A Newbie Needing Help

[michaela123d]

Hi to all, I'm new to this forum and I suppose like some have now joined because I have a problem. It;s great to find somewhere like this on the net.
I have just returned from a weeks holiday to discover major problems in my 125L tank. I'm not particularly new to tropical fish but not particularly clued up on the breeds. Anyway in my tank were a number of dead fish (about 5). Also my catfish which I think from looking at the photos are featherfin squeakers. I have two and they are quite big - about 5" long. Also in my tank are about 7 danios, 1 pearl gourami, 3 guppies and a couple of other 'not sure what they are' fish. I immediately did a water test and the results were as follows:
Amonia 0
PH 7.0
Nitrites 0
Nitrate 80+
Things you should know: I left my fish with a 7 day pyramid feeding block. I had introduced two new tetras about two weeks before going away (they were among the casualties).
My big concern is my ctafish who both have a 'mouldy like' appearance with a furry film all over them including their eyes.
I called my fish shop who advised a 50% water change immediately, also if I chose, to use an Aqua-Detox pouch which I now have in my Fluval filter. They advised that the catfish are probably stressed and the 'film'covering them is their form of defence. They have suggested that I do a further water change tomorrow and hopefully the catfishes condition will improve. One of the Catfish is suspended upside down at the top of the tank which is unusual as neither come out when the light is on usually. Really I would be grateful for any advice as to what else I can do and why this happened in the first place. Many many thanks in advance.



lm.

 

[phil140701]

Hi to all, I'm new to this forum and I suppose like some have now joined because I have a problem. It;s great to find somewhere like this on the net.
I have just returned from a weeks holiday to discover major problems in my 125L tank. I'm not particularly new to tropical fish but not particularly clued up on the breeds. Anyway in my tank were a number of dead fish (about 5). Also my catfish which I think from looking at the photos are featherfin squeakers. I have two and they are quite big - about 5" long. Also in my tank are about 7 danios, 1 pearl gourami, 3 guppies and a couple of other 'not sure what they are' fish. I immediately did a water test and the results were as follows:
Amonia 0
PH 7.0
Nitrites 0
Nitrate 80+
Things you should know: I left my fish with a 7 day pyramid feeding block. I had introduced two new tetras about two weeks before going away (they were among the casualties).
My big concern is my ctafish who both have a 'mouldy like' appearance with a furry film all over them including their eyes.
I called my fish shop who advised a 50% water change immediately, also if I chose, to use an Aqua-Detox pouch which I now have in my Fluval filter. They advised that the catfish are probably stressed and the 'film'covering them is their form of defence. They have suggested that I do a further water change tomorrow and hopefully the catfishes condition will improve. One of the Catfish is suspended upside down at the top of the tank which is unusual as neither come out when the light is on usually. Really I would be grateful for any advice as to what else I can do and why this happened in the first place. Many many thanks in advance.



lm.

Can you get any pictures of them this may help identify your problem easier as a lot of illnesses look similar, Featherfin squeaker or to give it it's correct name synodontis eupterus

 

[michaela123d]

Hi to all, I'm new to this forum and I suppose like some have now joined because I have a problem. It;s great to find somewhere like this on the net.
I have just returned from a weeks holiday to discover major problems in my 125L tank. I'm not particularly new to tropical fish but not particularly clued up on the breeds. Anyway in my tank were a number of dead fish (about 5). Also my catfish which I think from looking at the photos are featherfin squeakers. I have two and they are quite big - about 5" long. Also in my tank are about 7 danios, 1 pearl gourami, 3 guppies and a couple of other 'not sure what they are' fish. I immediately did a water test and the results were as follows:
Amonia 0
PH 7.0
Nitrites 0
Nitrate 80+
Things you should know: I left my fish with a 7 day pyramid feeding block. I had introduced two new tetras about two weeks before going away (they were among the casualties).
My big concern is my ctafish who both have a 'mouldy like' appearance with a furry film all over them including their eyes.
I called my fish shop who advised a 50% water change immediately, also if I chose, to use an Aqua-Detox pouch which I now have in my Fluval filter. They advised that the catfish are probably stressed and the 'film'covering them is their form of defence. They have suggested that I do a further water change tomorrow and hopefully the catfishes condition will improve. One of the Catfish is suspended upside down at the top of the tank which is unusual as neither come out when the light is on usually. Really I would be grateful for any advice as to what else I can do and why this happened in the first place. Many many thanks in advance.



lm.

