I need help with my Fish please

[macman60]

I bought a Marineland canister model 360 before I bought this we were discussing how my aquarium was in bad shape again after the toxic glue got into the water a few days ago and it was suggested today Friday the 26th that I do a 50% water change and go get the canister after doing the water change it went down hill as I lost 5 tiger barbs, a bola shark and now my Parrot fish seems to being going my blood red named Ford was swimming straight up then side ways and Buckshot the largest Parrot I've had for 13yrs turned a light yellow and is breathing hard and there is a bubble near his rear end on the bottom I checked my levels PH: 7.2 Ammonia None.. Temp 78 degrees

I took a water sample to Petsmart and all tested the same as mine.. the manager said to add aquarium salt and keep the temp at 78 and not to add any med's due to us not knowing what is wrong I installed the canister and nothing seems to be changing I spent $200 today and all the fish still look very bad and I will probably will lose Ford before morning what is wrong I can't figure it out and wouldn't have mentioned the money except it seems to be getting worse.. and we (I) don't know what to do any suggestions please

I need your help now Thanks Mike

 

[jlk]

Ok, lets back up a few steps here. Can you please explain the toxic glue incident? What happened and how did you remedy it/remove it? How many days ago did this happen? Have you added any new fish since this happened?


Just so we are clear on what happened today- you did a water change (percent? properly conditioned and temperature matched?) Then added a new filter. Did you use anything to clean the new filter such as water or soap? Add new media? Was it rinsed in treated water first? Add any special media? I am just trying to figure out if it was the glue incident, your water, the filter or something else that is resulting in your fish sickness/demise.

 

[macman60]

Ok I'm sorry for jumping into ...

ok a few days ago some waterproof glue leaked into the aquarium killing some fish and causing us to have to drain the aquarium and bleach rock, deco, and putting fish into sick_tanks and buckets got fish back into aquarium after new setup and added some AP general cure so then after a few days I did a 10% water change and all heck went out from there causing me to have to do a 50% water change this morning and then the drama started with me losing the 5 barbs, shark and now the Parrots.. this is today Friday that this 50% change and added the canister

 

[macman60]

the Marineland Canister 360 was

washed in water and then rinsed really good and I used Marineland water conditioner for a PH of 72 to 78 and I added stress zyme and that was it

 

[macman60]

then about 4pm

Upon the advice of the Petsmart manager I added 1 rounded tablespoon of aquarium salt for 46g and then made sure my temp in the aquarium was still at 78 degrees with the LED lights off and around 5pm I feed the remaining fish some frozen blood worms and they ate ok. and the blood red parrot (FORD) is dying while the remaining parrots Buckshot, Laser, Taser, Rocky are hanging on with colors faded from Orange to pale Yellow their breathing seems to be heavy I'm running a bubble wand in the back, a UV Sterilizer, and the new Marineland 360 canister with the heater set at 78*.. I had added my sand_fall built with nothing but PVC pipe and some polished stones glued with GE I silicone and had been cured for 2 days using Diamond Black Sand substrate and when this all started and before I put the canister in I took the sand_fall out and left everything else alone as to not stress the fish even more.. I can't remember anything else I've done except pray... Thanks Mike_Tina

 

[Corydoras92299]

I hope fords ok good luck

 

[jlk]

Thanks! Ok, alot has happened in a very short period of time. I can not say what or what combination of things has been the specific cause of the trauma but there are lots of possiblities. The glue is number one. Even if it did not immediately kill all of your fish, it likely poisoned them regardless. Some may just be feeling the effects now and thus the symptoms. Then they suffered more stress from being moved from their home to buckets then back to a tank that had been sterilized and had a complete water change. This alone (without the glue) may have been enough to cause undue trauma. Add into this a med being added (I need more specifics on this- will come back in a minute). Then a new filter. And stuff being added and removed. Then more water changes. And salt. All of this in a few days equates to an extreme amount of stress- stress alone can sicken or kill a fish without adding toxins or meds to menagerie.

Can I ask why you added the GC? How much you added for how many days? Did you add more after the last water change?

