Bala Shark Looks Next To Death

[kevcarter]

I have tried searching around the forum for old threads but I am in a bit of a panic about one of my bala sharks and need to just ask.

I have a pair of balas in a two week old tank with a school of tetras. The tank was left to stand for a week before any fish were added and the water was treated with bactozym to speed up the cycling process, aquasafe, and easybalance. I have live plants and wooden tree roots in there too. The water levels are as follows PH6.8 KH3(2)d GH>6(2)d (<10(2)d) NO3 between 0 and 10 NO2 between 0 and 1.

One of the balas had a red streak in his fin and being new to the hobby I didnt recognise this as out of the ordinary but today I can see that his shine has gone and his eyes are dull, he also has a cotton like white band around his midsection near the red fin. The wooden roots also have a layer of similar looking cotton like fluff on them.

I have just done a 25% water change, what else can I do and what medication can I use to help the little fellas?

Please help

Thanks

Kev

 

[WILDER]

Red steaks in fins poor water quality, septicemia.
Whats your location.

 

[vinylman]

Leaving a tank to stand a week does nothing towards cycling it. Even with adding ammonia to achieve a fishless cycle, it can take two months. Sadly, you've had bad LFS advice. Unfortunately, your fish are suffering the effects of high ammonia levels; the only thing you can do to try to alleviate things is to carry out small daily water changes. Don't use Easy Balance; it's supposed to take the place of water changes, and those are exactly what you need to be doing. All you need is dechlorinator when doing the water changes. What size is the tank?.

 

[kevcarter]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I shall continue daily water changes, is that alone likely to help the sick Bala recover though?
I am extremely disappointed with Bactozyme, it clearly says on the bottle that the first fish can be added just 24 hours after treating the water and filter media with it. It would appear that advice is wide of the mark and borders on irresponsible.

I am in Redcar just outside of Middlesbrough, the tanks is 60L/16Gal. The initial plan was to start out with a small community tank in the living room to introduce my girlfriend to the hobby and then move onto a larger tank in the short-mid term but it appears we were also misinformed about the requirements of Balas in regards to tank sizes too so providing they last that long we shall be investing in a larger tank (and cycling properly) later in the year and the 60L will likely become a hospital tank.

My father was a keen aquarium keeper before he passed on and I am quite determined to get this right. It is a learning process but I would prefer to be learning without putting fish through torture.

 

[WILDER]

Anti internal bacteria med by interpet and pimafix.
Good luck.

 

[kevcarter]

Anti internal bacteria med by interpet and pimafix.
Good luck.

Treated with Pimafix today and did a 30% water change and gravel clean before hand.
This is the little fella in question, it looks quite severe

 

[WILDER]

Wow thats really bad, need a bacterial med with the pimafix.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Are the wooden tree roots real or ceramic? Live Wood should be boiled or washed with hot water to help prevent fungus from growing on it.

 

[kevcarter]

thanks for your words of advice guys but after putting up a good fight we lost the little fella today.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry bless him R.I.P.
With it being bad I would carry on with the meds, good luck.