Can you get any pictures of them this may help identify your problem easier as a lot of illnesses look similar, Featherfin squeaker or to give it it's correct name synodontis eupterus

 

[michaela123d]

Hi and thanks for your quick reply. I have taken a photo of one of the catfish but I don't know how to attach it to show it to you. Can you help please?

 

[phil140701]

Hi and thanks for your quick reply. I have taken a photo of one of the catfish but I don't know how to attach it to show it to you. Can you help please?

if you email it to me i'll get it on the forum for you my email is removed(disposable one to stop spam bots)

 

[michaela123d]

Hi and thanks for your quick reply. I have taken a photo of one of the catfish but I don't know how to attach it to show it to you. Can you help please?

if you email it to me i'll get it on the forum for you my email is petovey@btinternet.com(disposable one to stop spam bots)

Cheers Phil - I've just sent you an e-mail.

 

[phil140701]

Hi and thanks for your quick reply. I have taken a photo of one of the catfish but I don't know how to attach it to show it to you. Can you help please?

if you email it to me i'll get it on the forum for you my email is petovey@btinternet.com(disposable one to stop spam bots)

Cheers Phil - I've just sent you an e-mail.

On looking at the photo i'm unsure weather it's an advanced form of whitespot/ich or columnaris
Phil

 

[Assaye]

Could be very severe whiespot, hard to tell.

Could also be a fungus, too much slime coat or columnaris. Unforunately, we can't suggest treatment until we know exactly what it is. What you can do, however, is keep testing your water and make sure you do 50% water changes every day for a week or so. This should help keep the nitrates down (not too much of a problem, but to be on the safe side) and will keep a flow of fresh water which should help the fish perk up and will hlp dilute any un-testable toxins or pathogens in the water.

In terms of why this could have happened, I have two theories:

1) The neons brought a disease into the tank, which manifested itself after you went away.

2) The feeding block caused a massive ammonia spike which the filter eventually was able to handle (hence the water being OK when you got back but would be why the nitrates are rather high). This would have easily killed off your fish.

It doesn't help you now, but I would avoid using those holiday feeders. Healthy fish can go for a week without food easily and if you need to go away for longer, measure out little cap-fuls of food and leave them on the side, and get a friend to feed them once or twice while you are away.

 

[michaela123d]

Could be very severe whiespot, hard to tell.

Could also be a fungus, too much slime coat or columnaris. Unforunately, we can't suggest treatment until we know exactly what it is. What you can do, however, is keep testing your water and make sure you do 50% water changes every day for a week or so. This should help keep the nitrates down (not too much of a problem, but to be on the safe side) and will keep a flow of fresh water which should help the fish perk up and will hlp dilute any un-testable toxins or pathogens in the water.

In terms of why this could have happened, I have two theories:

1) The neons brought a disease into the tank, which manifested itself after you went away.

2) The feeding block caused a massive ammonia spike which the filter eventually was able to handle (hence the water being OK when you got back but would be why the nitrates are rather high). This would have easily killed off your fish.

It doesn't help you now, but I would avoid using those holiday feeders. Healthy fish can go for a week without food easily and if you need to go away for longer, measure out little cap-fuls of food and leave them on the side, and get a friend to feed them once or twice while you are away.

