Advice, encouragement, anything!

[modernhamlet]

I can’t believe how much I suck at this fish thing. I’m great at it in theory. I’ve read tons of information in the last 2 months and answered many, many forum questions (fairly accurately and well, I think). Yet I can’t do anything right when it comes to my tanks.

Right now, there are 4 rasboras left in the hospital tank (out of a total 10 when I mistakenly bought the 5 Petsmart ones). This is the one mistake I know I've made, not buying my stock from the same store and not quarantining the newcomers.

Who knows if the remaining harlequins will make it. At this point, whatever… I’m doing all I can. Obviously there is some other illness involved, but there are no symptoms, just the cotton fungus, which I’m treating with Maroxy. They seem to be looking a little better (no more cotton) after 5 days of treatment, but I may just be kidding myself.

What’s really got me upset is that I removed the rasboras and now I’ve had ammonia (.5) and nitrite (.5) readings for the last 5 days in a 29g which now ONLY HAS 4 FISH in it… up until then, my readings had always been perfect. pH between 6.5 and 6.8... No ammonia... No nitrite... 10-20ppm nitrate. I have no idea why. I do not overfeed.

The gourami are starting to act funny, resting on plants and hiding out more often. I just know they’ve got whatever the rasbora have. The SAEs are pretty much non-entities at this point too, though I at least saw one resting on a leaf today.

Basically, my life’s a mess at the moment and to top it off, I have no idea what’s wrong with my tank. I have no way of diagnosing the problem. So I can’t even have fish to cheer me up. Instead they look at me like I’m their resident torturer.

I guess I’ll just change the water everyday and cross my fingers.

Sorry to sound so whiney, I just feel really helpless right now.

 

[lucky62]

Nobody gets fish intending to have them die , but sometimes this happens ,and not a good feeling at all.
Keep changing your water , but try not to get any new fish for a while , I know how hard that can be to do " beleave me" .

My fish have gone weeks without feeding , my tanks are old and established so even though it doesn't look it they still find something to eat , I don't do this often , usually in the summer months .
I would say you could go 3 days without feeding yours.

Do you have any live plants , I would get some Java fern , very good plant that takes all it needs to live right out of the water , I leave many floating in the water.

You don't need special lighting or extra co2 . At least I never have , I had a black thumb before java fern , I bought 5 small plants several years ago and easily have 20 times that now [ scattered in 8 tanks , I beleave my fish benifit as well .

Chin up Shakespear , I couldn't tell you how many fish died under my care in the begining and even the middle .

how is your public water supply , sometimes public water may have alot of phosphates , this could add to your problems.


Hang in there , quit your belly aching , and get in line with the rest of us [ joking]

 

[tstenback]

hey modernhamlet like lucky62 said we've all been there. In 25+ years of this i have been there many a time. Entire populations wiped out or nearly wiped out. But this is when we really start to learn that no matter how much you know, nature, (read bad decision, wrong pet store, impulse buying, no quarantine...Pick one) causes this kind of thing to happen.
Your advise IS good and don't let this stop you from offering it. There are many people here who have benefitted.
Things that may cause the ammonia and nitrites... a hidden dead fish, a uneaten chunk of tubifex or other type of food. You know how to get this back in line and then to continue on. You never forget these incidents or the fish but you learn from it a move on to create something really wonderful.
Hope everything gets under control soon. Hope to read many more of your posts.

 

[lucky62]

hey modernhamlet like lucky62 said we've all been there. In 25+ years of this i have been there many a time. Entire populations wiped out or nearly wiped out. But this is when we really start to learn that no matter how much you know, nature, (read bad decision, wrong pet store, impulse buying, no quarantine...Pick one) causes this kind of thing to happen.
Your advise IS good and don't let this stop you from offering it. There are many people here who have benefitted.
Things that may cause the ammonia and nitrites... a hidden dead fish, a uneaten chunk of tubifex or other type of food. You know how to get this back in line and then to continue on. You never forget these incidents or the fish but you learn from it a move on to create something really wonderful.
Hope everything gets under control soon. Hope to read many more of your posts.

