Help! My Fish Are Dying!

[branjie]

Hi there, I don't know what to do, and I'm hoping someone can help. Tonight I gave my community tank 2 cubes of frozen brine shrimp for tea. They have this every second night. The tank went cloudy, but normally it does that for a while after the shrimp and is o.k by the next morning. After a while I noticed it was really cloudy, and my Black Ghost Knife Fish was acting really weird. It seemed disorientated, and not swimming in the normal way. My other fish seemed to be acting a bit odd as well. I thought maybe the filter needed cleaning, and wasn't able to clear the cloudiness, so I quickly did a 25% water change to get rid of some of this cloudiness straight away, and then cleaned the filter (in a jug using tank water). Now I have a tetra that looks like it is pretty much on deaths door, and a Clown Loach that is kind of stuck in a vertical position. The others are acting unhappy, and a Molly is going around being aggressive. I don't have a master test kit. The pH is 6.8 which is normal for my tank. The only other thing that happened today is that I moved a BN catfish out of the tank and put it in with my Betta's tank. The Betta got really aggressive, and I had to put the BN catfish back in the community tank. The Betta is healthy though.

I'm upset, and don't know what to do.

 

[hives]

Can you not take a water sample to your LFS? Id suggest doing that plus if you dont see a resolution soon it might be an idea to take your fish to the lfs and maybe rebuy them when your sorted as you might end up loosing them and its easier to sort the problem out with a fishless tank!

 

[branjie]

Yes I'm planning to take a water sample to the LFS tomorrow. It's night here, it will about 14 hours before I can go there. I'll ask the shop if they think I should bring the fish in. There is also a fish doctor that I have seen in the yellow pages. I might give them a call.

 

[hives]

Yeah, probably end up charging you a fair bit, and probably tell you what you already know... no, i wouldnt bother with them.... i would try and make the tank asleast stressfull for the fish as you can untill you can get them to the LFS, I wouldnt delay though as you dont want to loose your fish, maybe put a blanket over/turn the light off the tank and keep it dark becuase they like it when there stressed.. just untill you get the chance to sort the problem out, cheers

 

[stang1]

Do another water change of about 30% to see if that helps clear it a bit. It's worth investing in a liquid test kit so that you can keep an eye on your water stats. Make sure you get your lfs to test your water to give you a better idea of your water quality.
What size tank have you got?

 

[branjie]

Well, I'm happy to say that there's been a bit of a miracle in my tank, and all but one Tetra seems to have recovered. The water is clear now, and they were all eager for breakfast when they saw me this am. I haven't had a really good look at my Black Ghost, but he seems to be acting normally from what I can tell. It looks like the filter was dirty, and not able to clear that cloudiness. I think I would have lost a fair few fish had I not realised. Now the water is clear, the fish are acting o.k. I'll call my LFS when they open, and see if I should take in a water sample. Not sure I'll be using that brine shrimp again. Thanks to those who helped .

PS Stang1 my tank is 100 Litres. I know the Black Ghost, Clown Loaches and BN catfish will have to move out when they grow. I was a newbie when I got them and didn't realise.