Harlequin Rasboara dying one by one...

[Meeko]

Okay, so I went to a different store a bit further away one with a good reputation too.

I got 10 more Harlequin and 2 Dwarf Gourami as a sort of "test" if you like. 2 Harlequin have died whilst I have been at work, none once again showing any physical symptoms in terms of appearance. I am unsure if this was the 2 remaining Harlequin from before or if they are from the other store. Now I know the dwarfs are suspectible to gourami disease but that is the least of my worries. I am investigating trying to get to the source of the problem. If I find more Harlequin die then I know there is something wrong with my tank, if no more die in say a week or 2 then I know it was the remaining 2 Harlequin and it is not a problem with my tank. Also if the Gourami are okay then that confirms for sure that it is not my tank or water. I also purchased API Aquarium Salt, Interpet Anti fungus and fin rot and Melafix. I did buy General Cure but it is being shipped from the USA since it seems to be unobtainable in the UK for some reason so I won't receive that until mid July. I also have SeaChem Paraguard coming in the post.

This is make or break for me whether I continue with the hobby. I don't want to keep buying different products to treat the fish and just end up in an endless cycle of treating them for different things and nothing works therefore wasting money buying fish and they keep dying which is unfair on them too.It feels inhumane and unfair. It is also causing me alot of stress worrying if I am going to come home to a dead tank or more deaths.

Just a small update. I am not here to be judged about my purchase of the 2 dwarf gouramis. Both look in good condition and seem happy hiding behind my plants, one of them does have a little bit of ripped fin but the tank they were in was very overstocked so I am putting that down to nipping.

 

[Colin_T]

Is there any chance you can return the Melafix and other medications? You can't use Melafix or Pimafix with labyrinths (gouramis and Bettas) because it leaves an oily film over the surface and messes them up.

Seachem Paraguard contains a type of formaldehyde and malachite green and is fine for treating external protozoan infections like white spot, velvet, costia, chilodonella & trichodina. Your fish don't have any of these parasites.

No idea what is in Interpet Anti fungus and fin rot medication but there is lots of bad reports about it online.

API general cure contains metronidazole and praziquantel and is fine for internal protozoan infections and tapeworm. Your fish don't have these either.

If you can't return the medications, keep them in a cool dry place so they last longer.

 

[Meeko]

Is there any chance you can return the Melafix and other medications? You can't use Melafix or Pimafix with labyrinths (gouramis and Bettas) because it leaves an oily film over the surface and messes them up.

Seachem Paraguard contains a type of formaldehyde and malachite green and is fine for treating external protozoan infections like white spot, velvet, costia, chilodonella & trichodina. Your fish don't have any of these parasites.

No idea what is in Interpet Anti fungus and fin rot medication but there is lots of bad reports about it online.

API general cure contains metronidazole and praziquantel and is fine for internal protozoan infections and tapeworm. Your fish don't have these either.

If you can't return the medications, keep them in a cool dry place so they last longer.

I could potentially return them but if they are no use I will just keep them in the cupboard under the tank, they may come in handy at somepoint.

 

[Meeko]

Another Harlequin death, I had a look at him this morning, no physical symptoms except what appears to be a kind of brown coloured patch on his underside It is circular in shape fairly small. It doesn't really stick out or anything.

Another almost definitely has pop-eye too so for know I've removed him from the tank. I don't think any of the others have it or had it when they were dying/died. I am more curious about this little patch. Is it a bite? Leech mark? I'll try to get a picture but I have to leave very shortly.

 

[Meeko]

OMG I've sussed it. One of the DG has white string hanging from him. I am now convinced it is internal parasites.

 

[Colin_T]

the new harlequins have an entire set of different health issues.

None of the original ones had a brown patch or did stringy white poop.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Meeko, sorry you've been having so many issues with what should be a simple tank setup. If you're starting to lose the new fish from a totally different shop it does seem to be that there's something not quite right with your set up.

If it were me now, I think what I would do is fill up a bucket with water from the tank and then net the fish and put them in it. Then i'd drain your tank and then take everything out of it so all you're left with is the empty tank. Give it a good clean and then refill with water (treated of course) and then once it's up to temperature put the fish back in. If you've got any bags left from when you bought the fish, put the fish in these so you can float them in the tank as you would have done when you first got the fish.

What this should do is rule out the sand, wood/rock and plants and if there are still issues, then it would suggest to me that either there's something wrong with your water or the filter. As long as you're putting the right amount of water conditioner in and its in date, I'd lean towards the filter then.

