Hey- Im New And Ive Got A Bit Of A Mystery For You

[Seza]

Hi all!

Ive got some mysterious deaths going on and my LFS cant help, so i thought id ask you all for your wisdom. Ive had a couple of deaths where the fish was fine before (feeding swimming about) then got very weak, the gills swelled up and went very red and 20 mins to half an hour later it was dead. So far ive lost a cherry barb, zebra danio and a couple of tetras.

Water tests all seem fine- pritty much 0. have tested it myself and got my LFS to do it. Also in dechlorinating like i always do.

Any ideas would be great!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hello and welcme to the forum

can you give us the following info and we will try to help

Tank size:
pH:
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp:

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Volume and Frequency of water changes:

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants:

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

Exposure to chemicals:

Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[Seza]

size: 115 L (roughly 50 cm sq)
pH: 7
as of today...
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: between 0 and 5 ppm
....what are kH and gH?
soft ish water area
tank temp:24 C, i think thats around 78 F ish

Symptoms: Quiet at feeding time but eating, 1st sigh slight reddening at the gills (and poss odd red sores allong the body- v tiny so im not sure) 20 mins later erratic swimming and very swolen gills- now bright red. dead in a very short space of time. But ony one fish at a time, not all together.

changes: tank is only a month and a bit old- so i do water changes every few days

Chemical Additives: white spot treatment right at the start.

Tank inhabitants: 1 bristlenose catfish, 3 Celebes Rainbow fish, 3 cardinal tetras, 4 cherry barbs, 2 zebra danios

Recent additions: none apart from thread to tie a plant to bogwood

Exposure to chemicals: possible, we did clean the house the other day. But kept spray well away from aqauriam in think. (tho i am a bit suspicious about that)

Thanks!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

did you fishless cycle the tank before setting it up?

if not are the fish that died ones that were in the tank from the start?

coping with cycling and the high levels of ammonia and nitrite can cause long term problems with the respiratory system, problems with the gills from fish who were in a tank while it was cycling could well be from ammonia poisoning.

look up gill flukes as another possibility, also bacterial infection.

 

[Seza]

When i was cycling the tank I got some bacteria from a tub of 'bactinettes' - whaich are supposed to be live bacteria. They worked quite well in the short term but then my chem levels were all over the place. The cherry barbs went throuh all this..so i think ur suggestion that its long term damage might be right here.
But the Danios (and annother rainbow fish ive just lost ) are more recent additions and have only been in there while my chem levels have been steadily ok.

Gill flukes- as i understand it these are a small worm that cause the gills to shut off and block up with mucas and stuff, also causes colours to go pale?
One of my (still live ) male cherry barbs is paler than he was, but the other is still bright red. Is this suspicous, or is he comming out of 'breeding condition' (read that somewhere). None of the ones that died lost colour or got thinner.

thanks for your help- im completely confused whith this one!

P.S. good luck at your interview!

 

[*Fishkies*]

Glad you joined!!

 

[dot]

Hi I'm also new to this and I'm in a bit of a panic! I have a molly, had it for about 4 weeks and all was well, but since yesterday it's swimming very strangley. It can swim in a straight line but when it stays still his tail seems to pull him down. He seems to fall to the bottom of the tank and really struggle to get to the surface. Any ideas would be appreciated

 

[dot]

Hi I'm also new to this and I'm in a bit of a panic! I have a molly, had it for about 4 weeks and all was well, but since yesterday it's swimming very strangley. It can swim in a straight line but when it stays still his tail seems to pull him down. He seems to fall to the bottom of the tank and really struggle to get to the surface. Any ideas would be appreciated

 

[Seza]

Hi I'm also new to this and I'm in a bit of a panic! I have a molly, had it for about 4 weeks and all was well, but since yesterday it's swimming very strangley. It can swim in a straight line but when it stays still his tail seems to pull him down. He seems to fall to the bottom of the tank and really struggle to get to the surface. Any ideas would be appreciated

Hey! nice to meet a fellow newbie!
Have you ruled out swimbladdder problems?-i had a goldfish with exactly those symptoms.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Hi I'm also new to this and I'm in a bit of a panic! I have a molly, had it for about 4 weeks and all was well, but since yesterday it's swimming very strangley. It can swim in a straight line but when it stays still his tail seems to pull him down. He seems to fall to the bottom of the tank and really struggle to get to the surface. Any ideas would be appreciated

Yes sounds like swimbladder possibly? Does he seem bloated at all?

DOT try posting over in the emergency section! You will get more help over there!!!

 

[dot]

Thanks for the tip's on what to look at, I don't want him to die! I didn't think I'd be that attached to something so small! I'll check it out but if you have any ideas on what I should do or why this has happened I'd be greatful of the knowledge.... Have I done something wrong?

 

[Seza]

Thanks for the tip's on what to look at, I don't want him to die! I didn't think I'd be that attached to something so small! I'll check it out but if you have any ideas on what I should do or why this has happened I'd be greatful of the knowledge.... Have I done something wrong?

Dont beat urself up about it, if it is the Swim Bladder thing the condition is compleatly curable.
You can get treatments from ur fish shop. As far as i understand it (and there are ppl on her with soooo much more experiance than me) swim bladder disease is where the internal air filled sac that controlls boyancy gets inflamed. This might be becuse the water quality needs raising and the fish are feeling vulnerable (so some waterchanges might be a good plan). Some people also recomend salt baths and keeping the fish in shallow water- allthough personally im for the shop bought remadies all the way becuse they wored for me.
Hope it all goes well for you Dot!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dot]

Thankyou! I wouldn't want to lose the little fella I'll be in the shop in the morning! This is a great site, only found it today but as I don't know much I think I'll be a regular!

Thanks for the advice

 

[rabbut]

Thanks for the tip's on what to look at, I don't want him to die! I didn't think I'd be that attached to something so small! I'll check it out but if you have any ideas on what I should do or why this has happened I'd be greatful of the knowledge.... Have I done something wrong?

Dont beat urself up about it, if it is the Swim Bladder thing the condition is compleatly curable.
You can get treatments from ur fish shop. As far as i understand it (and there are ppl on her with soooo much more experiance than me) swim bladder disease is where the internal air filled sac that controlls boyancy gets inflamed. This might be becuse the water quality needs raising and the fish are feeling vulnerable (so some waterchanges might be a good plan). Some people also recomend salt baths and keeping the fish in shallow water- allthough personally im for the shop bought remadies all the way becuse they wored for me.
Hope it all goes well for you Dot!!!!!!!!!!!!

it is probibly swim bladder. there are two types for swim bladder problem. biological, where treatments are needed from your lfs, as seza says, and mechanical. mechanical is ehere the fish gets a blockage somwhere near the swim bladder, and is a more common type of problem. Some people think that it is linked to only feeding dried food, and is treatable with fresh or frozen foods.

Hope this helps

 

[Hippocampus erectus]

the best solution is a combination off all three, do a 10% water change, raise the temperature 2 degrees and add some swim bladder treatment from your LFS if its possible put him in another tank with a much lower water level so he doesnt exhaust himself, possibly a bread net with an airstone in it.
good luck