Eight fish dead within two days

[dixaisy930]

I have a 60 gallon tank that has been set up for a little over six months. I've never had so much as ich in the tank, and then yesterday morning I find six dead fish (two neons, banjo catfish, a very small angel, kuhli loach, and a danio). This morning I found a platy and another danio dead.

Water perimeters: ammonia and nitrite are both at zero. I don't have a nitrate test kit, but have noticed a little more algae in my tank than usual.

This morning I noticed two of my mollies have white, cotton-like stuff around their mouths (actually just one has the white stuff, but both look like their mouths are "stuck" open). I've looked very closely at everyone else, and haven't seen either symptom on any of them. No odd behaviors from any other fish...everyone else is eating fine, and as active as they normally are. I have two ottos in my tank, and they are doing fine as well (I've always been under the impress they are very sensitive fish).

I'm pretty sure the two mollies have mouth fungus, so I added PimaFix to the water about 30 minutes ago. Would mouth fungus kill this quickly? For the past four days I haven't been inspecting my fish as closely as I usually do, so this may have been going on longer than just a day or so.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[aloaring]

Hmm seems strange that it should go wrong so quickly especialy with ammonia and nitrate at 0. Have you done anything different recently? have you checked that everything is working. Could any chemicals get in the water? are you sure the teat kits are working properly? How many fish were in the tank? were you overstocked? How often are you doing water changes. Sorry about so many questions but its the only way people can help you. Sorry about your losses hopefully we can stop anymore! !

 

[dixaisy930]

Well, I don't think I'm over-stocked...the fish left are one angel, two ottos, five neons, three mollies, four danios, two khulis, two platys, and one krib.

The tank is in the living room, and we never use any cleaners or ect around it just for the reason.

Water changes are about once every two weeks, and I change around 35-40% of the water.

I thought my test kits my not be working properly either, so yesterday I bought a new ammonia and nitrite test kits and still got 0 for both.

I did get one of the mollies and two of the platys about two weeks ago. They seemed fine and healthy then...no signs of any disease. Would they have brought something with them? But would it have taken that long to infect the others?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi dixaisy930

It sounds like you have a bacterial infection going in your tank. While some strains of harmful bacteria move slowly, others can spread quickly to infect and kill.

As a first measure, do a substantial water change and gravel vacuuming. Gradually reduce the temperature to no higher than 75 degrees F. Add an airstone, if you don't already have one, to increase oxygen content in the water. These measures will, if possible, slow the reproduction of the harmful bacteria by making conditions less favorable for their growth.

If you have MelaFix, you might want to try it, but if it doesn't bring major improvement in a day or two, go right to the heavy duty meds. Since you already have a number of deaths, you might want to skip the MelaFix and use either Kanamycin ( sold as Kanacyn or KanaPlex) or both Maracyn AND Maracyn 2 in combination.

Good luck an I hope your fish get well soon.

 

[dixaisy930]

I have sand in the tank, and just did a sand "skimming" about a week ago...should I do another one?

I already put PimaFix in...should I add MelaFix too? It says they can be used together, and in my ten gallon I've used them together with no problems.

Thanks for the help...

How do I tell the difference between bateria infections and fungal?

I have amano and ghost shrimp in there right now, and I'm concerned that any harsh medication might harm them or the khulis and ottos...any thoughts?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi dixaisy930

I am going to give you a link that will answer your questions about the disease very well. Take a look at this:

http/www.aquamaniacs.net/flex.html

Since bacteria consume uneaten food and fish wastes, removing sediment at the bottom of the tank will help slow their reproduction.

MelaFix is a mild antibacterial agent and might or might not work against the strain of bacteria in your tank since it seems quite strong. As for your shrimp and other fish, I suggest that you look for a toll free phone number for the company that makes whichever medication you choose and contact the manufacturer directly for information about how it will effect them. Since there are several different species involved, this is the safest thing to do, IMHO.

 

[dixaisy930]

Thanks for all the help...that web-site was really helpful...thank you so much. I didn't think their water was that "dirty", but something must have caused the outbreak. I cleaned the filter intake (I didn't realize how icky it had gotten) and the filters were pretty gunked up (I rinsed them in dechlorinated water...hopefully I didn't loose alot of the beneficial bacteria).

