Floating Fish

[Ant_Soton]

Hi all, got a floating fish (Male Guppy). At first i thought he was dead but when i went to the tank, he swam away.

Help, whats wrong with him?? And what do i need to do ??

Thanks peeps !!

 

[Jenste]

You came to the right forum...
in order to help we need you to answer these questions:
how long has your tank been set up?
when did you last change the water?
Do you have a test kit? - knowing the values of Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate are very important!!!!

How large is the tank?
any other fish? if so what kinds and how many of each?
any other fish acting odd?

 

[Ant_Soton]

Worse than i thought, on closer inspection, two dead fish, one danio and one male guppy. The one that was swimming stangely has since died and i noticed another male guppy with rotting fins so i have taken him out. Anyway, back to saving the rest of my fish !!

 

[Jenste]

Hi Ant, we would love to help but you haven't answered any of the questions

The responses to the questions help us figure out where your problems are so we can help get you on track to remedying them to save the rest of your fish

 

[Ant_Soton]

Hi, sorry, was busy trying to save the poor little buggers.

Tanks has been going for three weeks now. First week, just left to settle and added bacteria etc to activate filter.

Week two got 5 danios and 2 corrys. Then last thursday got 6 male guppies. Up until today, i had cleaned the tank and done a third water change once. Have been feeding the fish a small amount every two days.

So far today, 2 dead male guppies and a dead danio !! Another very sick looking guppy with only a few little stands left of his tail. I've disposed of dead fish, done a third water change and vaccumed gravel. I've also taken the sick fish out the tank and keeping him in a biwl for now until i get get to the aquarium place to get something to treat the fish. Its bout 40 litre tank

Oh, and have not got any water testing kits or have not had water tested. I will do today though

 

[Louiseness]

Oh, and have not got any water testing kits or have not had water tested. I will do today though

Yep, water test kits are the first thing you should do. I'd suspect your water parameters are quite bad as you're essentially doing a fish-in cycle with quite a high number of fish and one water change in three weeks which isn't good

Secondly, read up on fish-in cycling in the beginners resource centre and do at least 50% water changes a day until you get you're kit, then you'll know what you're dealing with a bit more clearly

 

[Ant_Soton]

Well, had water tested and its the nitrite level that's really high and the fish had a bacterial infection so i've just treated the fish for that. I've been advised to do a 25% water change tomorrow and a 10% change every day for a week after!

Oh, and one other question, is the water supposed to turn green with the Tetra general tonic in it?

 

[Blubble37]

it sounds like you have finrot in your tank, buy the medication (interpet does a very good one) and treat the WHOLE TANK! Do not remove fish unless dead. Run the finrot treatment for 7 days then redose. IF THE MEDICATION IS TO WORK YOU WILL NEED TO RTEMOVE ANY CARBON AND ZEOLITE MEDIA IN YOUR TANK If fish look better and are cured from finrot, then treat the tank with a general antibacterial for about 10 days. If your fish are showing signs of dropsy, follow the antibacterial course with a anti slime and velvet treatment( again, the interpet one works best in this case). Using the anti slime and velvet has actually cured all my fish that got dropsy and they now live happy, healthy lives.

If you dont know what to look for in dropsy, the common signs are

-Swollen fish.
-Fish scales stick out so far they look like pinecones
-Lethargic

Dropsy often comes after another illness.

If you are looking for a test kit then the API Master test kit is a good choice

Good luck in fishkeeping,

Blubble-37
Close but not quite alive.

 

[Ant_Soton]

In a way i wish i'd never started keeping fish again. I just can't afford to keep the fish with all these treatments, tester kits etc !!
I kept tropical fish for years in Zimbabwe with great sucess and never did all these water changes etc and fish were very health and happy. Had a Tyre track eel that had white spot and that whiped out nearly our whole tank but other than that, never had any problems.
Fish seem a lot more difficult to keep here. I wander what it is? The water??

 

[Blubble37]

perhaps you just didnt set it up in the right way, once all this has settled down the only costs will be food and water conditioner unless something else springs up. perhaps as well it is because you arent running a fully cycled tank either...

 

[Ant_Soton]

Another question. If a fish has lost it tail due to fin rot. Is it a goner or can it be saved??
In fact another couple. Is it common for male guppies to fight? I've never had probs with guppies fighting before !!
Thanks for all your help and advice peeps

 

[Blubble37]

sometimes the tail will grow back, unfortunately this is mainly not the case. Dont know about the guppies.

 

[Ant_Soton]

Thanks Bubble.

Anyone know bout the guppies? Do males often fight as i've never come across it before !!

 

[Blubble37]

thinking about it, if there are 2 males in a environment with only 1 or less females they will probably fight.

 

[Ant_Soton]

There were six guppies, now three !! All male