This is my suggestion- calm down with everything and keep their lights off and stress minimal. Make sure the water is healthy. Continue to feed them as normal. My guess is you likely tossed the original media wih the tank sterilization/glue situation so you are now going to be facing a fish-in cycle unless you have another cycled tank you can steal some cycled media from. Keep a close eye on parameters because these guys will likely not tolerate any amount of toxins at the present time without negative consequences.

As a last ditch attempt, you can try (no guarentees here) to give your parrot a methylene blue bath if you have any. Dose at 1tsp per 3g of treated water and place him in the bath for up to 30minutes. MB is a strong oxidizer and can help increase blood oxygen levels if they are depleted. I wish I had more I could offer to help here. I am very sorry all of this happened

 

[macman60]

Saturday Morning 4.27.13

I lost Taser Parrot Fish had him for 2yrs now so left in the aquarium as follows:

Buckshot, Laser, Ford, Rocky- Parrot Fish Crystal, Little Blue- Gourmai's

Dead- Taser- Parrot Fish, Batman- Clown Loach, Whiskey- Catfish
Clemson Tigers- All Tiger Barbs

The canister seems to have really cleaned the water at this point due to more fish dying I'm going to do a 10% water change and keep the lights off
and continue to feed the one's that's left.. All the rest Even Ford seem to be ok
as they're swimming and seem to be some better

I can't start to thank all of you and the way one person that I Im'ed contacted me immediately last night everyone was and is concerned over our aquarium we all know that pet's are pet's and no matter if it's a 2 ton horse or a 1 oz fish they're our kids we love them and care for them and if we feel like we've let them down in anyway we hurt.. so we're hurting over our loss but life goes on and we'll get a couple more fish in time not right now I've got to get this mess straighten out and with you guy's helping we will continue to read and I'm going to work on the sand_fall today I think I've got it.. by the way the sand I'm using in the sand_fall doesn't hurt the fish does it entering into their gills or anything as I've researched and found nothing to say it does effect the fish and I had a cichlid aquarium a few years ago and used crushed coral and sand in it no problems let me know anything to help us please and again thanks so much

 

[macman60]

The drama continues

I've lost most of my Parrot Fish all that is left is:

Buckshot the 13yr old Parrot Fish, Rocky the new guy

and 2 Gourmai's and my question is I've lost a lot of fish sharks, tiger barbs,
parrot fish and a catfish but whatever this is it's not affecting the Gourmai's

and why not I'm glad it didn't but what would kill all these other fish and leave the Gouromai's alone ?

any advice would be welcomed again thanks Mike_Tina

 

[macman60]

this may explain a lot ?

Let me know if you agree or disagree with this article :

Fish that have been breed as not naturally occuring fish, such as your blue parrot, often don't live as long as the naturally occuring fish of the same species such as the red parrot as they are man made. In this case, your blue parrot has been breed differently, and has either been dyed to change the color, or breed through other blue parrots. Fish that aren't normally naturally occuring have a decreased immune system and an over decreased amount of hardiness. For example, the golden gourami is a naturally occuring fish, and is very hardy as opposed to the man made fish the flame dwarf gourami. Flame dwarf gourami's have been man made, and whilst gourami's are relatively hardy fish, the flame dwarf doesn't live up to this as it has been created based on the 'real' gourami's. So therefore, your blue parrots immune system is not as strong as the naturally occuring red parrot's, and you need to be very careful if you choose to leave it in your tank as by the sounds of it your fish has what is called dropsy. Dropsy is where the fish loose their ability to swim and often lay upside down, they have short bursts of trying to swim, but often just float back down to the bottom of the tank. Once they can no longer swim, it generally means that it is irreversible. You won't be able to do anything to help your fish now, but you should remove it from the tank before any of your other fish get sick otherwise you'll be risking a mass death in your tank. Dropsy is an internal bacteria infection that causes fluid to build up in the fish cavity, preventing them from functioning normally. It can be treated with API's melafix and/or pimafix, but your fish's case is too far advanced for a recovery. You need to be very careful when buying fish that are naturally occuring, and you never, ever buy a fish that is ill, or has other ill fish in the tank, or even dead fish in the same tank as moving homes causes the fish stress. Stress lowers their immune systems making them more susceptible to diseases, epsecially man created fish.