SO TRUE

 

[sinistral]

I can’t believe how much I suck at this fish thing. I’m great at it in theory. ... Yet I can’t do anything right when it comes to my tanks.

Basically, my life’s a mess at the moment and to top it off, I have no idea what’s wrong with my tank. ... I can’t even have fish to cheer me up. Instead they look at me like I’m their resident torturer.

Hi modernhamlet!

Sorry to hear things are rough with your fish. I agree with tstenback and lucky62, your posts are invariably accurate and informative. Sometimes we have a run of misfortune with fish that we can't do anything about. How's your betta doing though? Maybe you could spend more time gazing at the betta...

Also it's tough to hear that you have larger concerns with life. I hope things work out with time and your efforts to right them, with life and your fish!

 

[modernhamlet]

Thanks to all three of you for the support. I sincerely appreciate it.

Now... Time for me to stop feeling sorry for myself and go change some water.

 

[drobbins27]

Fish keeping is hard, and when an illness comes along like the one you have, its hard for even seasoned fish-keepers to keep control. IMO, you need to stay focused on your remaining fish and do your best to save them. Dont get to down on yourself, this kinda think happens to everyone. I had ICK for two weeks and I almost gave up because nothing was working. But I didnt, and now I am more interested and involved in fish-keeping then ever. I know your a smart guy, I've read your posts, you can come through this on top

Best of luck, DRob

 

[rollntider]

MH I went through this a few days before i found this thread, I had keptr fish from I was 7 until I was a teen ager and started again back in 95. So with my knowledge from my youth and going on 9 years as an adult keeping fish I was feeling the same eway you were. My wife bout a gourgess black molly back in janurary, and a few others from super petz. Well I had a huge ick out break, I treated with quick cure not realizing it would wipe out my bio filter. next thing i know my ammonio is 1.0 and nitrite is .5 after another day the readings doubled and bam I am in panic mode. I grab my PH test kit and bam i am reading 6.0, i decide to add a tad of baking soda to raise the total akalinity, the test kit had expired 3 years ago. my PH was probably fine and now i just raised my ph 1 ppm in about 2 hours my nitrites and ammonia, now my 9 year habitat is in total shambles and it is all because i didnt bother to read. i started immediatley doing water changes, and bought a new test kick and luckily my 55 only had a minor ick outbreak and i didnt mess with it. well here it is a month later and things are back to normal. I am wiser and I have about 16 years experiance keeping fish and i made a rookie mistake. I lost alot of fish but was able to keep my pleco i have had for about 4 years, i lost my wifes 2 rapheal cats and her black moore. (yeah I know she had a mollies in with the moore, she wont listen, that is how the ick was in both tanks because I put the fish in my 55 after i realized what she done.) Anyways i lost a butt load of fish and hate losing the rapheal cats they were cool, and the black moore. The moral of the story is, it is easy to make mistakes and let the tank get away from you. I used cycle and got the ammonia back to 0 within 4 to 5 days.

 

[pendragon]

Hey modernhamlet, try not to get so down on yourself. I know when it rains in life, buddy, it always seems to pour.

You're just going through a tough time. I think everyone who commits to fishkeeping goes through at least one spell like yours sooner or later. So far I've been very fortunate. Very similar to you, my sole experience in fishkeeping was a goldfish for a few years as a kid and nothing for the couple of decades since, until about three months ago. But, like you, for almost an entire year prior to getting fish I read my tail off, educated and prepared myself as best I could. I felt like I knew more about it on the front end than 95% of newbies do. I do the best I can and I have the fish's best interest in mind, and I know you do too. You're a sharp guy who's done everything your fish could ask for, and you give great advice. You're just a little down on your luck right now. Just stick with it, you'll get through it. Anything fulfilling in life is worth a few lumps on the front end.

Just hang in there, bud.

pendragon!

 

[Fresh_Start]

Keep trying, things will turn around eventually.

 

[jams.alaskan]

MH, I've truely enjoyed your posts. I think you have really come through in a pinch for a lot of folks. Wish that your tank ills were simple to solve but you'll get a grasp on it. Like some really fine forum members have stated, we've all been there. Ugh, have we... I'll be thinking about ya.

ALASKA