ForestFriend
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Greetings all,
I've had my tank for a little over 4 months, and had no problems till recently. Well, not so recent. I lost one of my barbs, and neons to what I thought was a bad swim bladder, I had read that it was genetic and common from big box stores. Then, I had 1 gouramie just disappear, the largest fish in my tank, near a month ago. I replaced him with another blue gouramie and had no problems, till last week when one of my priscillas (I don't have the scientific name) disappeared same as my first gouramie and another priscilla began floating head down and laboring to swim up. I thought this was another swim bladder issue. The next day it was dead and near half its body gone. Worse still, my new blue gouramie was just laying there trying to move and then nothing dead.
Now another priscilla has been breathing rapidly and losing color, but eating fine and swimming with no problem. I don't expect that to last though.
Ok, my tank has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, pH 7.8 (a little high, but its the water out here) and 78 temp. I just bought the filter a week ago, PetSmart is the only place here to get decent equipment and the one other store here is even shadier as far as clean tanks go. BTW PetSmart will match any on-line price you bring them.
Back to the tank, it has more than enough oxygen, 0 levels of ammonia/nitrite and I clean it every two weeks with a gravel vacuum. I have a variety of foods (basic flake, micro pellets, algae discs, dried bloodworms) so I don't think its malnutrition, nor lack of oxygen.
What I do know is that I've lost five fish very strangely. The one thats ill now doesn't stay at the top, its a mid-dweller, I don't see any white spots on it or anything else. I though that it could be Ick in the gills, but I see no other signs on my tank or fish. The ones I have lost recently, were healthy one day and either gone, very sick or dead the next. The one now has displayed similar symptoms as the last one that died, but that last one went from healthy to dead in a day and this one has been getting worse over a course of three days, byt slowly.
Any help would be appreciated.
I've had my tank for a little over 4 months, and had no problems till recently. Well, not so recent. I lost one of my barbs, and neons to what I thought was a bad swim bladder, I had read that it was genetic and common from big box stores. Then, I had 1 gouramie just disappear, the largest fish in my tank, near a month ago. I replaced him with another blue gouramie and had no problems, till last week when one of my priscillas (I don't have the scientific name) disappeared same as my first gouramie and another priscilla began floating head down and laboring to swim up. I thought this was another swim bladder issue. The next day it was dead and near half its body gone. Worse still, my new blue gouramie was just laying there trying to move and then nothing dead.
Now another priscilla has been breathing rapidly and losing color, but eating fine and swimming with no problem. I don't expect that to last though. Ok, my tank has 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, pH 7.8 (a little high, but its the water out here) and 78 temp. I just bought the filter a week ago, PetSmart is the only place here to get decent equipment and the one other store here is even shadier as far as clean tanks go. BTW PetSmart will match any on-line price you bring them.
Back to the tank, it has more than enough oxygen, 0 levels of ammonia/nitrite and I clean it every two weeks with a gravel vacuum. I have a variety of foods (basic flake, micro pellets, algae discs, dried bloodworms) so I don't think its malnutrition, nor lack of oxygen.
What I do know is that I've lost five fish very strangely. The one thats ill now doesn't stay at the top, its a mid-dweller, I don't see any white spots on it or anything else. I though that it could be Ick in the gills, but I see no other signs on my tank or fish. The ones I have lost recently, were healthy one day and either gone, very sick or dead the next. The one now has displayed similar symptoms as the last one that died, but that last one went from healthy to dead in a day and this one has been getting worse over a course of three days, byt slowly.
Any help would be appreciated.