Therefore do I leave my remaining fish untreated as this seems to be what's wrong with my Parrot fish as they're lying on their sides and then as I mentioned in a earlier post that indeed they start to swim weird and then can't swim at all then they die at that point...
Mike

 

[jlk]

Whether your fish are affected by poisoning, excessive stress or very remotely, dropsy, I do not know. I keep 'manmade' fish (fancy goldfish) and do not agree that manmade fish are predisposed to inherently weakened immune systems anymore than our 'manmade' canine breeds. The information that was given to you in respect to dropsy is very flawed.

Dropsy is not a disease itself but a symptom of disease. The most classic symptom is the lifting of scales ('pineconing'). Other symptoms may present such as bloating, popeye, red veining or blotching in the body or fins, etc. It is not necessarily characterized by an inability to swim. It can be caused by an internal bacterial infection but it is also caused by poor water quality, parasites, protozoa, poisoning, etcetc. It is essentially systemic organ failure, namely the liver and kidneys. When the body is unable to process fluids correctly, they accumulate resulting in the classic pinecone appearance. The great difficulty in determining a causative factor(s) makes it very difficult to treat and generally fatal.

Melafix/pimafix are for the most part useless in treating anything. Trying to treat an internal infection with such a product is the equivalent of trying to put out a forest fire with a glass of water. When caught early and are bacterial-based, some people have had success treating with metronizadole medicated foods such as MetroMeds or veterinary prescribed injectables such as Baytril. Thats about it. I am very sorry in respect to everything that has happened and about your fish

 

[Starfox64]

Did he make it I feel bad for you It must be really hard for you you have had that fish for a really long time could you send a picture of him so that its easier to see the fish and its current situation

 

[macman60]

I moved the 3 fish

Buckshot the large Parrot Fish and the 2 Gourami's that are left to the 10g sink tank and I've finally got the Bow front aquarium back up and running and seeing the fish in the 10g there was still toxin in the bow front as they seemed to swim better and look better although Buckshot wouldn't eat any blood worms the Gourmai's did eat but not him ? Anyway I'm going to let the bow front cycle through the new canister filter for an hour or so to get any floating sand out of the water and I've checked my PH it's 7.2 and Ammonia is 0.02 ppm Normal
I've put Black Diamond Sand into the bow front aquarium. Now it's wait and see time I'm going to repopulate in the next few days not now but in a few days I want to see that all 3 that's left do good first and see how my levels hold up also... This has been really hard and yet a great learning experience too I've had aquariums for most of my life and I've never had this to happen maybe 2 to 4 fish to die but never most all that I have lessoned learned 1 tiny drop of waterproof glue (Not Aquarium Proof) used to glue 1 spot the size of a dime where silicone didn't hold caused all this to happen.. I'm going to put mostly fake rock and deco into the aquarium as I've had to throw out a lot of slate rock because I'm scared since it's porous that some of the poison has gotten into the spores and clorox or boiling will not get it out Give me your thoughts on the Slate Rock I have about 60lbs of really nice red and white rock

You asked for photos of the fish now here is a couple of snaps with my phone cam.. Love Buckshot.. and yes the 2 Gorumais too

 

[Starfox64]

Looks like you got it under control and he is probably just to stressed out to eat for now when he is ready he'll eat. I hope to here he is healthy and eating. Even so really impressive fish

 

[macman60]

this is what I've noticed on...

Buckshot @ 11pm on Sunday night 4.28.13 as I've decided to leave him and the 2 gourami's in the 10g sick tank that I have a HOB filter and heater keeping the temp. at 78* until early Monday morning so I can again test the bow front aquariums water and let it filter more so the sand can calm down also...BUT..
please look at Buckshot's Gills as I see them to be inflamed white
Please if you know what this is and how to treat it let me know ASAP I can't loose BuckShot (13yr old Parrot Fish)

Thanks Mike_Tina

 

[Starfox64]

That's how mine died sorry I don't have a cure but it doesn't look as bad so there is still hope you can save him

 

[macman60]

