Howdy Doodee!

[Joe Soap]

Hi! I'm pretty new to fish keeping. I've had a tank for about 5 months now.

I've had a fish die on me yesterday, and I can see the other fish are not so well either. I'd like a little help, but I'm not able to start a new thread in the emergency section. Anyone know what the problem is ? Thanks!

 

[aly_starh]

Welcome to TFF


1. Water parameters. (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, temp', Hardness etc)
2. A full description of the fishes symptoms.
3. How often you do water changes and how much.
4. Any chemicals and treatments you add to the water.
5. What tank mates are in the tank.
6. Tank size.
7. Finally Have you recently added any new fish?

 

[Littlemonkey]

You'll find alot of helpfull folks on here. Try and answer as many questions above, they will try and help.

 

[WILDER]

Welcome to the board.

Size of tank in gallons or litres.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Are the fish showing any symtoms.

 

[Joe Soap]

Thanks guys! Didn't relise I could just post here!

Ok, here goes:

I've had a 100 Litre (26 gallon) tank for about five months. It had 2 Red Eye Tetras; 2 Neon Rainbowfish Dwarves and 2 Albino Paradise fish.

The pet store guy who sold us our first 2 fish said he never did anything to his tank and he'd never had any problems. He suggested I try and avoid doing them if I could.

Last Thursday I decided, mostly due to brown Algae, to clean and do a 30% water change. Monday (5 days later) I noticed one of the Neon Rainbows wasn't eating and was kind of gasping a little. Within an hour he was up at the surface and doing the same. So I went straight to Google and did a little more research.

I took my water in to the pet store to be tested in order to eliminate amonia poisoning, and was told all water parameters were normal

When I him about the neon rainbows, he immediately suggested it was parasites. So I kinda desperately bought a bottle of Protozin and ran home to begin treatment.
Unfortunately the Rainbow was dead in a corner.

I waited a while to see how the other fish were, since they had all seemed fine. I saw the red eyes and the remaining rainbow begin to gasp as well, so I started the Protozin treatment.

Today, the Rainbow and the Paradisefish seem fine. The Red Eyes however are sitting at the top and near the return flow gasping. This evening they also started flipping their sides up, so I thought they were Flashing, but they only seem to do it when they're near to each other. One of them even did barrel rolls!!!

Otherwise, the Red Eye's scales seem a bit ruffled, perhaps raised? And the gills seem a little high off the body, but nothing really obviously wrong looking.

Otherwise, I have done no chemical treatments other than water preperation. I have a carbon filter and an undergravel filter. I haven't added fish in about 2.5 months.

Thanks for the help! It's greatly appreciated!

 

[WILDER]

Buy some liquids test kits of your own in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph. Not all lfs can be trusted,.

Water change and add the correct amount of med back to water removed.
Did you check you could use the full dose with the fish you keep.

Do the fish show any of these signs.

Darting, erratic swimmning, excess mucas, flicking and rubbing.
Do the gills look pale with excess mucas or red and inflamed.
Do the fish swim in a jerky movement.


Gasping can be bad water quality, toxins, ph shock, bacterial, parasites.

Used any chemicals near the tank.

The lfs should of asked more question before giving you a med.

 

[Joe Soap]

Thanx for the reply.

Buy some liquids test kits of your own in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph. Not all lfs can be trusted,.

By "lf" I take it you're reffering to the pet store guys? I simply can't afford a kit right now. They are unbelievably expensive in South Africa, and I'm unemployed at the moment

Water change and add the correct amount of med back to water removed.
Did you check you could use the full dose with the fish you keep.

By "meds", are you reffering to a water conditioner or to the Protozin? Where does one find out about doses?

Do the fish show any of these signs.

Darting, erratic swimmning, excess mucas, flicking and rubbing.
Do the gills look pale with excess mucas or red and inflamed.
Do the fish swim in a jerky movement.

Well, the Red Eyes that are obviously unwell don't move much. The Paradisefish have allways darted and swum crazily. Especially when they see me aproaching the tank, so I assume it doesn't mean much.

