Fish Dying, Varying Symptoms

[otherside21]

Hi,

I've had my 60L tank for about 3/4 months now but recently over the past month, I've had a few mysterious deaths. I found a couple of my platys dead who had no symptoms but were quite lethargic for a day or so before they died, this was the only visible symptom. Two weeks ago I had thought the problem had solved, but my recently added honey gouramis have now both died, no apparent symptoms apart from little movement. I have two frogs (I am not sure what they are) one of these has died too, although I am unsure if this is related. Now one of my healthiest guppies has started to swim weirdly, his spine is curved and he is staying near the bottom. To me this sounds like swim bladder but I'm not expert! Last week I also noticed that the majority of the fishes' waste was white and stringy- indicating internal parasites? Since this was the first symptom I could explain to the fish shop, I have over the past few days, been soaking their flake food in "garlic guard". I have also cut down on the amount of food as I think I may have fed too much initially.

I have had my water tested twice recently, the results have come back clear, no problems with nitrate levels etc. I really am stuck with what's going on and am rapidly running out of fish. Any suggestions?


tank temp: 25c

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): white, stringy feces, lethargy. 1 fish has swim bladder symptoms- curved spine, staying at bottom, swimming oddly.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: every 2 weeks a 25% water change. Every month a 50% water change, filter media cleaned once a month.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: aquarium salt with every water change (have only been doing this the past month)

Tank inhabitants: 1x bulldog pleco, 4xplatys, 2xguppy, 1xfrog

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): 2x honey gourami (now dead)

Exposure to chemicals:not that I'm aware of.

I feed them flake food every other day. The plec gets a slice of boiled cucumber as he won't eat anything else. I remove this the next day.

 

[white9870]

did you cycle your tank when you had it? and if so how did you do it?

 

[otherside21]

sort of, it's actually my boyfriend's old tank. So we literally just emptied it but kept a bucket with the filter media in it to save the bacteria, moved it to my house, filled it with a bucket of his tank water and new water and then I think I left it for 2 weeks maybe? but that wouldn't of had an effect on the deaths because the tank has been fine for the 1st 2/3 months. It's only recently they've been dying, past couple of weeks.

 

[Caprichoso]

So there was no fish in it for 2 weeks but you had mature media? If yes, then the bacteria would have died off leaving you with no bacteria and essentially starting with an un cycled tank.

 

[white9870]

when you added the new water to the old water did u add it straight into the tank or did u add dechlorinator to the new water before adding it to the old water? add when you left it run for the 2 weeks, was the tank empty or was there fish on there?

 

[ZoddyZod]

a couple of things spring out here.

1 - why are you adding aquarium salt?

2 - when you clean your media, exactly how are you doing that?

3 - do you test your water for ammonia & nitrite? This part is critical.

 

[DrRob]

+1 to Zoddyzod on all 3, but I'd go one step furter and say, do a water change regardless of what results you get, at least 50%, preferably a lot more.

Whatever you're getting, something is toxic in there, but it's important to know what you're getting, to plan the next change.

 

[colleen0309]

Whenever I have fish die, the first thing I do is test the water. No matter what the results, I do a big water change. You said you do 25% water changes, every two weeks. In my very humble opinion, that is not enough. 30% every week is about right. Personally, I do 50% a week and 85% once a month with a good gravel vac and filter rinse. I'm not saying you are wrong and I am right, but this method has not failed me yet and I've been doing water changes like this for 10+ years. You did real good keeping the filter media wet during the transfer, just like you are supposed to. But you let the bacteria colony die by not feeding it for two weeks. If you don't have a liquid test kit, please get one. It's so much easier testing your own water and not having to depend on the lfs. Since you had a bacteria die off, your filter probably was not cycled, which led to poor water quality. Now you are seeing the results. Please either test your water for ammonia and nitrites, or have your lfs do it. Get the actual numbers. Get the nitrates tested too. This will help us help you. If your water tests show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 20 - 40 nitrates, we will have to look in another direction for a solution to your problem.
Now, you said you are using aquarium salt. Why? Salt could be the reason why you lost a frog. The frogs and pleco are salt sensitive. Hope this helps, even a little.

 

[otherside21]

white9870- i added dechlorinator to the new water. The tank was empty for two weeks.

Zoddyzod-

1- why are you adding aquarium salt? I was told it promotes disease recovery and is a stress reducer

2 - when you clean your media, exactly how are you doing that? I clean it in the water which I am emptying, just by hand and squeeze the sponges.

3 - do you test your water for ammonia & nitrite? This part is critical- I have tested the water myself with kits several times, and have also had a professional shop do a couple of water tests, they have all come back fine. I have just done another test- levels of No3 & No2 are both safe, as are GH, KH, Ph & Cl2. This is why I am confused, the water results are all coming back as healthy levels of chemicals. I think it may be something else but I'm new to this so I don't know. I don't have the results from the proper shop test, as they came back with no problems and healthy levels.

Thank you for your help so far, it looks as though I should be changing a bit more water, and thank you colleen0309, I wasn't aware the frog and pleco were salt sensitive.

 

[colleen0309]

Glad I could help, even if it was just a little

 

[otherside21]

I don't think the problem is solved, can anyone offer me any help?

It's not the levels of nitrate or anything in the water. Is there a possibility of there being something toxic in the water that won't come up on a water test? I am struggling to think of what else could be wrong. My guppy with swim bladder symptoms is now dead, my last guppy is now displaying symptoms of swim bladder and one of my platys is rather lethargic. Which I'm assuming means they are going to die soon. I've just done a 50% water change and I have not added aquarium salt to this one! but I don't want to lose any more fish. Please help!

 

[DrRob]

I'd have gone for an 80-90% water change. If you have something in the tank that the test kits can't detect then even a 90% change will only drop it to a tenth of it's obviously lethal dose.

With normal numbers I start looking for other causes as well. Has anyone been anywhere near the tank with any other chemicals? Air fresheners, cleaning products and such like are occasional culprits. As are the obvious things like fly sprays.

 

[otherside21]

Thanks for your reply DrRob

Oh dear, it sounds like I won't be able to do much to stop it then? Even if I do the 90% water change it may not rid the toxicity? I think I'm going to do the water change anyway as I want to give the fish the best chance possible.

The tank is in my room so it is possible that sprays or cleaning products could have got near the tank. I will have to be more careful in future.

If all my fish die, what would be the next step for me to make the tank able to take fish again? Change 90% of the water & leave the tank for a while?

 

[ParadiseGuerrero]

if it is a chemical of sorts thats in your tank you can do more than one 90% water change to lower the consentration-

 

[the_lock_man]

I have just done another test- levels of No3 & No2 are both safe,

Can you give actual levels for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, rather than "safe"? To be honest, the only safe reading is 0.

By the way, do you ever go to the 2 fish shops in Hove (one in Portland Road, opposite the school, the other in Boundary Road just up from the railway)? I keep nagging the missus to let me have a look round, but she keeps telling me that we're only in Hove to visit her parents. Tsk.