Ok if you're keeping up with this drama

here is a update as of Monday evening 4.29.13 Buckshot (parrot fish) is still living and he's all a lone in the 10g tank as I've medicated him and he will stay in this tank for a few days until I see him doing a lot better meanwhile I bought 2 Parrot Fish and 2 Jack Dempsey's and get this while I had them each paired in 5g buckets I lost them all I mean they were alive and then dead water was checked PH was 6.8 Ammonia Normal all were in tap water conditioned with Marineland water conditioner and Stress Coat.. Keep in mind these fish never entered the Bow front where all the problems have been so it's getting my money back so I decided to get another Parrot Fish leave it in the bag for about 35 minutes floating on top the water in the Bow front so now he's in the Bow front and yes he's alive.. I can't figure all this death out as I've had freshwater aquariums for most of my life and I've lost a fish here and there but never like I have in the Bow front the last couple of weeks and surely not in a clean bucket waiting on the crushed coral to calm down and I'm keeping a close eye on the PH it really doesn't change like you think it does as I've had African Cichlids and with them I added Lake Salt upon a water change and I had ocean sand and crushed coral in it and never had a problem with PH my x is enjoying it now and her cichlids have a lot of fry so there you go without me you have babies LOL so now I'm going to work on a Sand_Fall making a clear plex-glass with clear tubing so I will hopefully have a sand_fall from the top to the bottom with the sand flowing down into the black diamond sand and coral wish me luck and nothing but silicone and by the way I mentioned the GE I silicone at Petsmart and it was a big NO but I know it's ok.. I will keep updating about Buckshot and the new adventures of the South American Cichlid Aquarium as it's a new world that I know Buckshot will love and his cave is ready and waiting on him when he's ready that is. Thanks all Mike _ Tina

 

[Starfox64]

Good that buckshot alive but can't understand why the two died

 

[macman60]

Friday May 3rd 2013 and this is

what is going on ... Buckshot is alive and doing a lot better the Bow Front aquarium is still cloudy from adding the crushed coral but's it's clearing up day by day. Buckshot is still in the 10g sick aquarium I'm through medicating him unless he turns for the worst but he's eating from Tina's feeding but not from me the manager over aquariums here at Petsmart Nick said that Buckshot maybe applying all that's happened towards me and therefore it's like he's pouting so therefore Tina's his buddy now I don't care as long as he's alive and well.. The tank as of now consist of some new buddies for Buckshot when he's ready to go back home and they're a couple Jack Dempsey's and a couple Convicts and a Texas Red Cichlid and a couple medium size Red Parrot Fish and the 2 Gourmai's that survived have their own smaller aquarium in the sunroom where my office is so they're doing great also. My Glo-Fish tank is growing Sword plants like crazy and these little Glo Dudes are so cool under the Blue Moon Light they look better under the Blue Moon Light than Black Light any day plus I don't really like the Black Light and what it may or may not do to the fish.. I have a Bala Shark and a Neon in another show small aquarium and it's doing great but the Bow Front should be crystal clear in a few days and when it is Buckshot will be going home and finding some new friends that he can boss around as he's about 8" long and about 1" thick so I don't think no one will mess with the Sheriff Mr. Buckshot (he's abig teddy bear) he's had Neon
s around him and left them a lone go figure ? Thanks guy's for all the concern's and Help we will never forget what this site where mine and Tina Marie's best friends and family preside ... Thanks So Much and if you ever need us well
just click your mouse and say Mike and Tina Marie We Need You and we will be there the best we can just like you all have for us...

To Be Continued: Buckshot and his new friends how will they get along ?

 

[macman60]

I put the

Sand_fall i had made for the Bow Front into the 5g Gourmai tank and then the Gourmai's went to the bottom and stayed there and their gills turned red so I took the Sand_fall out .. this is the Sand_fall that were going to put into the Bow Front until it was suggested that I needed to build a Sand_fall that went to the top of the aquarium but this Sand_fall was built out of pvc pipe and GE Silicone I so what made the Gourmai's sick as they only got sickly when I introduced the Sand_fall and they got better when it was taken out. I know many of you have had items made with GE Silicone I in your tanks for years.. I don't know it's making me question using anything that I build in a tank with fish ? comments are welcome

Also Buck Shot is now in the Bow Front Lg. Aquarium and really seems to love the crushed coral and his completely new environment I will be posting photos of the new look and hopefully new Sand_fall with no Cement of any kind be on the look out for Buck Shot and His New Friends and the Buck Shot Home Make Over Event Coming Soon to your Mac or Pc Love Mike _ Tina