I don't see any excess mucus or rubbing. What would flicking look like?
No excess mucus round the gills, but like I said, they do seem raised quite a bit, and more on one side than the other. They're not really red, though I can see into the gills and that is a little red.
They Red Eyes were swimming a bit jerkily yesterday, but not today.

Hope this helps. I'm a little relieved though, cause they look like they're doing alot better.

Thanx!

 

[LauraB]

Hey there, welcome to tropical fish forums!

I have had many illnesses in my aquarium when i first started keeping fish,

If the fish is rolling it sounds to me like there may be something wrong with its balance organ.

My sister had the same problem with one of her fish, and the fish expert at her shop said he had used oxygen tablets before which seemed to help his when it was not able to swim upright you can buy swim bladder treatments or internal bacteria treatments i would ask an expert first as i have only had fish for 3 years .

If your fish are gasping it could be lack of oxygen perhaps, How strong is the outflow and do you know if you have the right size filter for your aquarium? Air stones are always good at creating extra oxygen and also you can buy for a temporary help meausure oxygen tablets which are very inexpensive.

It could also be that someof your fish are reacting to the treatment you put in or that your water quality is poor. Did you treat the water with water conditioner?

I am afraid it is usualy detective work, with fish illnesses.

Did you cycle the aquarium before you put the fish in? if not look up the nitrogen cyle to find out about it. If the fish were put straight into an uncylced aquarium it can cause problems such as fish finding it hard to breath due to high ammonia levels and perhaps gill erosion. If you have added treatment aswell it could also be causing the fish to gasp as treatments tend to deoxygenate the water a little, it is always a good idea to have an airstone running or turn the filter up a little higher to create more surface movement and oxygen when treating an aquarium. It may not be a solution but it should help them. I hope this helped. Or gave you some new things to research.

Laura B

 

[Joe Soap]

Hey there, welcome to tropical fish forums!

Why thank you!!!

If the fish is rolling it sounds to me like there may be something wrong with its balance organ.

It only happened 3 or 4 times. Seems to be fine now. Weird!

If you have added treatment aswell it could also be causing the fish to gasp as treatments tend to deoxygenate the water a little, it is always a good idea to have an airstone running or turn the filter up a little higher to create more surface movement and oxygen when treating an aquarium. It may not be a solution but it should help them. I hope this helped. Or gave you some new things to research.

That may just be it seeing as they're not showing any other symptoms at the moment. All down to the treatment! So I'll continue it and monitor them to see what happens.

Thanx alot for the help. Seems eliminating all the possibilities can be seriously confusing on one's own.

 

[WILDER]

it sounds like bad water quality to me to flukes, or lack of aeration in the tank.

Until we know full water stats its hard to say.Ask the lfs to write the readings down for you.

Fish will swim in a jerky movement with flukes.

 

[Joe Soap]

I just took a good look at my filters and found that the 'under gravel'was actually just shooting bubbles straight out into the water, and not through the actual filter bit! Could that have been the problem?

 

[WILDER]

If the filter was blocked it could cause bad water quality.I would get your water tested.

I would buy an internal filter and run with the undergravel filter. Once the filter has cycled I would rip the under gravel filter out of the tank.

 

[LauraB]

if the filter is not working properly, it is probably the cause. I have never used an undergravel filter and cannot help there

I hope you get it sorted, i know how frustrating it can be when you first start. You realise you need a phd before you begin

It is a rewarding hobby and i hope you enjoy keeping fishes as they are amasing creatures to learn about and watch

Laura B

 

[Joe Soap]

Thanx guys!

@Wilder: Well there's probably no point going back to the same pet store. Will have to find another!
I just don't have cash for a filter at the moment. I'm struggling as it is.
So undergravel no good in your opinion? It was working fine for the first five months!

@LauraB: PHD is correct!!! LOL!

 

[Ludwig Venter]

Goeie dag en baie welkom hier by ons Joe.... Soos jy al gesien het... die mense is gasvry en sal jou help met al jou vrae.... Waar in SA bly jy??