For now I'm going to try the Melafix/PimaFix combo...that's worked well for me in the past...and if things get worse in the next 24 hours, or don't start clearing up soon, I have some Maracyn or Maracyn-2 if I need something a little stronger.

Thanks again for all of the help.

P.S. It said one cause is low O2...I always worry about this since my tank is deep. No one has red gills, gasping for air at surface, or has irregular breathing. If I did have low O2 concentration, would they be showing these signs as well?

 

[ozone]

hi all,

when i first started with tropicals i bought some platies, with in a few days i had serious problems with bacteria. i sought advice and started reading,,i found the fish had''columnaris bacteria'' which i treated with a general bacteria tonic daily until all signs had gone and for good measure carried on for another few days to be safe.

colomnaris symptoms are; white lips,white edge scales and it will spread with-in hours and kill nearly as quickly. towards the end for my fish they also started showing signs of dis-orientation and swimming problems.

i understand that this is a common ailment for 'livebeares' such as mollies, guppies and platies, but as with anything bacterial it needs prompt attention.

hope this helps, good luck with remaining fish,

john

 

[Inchworm]

P.S. It said one cause is low O2...I always worry about this since my tank is deep. No one has red gills, gasping for air at surface, or has irregular breathing. If I did have low O2 concentration, would they be showing these signs as well?

Hi dixaisy930

It's possible that there is adequate oxygen for the fish, but not so much that it keeps the bacteria from flourishing.

If you have checked out all the possible causes and cannot find any clear reason for their illnesses, you might just have to consider this one of those things that sometimes happens to all living things. Disease causing bacteria are always present in our tanks, just as they are in our environment. Just as some of us will catch a cold or even a fatal virus and others won't, some fish will just get sick.

If you are in any doubt about the oxygen content, adding an airstone or turning up your filter to create more surface movement will help a lot.

 

[Inchworm]

when i first started with tropicals i bought some platies, with in a few days i had serious problems with bacteria. i sought advice and started reading,,i found the fish had''columnaris bacteria'' which i treated with a general bacteria tonic daily until all signs had gone and for good measure carried on for another few days to be safe.

Hi ozone

You did the right thing, especially by treating them a little longer than required. With bacteria, if the treatment doesn't completely cure the fish, it's possible for the remaining bacteria to mutate and become a strain that the medicine will no longer be able to eliminate. This is the same reason that a doctor will tell you to take all the medicine in certain prescriptions, even though you feel better.

I recommended certain meds for her fish based on the fact that she lives in the US and we have different things available to us. If she lived in the UK, like you do, I would have probably suggested either Tetra Medica Tonic for bacterial infections, or Waterlife’s Myxazin or Interpet’s AntiFungus and Finrot.

 

[ozone]

thanks inchworm,

its nice to get a positive response on the things we do.

you are right in your treatment as well, i did use waterlife myxazin.

recently i have started using 'Kusuri' products that i have used with great sucess on my koi ponds.there are 2 main items i use in aquarium, 1, is kusuri parazoryne for all parasitic infections and kusuri sabactisum for all bacterial infections.

both these treatments are organically grown plant and herbal extracts so do not harm fish , filters or sensative creatures like shrimp, crabs or fry.

i have had excellent results with these products in the past and will continue to use them in the future.
john

 

[dixaisy930]

Unfortunately I lost the two mollys this morning. It seemed like they were pretty far along, since I didn't catch it soon enough. So far, no one else is showing signs. So hopefully if I keep treating for a week or so, I'll have this over with.

Thanks again for all of the help.

 

[dixaisy930]

Good news, no deaths this morning, and everyone is acting and looking just fine.

As long as I don't loose anyone else, I think I'll keep treating for four or five more days, do another partial water change, and treat for another few days.

 

[MissClaire]

Im having the same problem this week, Ive lost 3 rummys, a bristlenose from popeye and a neon.
All water tests are fine.
Im going to do a large water change tonight and syphon gravel. I might have this bacteria problem as well
I cant turn the temp down though because of the discus?