Help Me Please

[deftuch]

Hi there i have a well established 260 litre tank. However i have been battling cloudy water recently. Now my clown loach has become ill with white spot. Its impossible to catch without massively desturbing the tank. I feel my best shot is to maintain the best water quality possible. I would like to know the max amount of water i can change and how often? I was thinking 20 to 30 percent a day for 5 days? Help please. Lol

 

[Prime Ordeal]

A reading of ammonia would help to tell you how much you need to change, but without that I'd do 50% now and 50% tomorrow, then 20% daily. Without a test kit you won't know when the problem has been properly overcome.

It's almost certainly going to be elevated ammonia and you need to find out why it's elevated. Have you ha a fish death, not been keeping up your tank maintenance? Are you overstocked, is there rotting vegetation etc. etc?

 

[TomShootsPhoto]

I agree with Prime Ordeal on water changes. Maybe I'd change 70% then 50% and then 20%.
The only way to catch clown loaches is to corner them and/or get a net and an other object and use the object to chase them into the net.
Good luck!

 

[deftuch]

Last time i checked the water was 2 weeks ago and everything was fine. I woudnt say im overstocked. Ive done eveything right so far. And have changed water weekly. I do have about 5 or 6 rotting leaves. But mainly due to them being eat instead of dying natural. I remove as many deadbleaves as i can. I have been treating my water with caribsea biomagnetbfor the past week But if Nything it has made it worse? My clown loach has only started showing symptoms today. I have been adding one bit of cucumber daily for 2 days. Removing leftovers. I must admit. 2 guppys went missing presumed eaten. But i fished thek out after 2 weeks. They still looked fresh though? I just did 50 litre change. And will do 50 tomoro. Then 20 percent for how long?

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Last time i checked the water was 2 weeks ago and everything was fine. I woudnt say im overstocked. Ive done eveything right so far. And have changed water weekly. I do have about 5 or 6 rotting leaves. But mainly due to them being eat instead of dying natural. I remove as many deadbleaves as i can. I have been treating my water with caribsea biomagnetbfor the past week But if Nything it has made it worse? My clown loach has only started showing symptoms today. I have been adding one bit of cucumber daily for 2 days. Removing leftovers. I must admit. 2 guppys went missing presumed eaten. But i fished thek out after 2 weeks. They still looked fresh though? I just did 50 litre change. And will do 50 tomoro. Then 20 percent for how long?

Until your filter can cope with the bioload and keeps your ammonia at zero for you. But if you don't have a test kit to check the level of ammonia with you won't know when to stop water changes.

 

[deftuch]

Yes i see. Well i have run out of tap water conditioner so was planning a trip to my local store. Il get some proper test kits i think

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Yes i see. Well i have run out of tap water conditioner so was planning a trip to my local store. Il get some proper test kits i think

That would be a very wise move. It'll make your job and the fish's lives much easier.

 

[deftuch]

Yes i see. Well i have run out of tap water conditioner so was planning a trip to my local store. Il get some proper test kits i think

That would be a very wise move. It'll make your job and the fish's lives much easier.

i tested the water today and it has somewhere between 0 and 0.25 ammonia. i would say i am truly baffled. how can my water still be cloudy. even after a 50 percent change yesterday and today. and on top of that i have been using caribsea biomagnet to help clear it. no improvement. the white spot has spread to other fish. how can i add white spot treatment without killing all the friendly bacteria?

 

[Prime Ordeal]

Stop using the biomagnet, it's completely unnecessary.

If this is a bacteria bloom, and given the elevated ammonia reading I'd say it is, then it will clear naturally on its own eventually. Just make sure your tank is well aerated as it can use up a lot of oxygen.

I think you really need to give the tank a good clean out. Do a very thorough gravel clean, clean the filter media (gently) and remove all dead plant matter and any muck that has built up on ornaments and plants.

Make sure you use a dechlorinator that detoxifies ammonia with each water change and also squirt a little bit in whenever you clean the tank thoroughly.

 

[deftuch]

i always vaccuum the gravel and dechlorinate. i think your right though. must just be a bacterial bloom. all my fish have always been very active. even though 3 of my fish are suffering from disease. they are still very active. is there much chance of curing the white spot simply by cleaning gravel, changing water, adding salt and raising the temp. and how can i add white spot treatment without killing all the friendly bacteria? am i suppose to remove the filters and put into a different cycled tank while i treat? because all anyone says is remove the carbon? does this mean the filters wont be effected if i remove the carbon and simply put it back in after the treatment is finished? i dont get it?

 

[Prime Ordeal]

How big is your tank and how many fish do you have in it?

If you have any carbon in your filter then remove it completely.

You can kill white spot just by raising the temperature to 31C, although I'm not suggesting that you do as your fish may not tolerate it. But you should be able to raise the temp to 28C and gradually add salt and then the medication. The medication shouldn't affect your filter bacteria...which one are you using?

 

[deftuch]

I have a 260 lire tNk and currently have 23 fish in it now. 4 are raboras and 5 are guppys. So there all very light waste producers. Im using the vey beay white spot treatment. Its blue liquid. I thought it did kill your bacteria. Why do you have to remove carbon then?

 

[Fishy friend2]

It would be good to know the exact fish you have as you stated that you have light waste producing fish. I wouldn't consider a clown loach a light weight producing fish. the main cause of white spot is from stress, with such a small tank and I'm guessing that you don't have a proper school either. Then that could be your main cause, it might be a bit better if you could work hard on finding a new, and better home for them than you can provide for now.
Also carbon will remove any medications, so when using it, in a tank that is currently In the process of being treated, It will make the medications useless

 

[Prime Ordeal]

I have a 260 lire tNk and currently have 23 fish in it now. 4 are raboras and 5 are guppys.

Yes, but what are the other14 fish and how big are they?

So there all very light waste producers.

Im using the vey beay white spot treatment. Its blue liquid.

Have you spelt that right? Vey beay? I've never heard of it.

I thought it did kill your bacteria. Why do you have to remove carbon then?

The carbon removes medication from the water, so you have to remove it when you medicate.

It would be good to know the exact fish you have as you stated that you have light waste producing fish. I wouldn't consider a clown loach a light weight producing fish. the main cause of white spot is from stress, with such a small tank and I'm guessing that you don't have a proper school either. Then that could be your main cause, it might be a bit better if you could work hard on finding a new, and better home for them than you can provide for now.
Also carbon will remove any medications, so when using it, in a tank that is currently In the process of being treated, It will make the medications useless

I know you Texans like to think big but I wouldn't call a 260 litre tank small!

 

[Fishy friend2]

its small compared to a clown loaches standars,
next time ill ype smaller