You've got it cycled so you'd need to be careful how you progress with the filter because if it is causing a problem, you might need to strip it all out, clean it and start again which isn't ideal.

Is there a Chlorine test in your kit by any chance? Just a thought that this could be an issue. It shouldn't be if you're treating correctly but might be worth considering as we're running out of ideas..

 

[Meeko]

Meeko, sorry you've been having so many issues with what should be a simple tank setup. If you're starting to lose the new fish from a totally different shop it does seem to be that there's something not quite right with your set up.

If it were me now, I think what I would do is fill up a bucket with water from the tank and then net the fish and put them in it. Then i'd drain your tank and then take everything out of it so all you're left with is the empty tank. Give it a good clean and then refill with water (treated of course) and then once it's up to temperature put the fish back in. If you've got any bags left from when you bought the fish, put the fish in these so you can float them in the tank as you would have done when you first got the fish.

What this should do is rule out the sand, wood/rock and plants and if there are still issues, then it would suggest to me that either there's something wrong with your water or the filter. As long as you're putting the right amount of water conditioner in and its in date, I'd lean towards the filter then.

You've got it cycled so you'd need to be careful how you progress with the filter because if it is causing a problem, you might need to strip it all out, clean it and start again which isn't ideal.

Is there a Chlorine test in your kit by any chance? Just a thought that this could be an issue. It shouldn't be if you're treating correctly but might be worth considering as we're running out of ideas..

The Harlequin with pop eye died this morning.

The Dwarf Gourami are completely fine, they are good in colour and look physically good and behaviour is what it should be. I have 2 males though from what I can tell so I need to watch out for aggression there but least of my concerns at the minute. It just seems to be a problem with Harlequins. I guess it is possible that the 12 Harlequins I got from a different store are even more sick than the original Harlequins as these ones are showing physical symptoms. I dosed API Aquarium Salt yesterday to see if that would help but I just don't know if it has had an effect or not. The fish all have been eating and I have definitely not been over feeding as they get minimal amounts every 2 days. I now have seen them poo aswell and there was a small white poo but it just fell off naturally. Water parameters have been 0,0,10-20 consistently and I have never seen nitrates higher but I assume if I left it for a while they would go alot higher. I did have a Chlorine test in my kit but it's ran out now due to the amount I tested during the fishless cycle since I was obsessed with testing. But I had never seen it higher than 0 and I followed the conditioner instructions exactly so I don't think it is chlorine or to be honest anything to do with the water quality. pH has also remained stable. temperature is stable at 26 celsius.

I haven't ruled out the filter but I don't know what could be wrong with the filter? It is set up fine from what I know. I added the activated carbon which Colin advised me too but I simply don't know if it has done anything or not.

I have a book on disease which I have read numerous times so I think I would be able to spot any symptoms. That plus doing research via the internet I think I am well covered in terms of sickness especially any physical signs.

The fish that have died either don't show any signs at all as in one minute they are fine next they are dead, no physical symptoms especially the first few. Since I added these the ones that have died have showed physical symptoms, one had pop-eye, the other had a brown like patch on his underbelly.

The only common occurence I can see is the redness in the gills. Which going from what I've read means ammonia burn, gill flukes or some sort of poisoning. I can rule out ammonia, I am pretty sure we have ruled out gill flukes on here, its not chlorine, so quite frankly I have no idea. Not all that died had very red gills but I would say the majority have.

I of course did see the "leech" (

) but it hasn't been seen since and I am constantly watching the tank when I am home.

I will remove the rock and wood and try that. They were dying before I added the plants. I rinsed the substrate and plants before adding and boiled both the rock and wood.

The one thing I have noticed that I don't have is an airstone/bubbler thing. However in saying that I never see the fish gasping for air or anything, I have the filter output so its breaking the water and sending bubbles around.

I could deep clean but quite frankly if I lost the cycle doing so I would just give up as I have no patience to go through it again and I don't think its fair on the fish to do a fish-in cycle and it is also not fair that they keep on dying and I don't know why. It may not be my fault but I feel really bad about it. I would probably at that point just rehome the fish and sell my setup, it is becoming extremely stressful.

 

[Colin_T]

if you have triple sulfa or tri sulfa/ sulpha you can treat the tank with that, or use a broad spectrum medication. just remove the carbon before you treat.

 

[Meeko]

if you have triple sulfa or tri sulfa/ sulpha you can treat the tank with that, or use a broad spectrum medication. just remove the carbon before you treat.

I have to be honest I have no idea what that is and I have never heard of it, will look on Google.

 

[Meeko]

A quick look on Google tells me it is almost impossible to get in the UK.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

The Harlequin with pop eye died this morning.

