Yeah, I think I'm killing my fish- like, all of them! Help!

[katej4]

so, 55 gal fw tank, planted, 3 feeder goldfish, 6 otos, 2 rosy barbs.

just did a pwc, seemed to go fine. been up and running for a total of about 3 weeks now.

1 gold appears to have swim bladder disease, one appears to have ich and the other is losing his tail. they were doing fine up until.. i don't know. two days ago maybe?

i had a blue channel cat that died right away and i think i'm MISSING?!?!?! one of otocinclos. i really can't find him. i've looked.

my plants were rotting, so i upped the potasium. i just added more salt to help with the ich. i'm not feeding them for a week to help with the swim bladder. geez. i'm feeling super overwhelmed here, like every time i look there is something else wrong with my tank.

any ideas? advice? do i need to remove the one goldfish with ich to keep the other guys from getting it?

super frustrated over here.... tia!!!

kate

 

[dskidmore]

Your tank is very new for the fish load you have, there are bound to be some issues. Don't replace anything that dies in this period, we'll get your tank in good shape first and then slowly build up your stock.

Do you have water test kits? Knowing the Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate levels would be helpful. If you don't have a test kit, how does the water smell?

Do you have a quarantine tank?

You need to do some regular water changes to keep Ammonia and Nitrite as close to 0 as possible. Nitrate will go up slowly over time, that's actually a good sign, but it should be removed by regular weekly 10% water changes so it does not build up to dangerous levels.

Must-Read articles:
The Freshwater Quarantine Tank
Stocking Guidelines for Newbies
Freshwater Ich? Yuck!
Tips and tricks for your fastest fishless cycle!
Nitrogen Cycle

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

ok, so first off welcome to AA! Second I am pretty sure your tank is still cycling which means your tank is still going through the initial stages which can be very harmful to fish. To help with that all I can say is keep your pwc to daily. Atleast 60% per day for about 2 weeks and then change to 70% weekly. (This worked for me) having plants will help your cycle too.

As far as your stocking is concerned I'm not a huge goldie expert but I do know feeder golds have been notorious for containing tons of illnesses and diseases. Also they are pretty much colder water fish whereas your barbs are more tropical fish. So id reconsider the direction you want to go with it as far as goldies or tropical.

As far as your oto, they are very sneaky little guys and will find the most random places to hide. Get an api freshwater master kit and take your reading with that. It'll be hard to detrmine if he's died somehwere in the tank because your going through your cycle and the spikes will morethan likely be from that but for future ref. If you think something has died you will see a spike in I believe your nitrates. I think that covers a lot of it but feel free to ask tons more ?'s

 

[dskidmore]

If you have an air stone or other air supply, you can use both the heat and salt treatments from the ich article. The heat will speed up the ich life cycle and kill them faster. You will need to remove your plants to the QT if you use salt. Leave the plants in the QT for 2 weeks to 2 months to make sure they are ich free before returning them to the tank.

If you need to do water changes to keep ammonia and nitrite down, you'll need to dose the replacement water to the same salt concentration as the tank water. I recommend using Prime as your dechlorinator when going through rough patches like this, as it can reduce the toxicity of ammonia and nitrite as well as break down chlorine and chloramine.

For the swim bladder, you might try feeding high fiber foods like blanched peas or zuchini slices. Your otos will love this. New otos are frequently starving when they come from the store, so I'd be hesitant to stop feeding them. The fiber can help some swim bladder issues, but it could be bacterial, or an injury, which is harder to heal.

 

[dskidmore]

It'll be hard to detrmine if he's died somehwere in the tank because your going through your cycle and the spikes will morethan likely be from that but for future ref. If you think something has died you will see a spike in I believe your nitrates.

When something dies or the tank is overfed, spikes will follow the same progression as when cycling a tank, ammonia first, then nitrite, then nitrate. A mature tank will go through the cycle faster, so you might not catch the first two spikes before it all converts to nitrate.

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

When something dies or the tank is overfed, spikes will follow the same progression as when cycling a tank, ammonia first, then nitrite, then nitrate. A mature tank will go through the cycle faster, so you might not catch the first two spikes before it all converts to nitrate.

Yeah that's what I figured, which is why I said it would certainly be hard to tell but for future ref. Its good info to have. I had a dwarf gouarmi just up and literally disappear and I found him 2 months later all rotted up under a piece of decor. I couldn't figure out why the sudden spike and then I found it. Crazy

 

[katej4]

ok, so lots of good info here! i had read a couple of those articles but not all of them. and of course, this was all AFTER i had the tank set up. and i should have done this research first, but can't go back. so alas,

no test kit yet. (yeah, guy at petstore said "no, you'll be fine!") so thats on the list

the water smells horrible!!!!!

i can certainly increase the pwc, we have that gravel vac siphon thing and it works really well

i don't have a quantantine tank but the lovely gentleman at the petstore sold me a breader container that he said i would need if any of my fish ever looked sick or were being aggressive - i'm sure you're all getting a good laugh at this point (don't worry, i am too, altho not for the fish' sake)

i went to a local fish place to get the potassium for my plants, that guy swore the barbs would do well with the goldfish, since its a bigger tank and they are all smaller fish, that they live in similar enough conditions, but said the same thing, typically people either have goldfish or tropical. but i now know the goldfish will get huge, so i dont know what to do. should get rid of one or the other?

i will try some peas and zucchini! good recommendations, i saw the pea thing one of the articles but hadn't heard of any other veggies.

thanks again, everyone, for your advice, your time, support. i'll report back in a day or so. thanks!!! =)

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

I would see if you can nurse the goldies back to health via a qt tank if you can get one, if not then treat accordingly in your tank. It is possible your plants are rotting due to the fact that they are not true aquatic plants. Unfortunately ppl try to ust regular above water plants in tanks and the outcome is similar to your usually within the first month. If you can get a picture of them and your tank we might be able to further help you.

 

[dskidmore]

Do 50% water changes daily until the water stops smelling fishy, or you can get test kits.

 

[jsoong]

Also, you are adding salt to treat ich ... salt can kill plants - dying & rotting plants will add to the pollution of the tank.

Suggestion, if plants are not looking good. Remove them from the tank & clean up all debris. If you want to try to save the plants, plant them in a clean bucket of (dechlorinated) water in a sunny spot & see if they recover.