 

[michaela123d]

Thanks for all your help. A water change today showed that Nitrate levels although lower are still too high (@40) Another visit to my local fish shop today armed with camera produced similar advice, to both you and Phil, I have been sold eSHa 2000 fungus, finrot and bacteria treatment, my tank is 125litres and I have put in the recomended dosage of approx 31 drops for day 1 with another water change planned tomorrow then 16 drops and a further 16 the day after, I wasn't sure if I should up the dosage as it does say on the instructions enclosed in the box that for advanced disease you can do this?. (advice needed here)
I will probably lose at least two of the little platties (which I think i keep calling guppies!)also one of the catfish is looking much worse than the other. Thanks also for your theories on cause. I feel so bad about this anything I can do to help these poor fish I will. I know I'll never use a holiday feeder again. I checked all the levels before I went away and all was well.

 

[phil140701]

Thanks for all your help. A water change today showed that Nitrate levels although lower are still too high (@40) Another visit to my local fish shop today armed with camera produced similar advice, to both you and Phil, I have been sold eSHa 2000 fungus, finrot and bacteria treatment, my tank is 125litres and I have put in the recomended dosage of approx 31 drops for day 1 with another water change planned tomorrow then 16 drops and a further 16 the day after, I wasn't sure if I should up the dosage as it does say on the instructions enclosed in the box that for advanced disease you can do this?. (advice needed here)
I will probably lose at least two of the little platties (which I think i keep calling guppies!)also one of the catfish is looking much worse than the other. Thanks also for your theories on cause. I feel so bad about this anything I can do to help these poor fish I will. I know I'll never use a holiday feeder again. I checked all the levels before I went away and all was well.

personally i'd stick to whats recommended as higher doses whilst may help your poorly ones may make the other fish more suseptable to whatever the problem is at present. i would also suggest you get some aquarium salt (NOT TABLE as this contains iodine which is bad for fish) and maybe give the worst effected fish a salt bath which may help with the healing process
Phil

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum Michaela. I am going to move this post to the tropical emergencies section where the people who are more knowledgeable in fish diseases tend to hang out.

 

[michaela123d]

Thanks for all your help. A water change today showed that Nitrate levels although lower are still too high (@40) Another visit to my local fish shop today armed with camera produced similar advice, to both you and Phil, I have been sold eSHa 2000 fungus, finrot and bacteria treatment, my tank is 125litres and I have put in the recomended dosage of approx 31 drops for day 1 with another water change planned tomorrow then 16 drops and a further 16 the day after, I wasn't sure if I should up the dosage as it does say on the instructions enclosed in the box that for advanced disease you can do this?. (advice needed here)
I will probably lose at least two of the little platties (which I think i keep calling guppies!)also one of the catfish is looking much worse than the other. Thanks also for your theories on cause. I feel so bad about this anything I can do to help these poor fish I will. I know I'll never use a holiday feeder again. I checked all the levels before I went away and all was well.

personally i'd stick to whats recommended as higher doses whilst may help your poorly ones may make the other fish more suseptable to whatever the problem is at present. i would also suggest you get some aquarium salt (NOT TABLE as this contains iodine which is bad for fish) and maybe give the worst effected fish a salt bath which may help with the healing process
Phil

Hello again Phil, I have some aquarium salt so I'll give it a go. Sadly one of the catfish (the one in the photo) died last night Nitrates are still showing as high so I've done another 50% water change this eveningand added more treatment. The other catfish has started hiding away in in log again and is looking a little better, so fingers crossed. I'll let you know how he is in a coule of days. Thanks for all your help and advice.

Welcome to the forum Michaela. I am going to move this post to the tropical emergencies section where the people who are more knowledgeable in fish diseases tend to hang out.

Thanks very much, I was thinking that it really needed to be in a different category but as a newbie wasn't sure if I could do this. I have had a huge amount of help from two of the members of this forum and I'm so pleased I joined. Sadly one of the catfish died last night, the other is looking much better though.