Help Read Please

[BrandonFNN]

I have a 20 gallon aquarium with 6 GloFish Tetras and 1 GloFish Shark


The past 3 months two fish have died and another one is on its way to death shortly and a few other fish. I went to the pet store a couple months ago and they told me I have high nitrates, I purchased Prime by Seachem to help with the nitrates and Bacterial Infection Remedy for my fish, that didn’t seem to work so I was told to buy Parasite Remedy because that’s what the pet store thought was wrong with my fish and here I am 3 months later with no improvement and my fish are getting worse every day. I have done many more water changes since.


Please someone help me diagnose and treat my fish.

I would like to mention that sometimes there is Red small spots on the fish (they look like small cuts) it happens when another fish is starting to get this disease or when it’s spreading to another area on the fish then the red spot disappears shortly after and ends up looking like this in the pictures [GloFish Pictures](https://i.imgur.com/cQntiEo.jpg) if you need another picture let me know pls thanks

 

[Metalhead88]

How often do you change your water? What type of filter do you have and how often and how exactly do you clean it?

What are your other readings? Ammonia, PH, Nitrate, etc.

How long has this tank been set up?

Prime should be used as a conditioner, not as a remedy for high readings.

I cant tell by the pictures what you have going on, looks like scrapes or battle wounds from the picture.

I googled "glofish shark" and came up with a rainbow shark that glows in the dark. Is that right? Those fish would greatly benefit from a bigger tank and will potentially kill your tetras.

 

[BrandonFNN]

How often do you change your water? What type of filter do you have and how often and how exactly do you clean it?

What are your other readings? Ammonia, PH, Nitrate, etc.

How long has this tank been set up?

Prime should be used as a conditioner, not as a remedy for high readings.

I cant tell by the pictures what you have going on, looks like scrapes or battle wounds from the picture.

I googled "glofish shark" and came up with a rainbow shark that glows in the dark. Is that right? Those fish would greatly benefit from a bigger tank and will potentially kill your tetras.

How often do you change your water? twice a week What type of filter do you have and how often and how exactly do you clean it? Aqueon QuietFlow E Interal Power and i take it apart once in awhile to clean everything off. How long has this tank been set up? Almost 2 years. Would you like to see a video of the fish? it looks like theres something stuck onto her its hard to explain and why would her fins have big white spots on them? i dont know my readings at the moment but i am buying a test kit

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?
Which fish are dying?
Can you post some more pictures of the sick fish? Make sure they are clear and in focus and clearly show the issue.

If you have a short 20 second video of the fish interacting it might show something.

How much water do you change when you do your water changes?
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change?
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank?

How do you clean the filter?

Did you add anything to the tank within 2 weeks of this starting?

----------------------
How often do you feed the fish?
Do you have any algae in the tank for the shark?
Do you have any driftwood in the tank for the shark?

Rainbow and redtail sharks need driftwood to graze on and algae in their diet. If the fish is hungry or malnourished, it might be attacking the tetras.

----------------------
Have you tested the tap water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH?
If yes, what are the results in numbers?
If you don't have test kits, take a glass full of the tank water and a glass full of tap water to the pet shop and ask them to test the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH of both samples. Write the results down in numbers when they do the tests.

Prime doesn't do anything to nitrates.

The easiest way to get rid of nitrates is by doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate once a week. If the nitrates go above 20ppm during that time, either reduce the amount of food going into the tank or do a 75% water change and gravel clean twice a week.

If you have nitrates in your tap water, you need to remove them before using that water for the tank. You can get a pozzani filter to remove nitrates, or you can set up a large plastic container and fill it with tap water. Add some dechlorinator and then put a heap of floating plants in the container and let them use the nitrates. When the nitrates are 0ppm, use that water for water changes.

----------------------
Don't add medications to a tank unless you know what is wrong with the fish. Most fish health issues are caused by poor water quality and a dirty tank. The following link has information about what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/

 

[BrandonFNN]

Hi and welcome to the forum

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?
Which fish are dying?
Can you post some more pictures of the sick fish? Make sure they are clear and in focus and clearly show the issue.

How much water do you change when you do your water changes? 25% or 50%
Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change? Yes
Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank? No

Did you add anything to the tank within 2 weeks of this starting? No

----------------------
How often do you feed the fish?
Do you have any algae in the tank for the shark?
Do you have any driftwood in the tank for the shark?

Rainbow and redtail sharks need driftwood to graze on and algae in their diet. If the fish is hungry or malnourished, it might be attacking the tetras.

----------------------
Have you tested the tap water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH?
If yes, what are the results in numbers?
If you don't have test kits, take a glass full of the tank water and a glass full of tap water to the pet shop and ask them to test the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and GH of both samples. Write the results down in numbers when they do the tests.

Prime doesn't do anything to nitrates.

The easiest way to get rid of nitrates is by doing a 75% water change and gravel cleaning the substrate once a week. If the nitrates go above 20ppm during that time, either reduce the amount of food going into the tank or do a 75% water change and gravel clean twice a week.

If you have nitrates in your tap water, you need to remove them before using that water for the tank. You can get a pozzani filter to remove nitrates, or you can set up a large plastic container and fill it with tap water. Add some dechlorinator and then put a heap of floating plants in the container and let them use the nitrates. When the nitrates are 0ppm, use that water for water changes.

----------------------
Don't add medications to a tank unless you know what is wrong with the fish. Most fish health issues are caused by poor water quality and a dirty tank. The following link has information about what to do if your fish get sick. It's long and boring but worth knowing.
https://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)? Not sure

Which fish are dying? My Pink and Yellow GloFish Tetra. Another Glofish Tetra that was sick died a few weeks ago, a few days before she died she was gasping at the top of the water. She had the same problem as the pink Tetra in the video/pictures I provided for 2 1/2 months straight and finally gave out recently. The pink Tetra has got worse and now the yellow one is starting to get whatever this might be.

