish two weeks ago and thats where I think it all went wrong. I done a 25% water change the other night and cleaned the filter out, and fish seemed to of improved (not sucking air at the top of tank any more). I will keep doing water changes though and gwt an ammonia test kit. Is there something other than ammonia that can cause red gills?

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[Caliban07]

I love the plek. The tank had been fine for 2 months with the plek in. Added my friends fish two weeks ago and thats where I think it all went wrong. I done a 25% water change the other night and cleaned the filter out, and fish seemed to of improved (not sucking air at the top of tank any more). I will keep doing water changes though and gwt an ammonia test kit. Is there something other than ammonia that can cause red gills?

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There are lots of things that can make fishes gills turn red. Bacterial infection, parasites. However, ammonia poisoning is going to be the first port of call for most people who give advice on here.

Has the plec been on his own until the new fish came? You need to look up fish in cycling on google. This is very important. You need to buy and API liquid test kit (not strips)

This test kit will tell you most of what you need to know about your water for now and you will definitely need to continue doing water changes every day for now. 25-50%

If you need more advice on cycling a tank then just ask. Also, fish are more likely to contract disease when they are stressed and the immune system has been lowered. Just like you and me. So poor water conditions and ammonia poisoning could lead to other problems.

Ammonia physically damages or burns (otherwise known as ammonia burn) the fishes gills. When this will lead to the fish desperately trying to obtain oxygen from the water surface.

It is like a human breathing carbon dioxide into a room filled with carbon dioxide with a tiny air hole in the top corner. That's where we would immediately go if we were in that room.