Help, All My Fish Are Dying!

[Styric]

This is my mother's tank.

Tank was setup over two months ago, all the fish have done fine until now. They're fed every second day.

It all started when the thermometer got turned off for a weekend due to electrical issues. The fish seemed fine and I slowly heated the water back up to where it should be. Two weeks later, a glowlight started swimming upside down and backwards (basically tail first and belly up) on the bottom of the tank but would move up to the top, and had barely any tail fin left. We euthanized him after a week of no success using stress coat, aquarium salt and fed shredded pea shells to make sure it wasn't a digestive problem. The two neons died on the same day three days later with all their red color leeched. They looked like pale fish with a shimmery blue stripe.

Now my plecko has these bubble like things on his side fins that weren't there a couple days ago. There are large ones (about 2 mm in diameter) on the left fin, and tiny ones (half a mm) on his right fins.

Help! I dont have a hospital tank due to monetary issues and I dont know what to do. My mother hasn't bothered picking up a test kit and I dont have enough money =( I'm working on her, should have one in a couple of days but I fear it's too late.

Tank size: 20 gallons
pH: 7.5
tank temp: 78 degrees

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 25% once a week, doing 25% every other day now.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: only aquarium salt, nitramax when I first started the tank, and a water conditioner

Tank inhabitants: it was 5 glowlight tetras, 2 neon tetras and a plecko, but is now down to four glowlights and the plecko

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): none

Exposure to chemicals: none


Even just an idea of what could be doing it so I know what to guard against would be helpful...

Here's a shot of part of the tank itself:

 

[WILDER]

Check for signs for parasites, flicking and rubbing, the first fish who swam upside down sounds like swim bladder.
The neons are stressed or you could be dealing with ntd. Any cyst on there belly or lumps, do they still shoal, and do they look restless.

 

[Shelly_Otterkin]

Grab a clean bottle and get a water sample down to your LFS. They will do a free water check for you. Write down what they are so you can share them. Bump up your tank heat by 1 and keep up the water changes.

Was the filter turned off also? If so your tank is cycling again. Go get that water tested.

 

[WILDER]

Yes water stats would be good, thought you had said they were ok in the thread.

 

[Shelly_Otterkin]

My mother hasn't bothered picking up a test kit and I dont have enough money =( I'm working on her, should have one in a couple of days but I fear it's too late.

Tank size: 20 gallons
pH: 7.5
tank temp: 78 degrees

Volume and Frequency of water changes: 25% once a week, doing 25% every other day now.

He does not know what is going on with the water. I am waiting to here about if the filter was off. This sounds like a cycle to me.

 

[The-Wolf]

firstly your pleco is not doing "fine" it is very very immaciated (sunken belly)
I don't know what pleco you have but some need bogwood as part of their diet.
If you don't know what pleco either I suggest that you find out ASAP.
try www.planetcatfish.com to see if you can find it.

secondly
I notice that you have an airstone running in your tank
there is a disease called gas bubble disease caused by excessive airation.
this is possibly what the pleco has too.

thirdly

a glowlight started swimming upside down and backwards

sounds like a bacterial swim bladder infection.

If this was my tank i would do the following
1) 50% water change now.
2) start a course of melafix (or other anti bacterial med)
3) day 2 25% water change (remembering to redose)
4) day 5 as day 2
5) day 8 (after last dose of anti bacterial on day 7) 50% water change.

sometime during the next 7 days it is vital to get some food into the pleco and get a posative ID. I would get some live bloodworm and make sure he gets to eat them, as well as pleco wafers. Also try feeding him cucumber.

 

[WILDER]

Gas bubble desease, the bubbles are beneath the skin not on top, so if the bubbles are on top i doubt it gas bubble desease.

I would also issolate the pleco if he has a sunken in belly could be internal parasites or fish tb, check the anus to see if it's enlarged, also what does it look like when the fish goes to the toilet.
Same as wolf has said find out which pleco you are keeping.

 

[Styric]

They stopped shoaling with the glowlights like they had been and started swimming together on the other side of the tank at night. During the day, they'd stay pretty close.
The remaining glowlights are practically attatched to each other, with no stragglers.

Bogwood is impossible to find around here, though I should be able to find some about an hours drive. The cucumber I can do tonight, I'll drop a wedge in and see how he does.

The filter wasn't off, though the cold water may have very well killed the bacteria. It's plugged into its own outlet so that any failure except the actual outlet wouldn't affect it.

Tomorrow I'll drive out and see what I can find at the big fish place an hour from here. Does it have to be a specific type of wood? I'll also pick up the anti-bacterial you recommended.

And forgive any lack of knowledge, we're newbies at this. We'll take responsibility for the plecko, shouldn't have listened when they said he'd do fine with no supplementals. Was very stupid of us.

 

[tttnjfttt]

I also wanted to point out that since you have the pleco, you should not be adding salt to the water. They have a hard time tollerating salt, and will only be addingto his stress.

Also, increase how much you are feeding the pleco, he is beyond thin as Wolf pointed out.

 

[The-Wolf]

Does it have to be a specific type of wood?

yes it does. bogwood.
this is because bogwood still contains lignum
that is what the plecos (that eat wood) need in their diet.
other woods like mopani, driftwood etc may or may not contain enough lignum.

 

[Styric]

Pleco is now happily munching on a smallish slice of cucumber I put in (I know dogs will eat till they make themselves sick and I dont want him dying from eating too much, too fast), though he'd only touch it once I turned off most of the lights in the room.

What is it they actually eat in the cucumber? And how much should I give him?

The pet shop said he's a common pleco, but considering what they told Mom about the poor thing's care, I looked on that site. Looks pretty accurate, same fin shape and markings (leopard spots).

I'm also considering picking up a cheap 10 gallon tank as a quarantine tank for him to get back on his fins and feel better.

So far my shopping list is anti bacterial stuff, bogwood, pleco wafers. As for the bubbles on his fins, should the antibacterial clear that up or is there anything else I can try?

If he doesn't do better, I'll probably steal him from my mother and baby him to full health.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[TammyLiz]

Hi, thought I would chime in in case you're leaving in a couple of minutes.
I wanted to remind you to take a sample of your water to be tested like Shelly said. Ask for specific numbers on ammonia nitrite and nitrate instead of just letting them say "It's fine", and then write them down. Getting your water quality right is the most important thing you can do for sick fish.

 

[Styric]

I'm not leaving until around 2 (about 3 hours) as my fiance and I both work nights and I'm letting him get some sleep.

Thanks for the reminder though, I did almost forget.

 

[tttnjfttt]

also, where do you live? If you are in the US i would use a stronger antibiotic than melafix.

 

[Styric]

also, where do you live? If you are in the US i would use a stronger antibiotic than melafix.

Canada