Can you post some more pictures of the sick fish? Yes here and the 20 sec video is this https://m.imgur.com/a/S2qMzdw

How much water do you change when you do your water changes? 25% or 50%


Do you gravel clean the substrate when you do a water change? Yes


Do you dechlorinate the new water before adding it to the tank? No


How do you clean the filter? Wash and wipe everything off and unclog everything once in awhile.


Did you add anything to the tank within 2 weeks of this starting? No

----------------------

How often do you feed the fish? A small pinch once or twice daily


Do you have any algae in the tank for the shark? Yes


Do you have any driftwood in the tank for the shark? No


----------------------

Have you tested the tap water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH?

Yes by the pet store


If yes, what are the results in numbers? I was only told I have high nitrates. I am going to go buy a test kit sometime tomorrow or the next day.


Prime doesn't do anything to nitrates?

That’s nice to know. The workers in the fish department at Petco suggested to buy the prime to help with the nitrates.

----------------------

Don't add medications to a tank unless you know what is wrong with the fish.

Again I was told by the workers to buy the Parasite Remedy and Bacterial Remedy.

 

[Colin_T]

The pink fish with the white mouth in the video appears to have a bacterial infection, which will probably need anti-biotics, however I think it might be too far gone to worry about.

If the fish are dying one at a time and a few weeks, months apart, it could be Tuberculosis (TB). However, the Glofish are normally pretty clean and free of this disease so I would say it has an internal bacterial infection before we jump to TB.

I need a better picture of the fish with white marks/ patches on it. Take a number of photos and check them on your computer. Find a couple that are clear and in focus and post them here.

--------------------------
If you are using tap water for filling the aquarium, it should be dechlorinated before it is added to the tank. Adding chlorine or chloramine to an aquarium with fish in, can damage their gills and make them suffocate, and it can damage internal organs like their liver, which causes internal bloating and a slow death.

Fill up a clean bucket with tap water and add some dechlorinator. Aerate the water for at least 5 minutes so the dechlorinator can neutralise any chlorine or chloramine in the water. Then use that water to fill the tank.

--------------------------
Filters should be cleaned at least once a month and every 2 weeks is better.

Wash filter materials in a bucket of aquarium water and when they are clean, put them in the tank.
Wash the filter case and motor/ impellor assembly under tap water.
Put it all back together and get it going.

If the filters are not cleaned regularly, you can get large amounts of fish poop in it and that encourages bacteria and protozoa to grow in the tank. The fish end up breathing water that is filtered through their poop and that is bad for them.

--------------------------
If you get the pet shop to test your water, ask them what the results are in numbers. You want numbers not, it's ok or it's fine. If they say it's fine, tell them you want the results in numbers.

--------------------------
Right now, I would do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until we work out what is going on. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter materials in a bucket of tank water.

Get a couple more pics of the fish with white marks.

 

[BrandonFNN]

The pink fish with the white mouth in the video appears to have a bacterial infection, which will probably need anti-biotics, however I think it might be too far gone to worry about.

If the fish are dying one at a time and a few weeks, months apart, it could be Tuberculosis (TB). However, the Glofish are normally pretty clean and free of this disease so I would say it has an internal bacterial infection before we jump to TB.

I need a better picture of the fish with white marks/ patches on it. Take a number of photos and check them on your computer. Find a couple that are clear and in focus and post them here.

--------------------------
If you are using tap water for filling the aquarium, it should be dechlorinated before it is added to the tank. Adding chlorine or chloramine to an aquarium with fish in, can damage their gills and make them suffocate, and it can damage internal organs like their liver, which causes internal bloating and a slow death.

Fill up a clean bucket with tap water and add some dechlorinator. Aerate the water for at least 5 minutes so the dechlorinator can neutralise any chlorine or chloramine in the water. Then use that water to fill the tank.

--------------------------
Filters should be cleaned at least once a month and every 2 weeks is better.

Wash filter materials in a bucket of aquarium water and when they are clean, put them in the tank.
Wash the filter case and motor/ impellor assembly under tap water.
Put it all back together and get it going.

If the filters are not cleaned regularly, you can get large amounts of fish poop in it and that encourages bacteria and protozoa to grow in the tank. The fish end up breathing water that is filtered through their poop and that is bad for them.

--------------------------
If you get the pet shop to test your water, ask them what the results are in numbers. You want numbers not, it's ok or it's fine. If they say it's fine, tell them you want the results in numbers.

--------------------------
Right now, I would do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until we work out what is going on. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. Wash filter materials in a bucket of tank water.

Get a couple more pics of the fish with white marks.

I noticed there’s a line near her bottom fin not sure what that is I’m sure you may have a idea.

 

[Colin_T]

Do you have a normal light over the tank, or are you using some weird lights?
I can't tell anything from the pics, the colours are messing me up.

 

[BrandonFNN]

Do you have a normal light over the tank, or are you using some weird lights?
I can't tell anything from the pics, the colours are messing me up.

normal light i will try to take better pictures right now

 

[BrandonFNN]

Do you have a normal light over the tank, or are you using some weird lights?
I can't tell anything from the pics, the colours are messing me up.

I know she’s going to die but I’d like to know what this is and how I can treat it to prevent my other fish from dying. I took her out of the tank to take a better picture of her because it’s so difficult to take a good picture from the outside of the tank. in the picture you can see the small red marks I mentioned as well as the the bottom of her fin/top fin.