The Dwarf Gourami are completely fine, they are good in colour and look physically good and behaviour is what it should be. I have 2 males though from what I can tell so I need to watch out for aggression there but least of my concerns at the minute. It just seems to be a problem with Harlequins. I guess it is possible that the 12 Harlequins I got from a different store are even more sick than the original Harlequins as these ones are showing physical symptoms. I dosed API Aquarium Salt yesterday to see if that would help but I just don't know if it has had an effect or not. The fish all have been eating and I have definitely not been over feeding as they get minimal amounts every 2 days. I now have seen them poo aswell and there was a small white poo but it just fell off naturally. Water parameters have been 0,0,10-20 consistently and I have never seen nitrates higher but I assume if I left it for a while they would go alot higher. I did have a Chlorine test in my kit but it's ran out now due to the amount I tested during the fishless cycle since I was obsessed with testing. But I had never seen it higher than 0 and I followed the conditioner instructions exactly so I don't think it is chlorine or to be honest anything to do with the water quality. pH has also remained stable. temperature is stable at 26 celsius.

I haven't ruled out the filter but I don't know what could be wrong with the filter? It is set up fine from what I know. I added the activated carbon which Colin advised me too but I simply don't know if it has done anything or not.

I have a book on disease which I have read numerous times so I think I would be able to spot any symptoms. That plus doing research via the internet I think I am well covered in terms of sickness especially any physical signs.

The fish that have died either don't show any signs at all as in one minute they are fine next they are dead, no physical symptoms especially the first few. Since I added these the ones that have died have showed physical symptoms, one had pop-eye, the other had a brown like patch on his underbelly.

The only common occurence I can see is the redness in the gills. Which going from what I've read means ammonia burn, gill flukes or some sort of poisoning. I can rule out ammonia, I am pretty sure we have ruled out gill flukes on here, its not chlorine, so quite frankly I have no idea. Not all that died had very red gills but I would say the majority have.

I of course did see the "leech" (

) but it hasn't been seen since and I am constantly watching the tank when I am home.

I will remove the rock and wood and try that. They were dying before I added the plants. I rinsed the substrate and plants before adding and boiled both the rock and wood.

The one thing I have noticed that I don't have is an airstone/bubbler thing. However in saying that I never see the fish gasping for air or anything, I have the filter output so its breaking the water and sending bubbles around.

I could deep clean but quite frankly if I lost the cycle doing so I would just give up as I have no patience to go through it again and I don't think its fair on the fish to do a fish-in cycle and it is also not fair that they keep on dying and I don't know why. It may not be my fault but I feel really bad about it. I would probably at that point just rehome the fish and sell my setup, it is becoming extremely stressful.

To be honest, I can't see anything you've done that is incorrect and you've pretty much taken the steps I would have done to try to resolve it. I was just trying to think of alternatives that you've not tried so understand if you'd rather not strip the tank down.

I guess its just fingers crossed now to hope you don't lose any more fish.

That video does look like a leech so whilst all I've been reading suggests it should be harmless, I would still get rid of it if you see it again.

I don't have an airstone in my tank and haven't done for about 10 years. All they do is agitate the water which, as yours does, my filter is set up to do. They don't add oxygen to the water in any way, they just add to water circulation.

 

[Colin_T]

Airstones help to break up the meniscus (water surface) and helps to increase the gas exchange into the water. Basically it helps get excess carbon dioxide out and allows more oxygen in.

If you ever add medications or chemicals to the water, they reduce the oxygen carrying capacity of that water, so you increase surface turbulence to help maximise the dissolved oxygen in the water. Airstones are the most efficient way to do this. Having a power filter outlet spraying onto the surface will also help.

 

[Meeko]

Just a small update.
I added Fluke Solve on Thursday more in hope than anything else (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00AVTACQW/?tag=) and it seems to have improved the fish. No more deaths. One of the Rasbora looks like its about to drop eggs. To me that seems to be a success. I am not saying it solved the issue, but at the least on the off chance it was flukes of any kind it will have worked on that front. So some positive news I guess. Just playing the waiting game now.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Just a small update.
I added Fluke Solve on Thursday more in hope than anything else (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00AVTACQW/?tag=) and it seems to have improved the fish. No more deaths. One of the Rasbora looks like its about to drop eggs. To me that seems to be a success. I am not saying it solved the issue, but at the least on the off chance it was flukes of any kind it will have worked on that front. So some positive news I guess. Just playing the waiting game now.

Good to hear Meeko. Fingers crossed for you!