new in the fish world

[tam2019]

hi everyone,i only recently became carer of tropical fish in a small tank compared to many as i see here in the forum
i got a 13 gallon tank in nov 2018 . i have guppy , mollies ,platy ,swordfish ,and one betta which we called him bull (always bullying the others in the beginning now it became friendly) i love guppies,they are sweet,beautiful colors and all different,one month after unfortunately we had ich in the tank and only 4weeks ago i got rid of it completely (meds and temperature) since two weeks ago again trouble we got parasite (i bought new fishes) and 4 died even after sterazin treatment which was finished on the 23rd jan . now my only two guppies and one platy are still swimming with tail down and hiding and i don’t know what to do i changed 20% of the water yesterday and im thinking if i should /can treat the water again with sterazin?maybe they have bacteria?should i try myxazin instead? help please don’t want any more of them to die ,they all have names
its a 13 gallon tank with:
3 molly
2 guppy
2platy
1swordfish
1betta
thank you so much

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day until the problem is identified or fixed. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

If the aquarium has been running for more than 2 months then clean the filter if you haven't done it in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter materials in a bucket of tank water. Do not replace any filter media. If your pet shop recommends replacing filter media every month then tell us what sort of filter you have and we can advise on how to improve it.

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Take some pictures of the fish and post them here. Set the camera's resolution to its lowest setting so the images are small enough to fit on this site. Use the camera flash and have the room light and tank light on. Have the camera on a slight angle to the glass so the camera flash reflects away from the camera and not back into the lens.

Take a number of pictures and post a couple that clearly show the issue.

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Do you know what the general hardness (GH) of your water is?
You can usually find this information on your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and ask them to test the GH for you. Write the results down in numbers when they do the test. Find out what the test results are in (eg: ppm or dGH), because they have different meanings.

Livebearers like guppies, platies, swordtails and mollies need water with a GH above 200ppm (250ppm for mollies) and a pH above 7.0.

Bettas need water with a GH below 150ppm and a pH around 7.0 or a bit lower.

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You could try using Sterazin again and you can add salt but do a big water change and gravel clean first.. You can use salt with Sterazin.

You can add rock salt (often sold as aquarium salt), sea salt or swimming pool salt to the aquarium at the dose rate of 1 heaped tablespoon per 20 litres of water. If there is no improvement after 48 hours you can double that dose rate so there is 2 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

If you only have livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, mollies), goldfish or rainbowfish in the tank you can double that dose rate, so you would add 2 heaped tablespoons per 20 litres and if there is no improvement after 48 hours, then increase it so there is a total of 4 heaped tablespoons of salt per 20 litres.

Keep the salt level like this for at least 2 weeks but no longer than 4 weeks otherwise kidney damage can occur. Kidney damage is more likely to occur in fish from soft water (tetras, Corydoras, angelfish, gouramis, loaches) that are exposed to high levels of salt for an extended period of time, and is not an issue with livebearers, rainbowfish or other salt tolerant species.

The salt will not affect the beneficial filter bacteria but the higher dose rate will affect some plants. The lower dose rate will not affect plants.

After you use salt and the fish have recovered, you do a 10% water change each day for a week. Then do a 20% water change each day for a week. Then you can do bigger water changes after that.

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the following link has some information on what to do if your fish gets sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing. I recommend printing it out and reading it in bed to help fall asleep
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/#post-3804819

 

[Alex Lautru]

Hey guys.. quick question.. couldn't find where to post this.. so i got a female platy who had babies... ive had this happen before, however i believe she is pregnant again (no males in the tank). The thing is.. she is acting and eating fine..hiding a bit more... but i noticed she has a weird sac coming out of her butt.. it doesnt look like worms.. i thought it was a sac before she pops but now im reading about parasites... help! Id like to attach a photo but i cant figure out how to do it. Keeps asking for url

 

[Alex Lautru]

Here is a photo

 

[Lajos_Detari]

hi everyone,i only recently became carer of tropical fish in a small tank compared to many as i see here in the forum
i got a 13 gallon tank in nov 2018 . i have guppy , mollies ,platy ,swordfish ,and one betta which we called him bull (always bullying the others in the beginning now it became friendly) i love guppies,they are sweet,beautiful colors and all different,one month after unfortunately we had ich in the tank and only 4weeks ago i got rid of it completely (meds and temperature) since two weeks ago again trouble we got parasite (i bought new fishes) and 4 died even after sterazin treatment which was finished on the 23rd jan . now my only two guppies and one platy are still swimming with tail down and hiding and i don’t know what to do i changed 20% of the water yesterday and im thinking if i should /can treat the water again with sterazin?maybe they have bacteria?should i try myxazin instead? help please don’t want any more of them to die ,they all have names
its a 13 gallon tank with:
3 molly
2 guppy
2platy
1swordfish
1betta
thank you so much

I will share based on my experience but I am not an expert in fish disease.

Actually, it's difficult to treat the fish without knowing which parasites that killed your fish.
Can you give us more detail about the fish sickness/symptoms?
May I suggest also that you read more about fish disease from the internet so that you can diagnose the disease more accurately?
Here are some information from the internets:

http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Disease.html

http://www.tetra-fish.com/learning-center/troubleshooting/fish-illnesses-how-to-spot-them.aspx

https://www.petmd.com/fish/conditions

https://modestfish.com/fish-disease-guide/

http://www.tropicalfishsite.com/common-tropical-fish-diseases/

Normally, I don't treat the tank for bacterial infections. It's too complicated.
You might kill the good and bad bacteria at the same time.
Also, the bacteria will become resistant to the medications after a few treatments.
I believe that as long as you keep your tank clean, you won't have problem with bacteria infection (except for Betta fin rot).
Remove the detrius(fish waste, leftover food, etc) as much as possible to keep your tank clean and do large water change once a week and you won't have problem with bacterial infection.

My experience with Sterazin is not effective and it's quite inconvenience as you have to dose it often within a week.

For "Emergency treatment against flukes invasion and you suspect flukes is the main culprit", you can use "Anti parasite, slime & velvet by Interpret".
I guess this is the most powerful medications for parasites but it's very toxic.
So, use it with extra care and do not overdose.
Wear glove, use it in a place with good air ventilation and don't breathe in the medications as it's toxic.
Take note that all medications are toxic including Sterazin.

Here is the Anti parasite, slime & velvet by Interpret:
https://www.interpet.co.uk/Products...tments/Anti-Parasite,-Slime-Velvet-Plus-100ml

Lastly, I suggest that you don't keep Betta with Guppies. Betta will kill your Guppies as they look like Betta fish with big fins and tail.
Most Betta are very aggressive and they have killer instinct. They will kill any fish that look like them.
Take note that Guppies are very vulnerable fish as they are slower and not so intelligent.
I find that it's best to keep Guppies alone based on my experience.

Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[dascrow]

Welcome aboard @tam2019 !