Illness Outbreak!

[Bblou]

my levels are pH 7.8, Am 0, Nrite 0, Nrate 40. my temp is 26 and my stock is 2 dwarf gouramis, 4 fancy guppies and 10 emperor tetra.

levels have been unstable but last day or two, the same as above. Fish in cycle due to bad lfs advice and lack of knowledge.

i lost a guppie yesterday.

today, i noticed on another guppie, on his head, a very pink almost kinda lump and its very bloated. now its just hovering at the bottom of the tank.

some of my tetra have tears in their dorsal fins, i dont know if this is from being nipped or if its something else.

a couple of the guppies have kinda orange on there bodies which I am pretty sure is not their colouring.


Chaos seems to be breaking out in the tank... every one is chasing everyone around trying to nip each other... with the exception of this very sick looking guppie. My partner fed the fish this morn and all ate well but he didnt notice if the sick guppie ate, it also didnt look this sick, or sick at all earlier today.

HELP MEEEEEE!!! PLEASE!!!

I have a set up tank that ive just tested with the same pH, Am and nitrite as this tank but lower nitrite and I have no heater to put in it.

What do I do?

I have no medicine... all I have is aquarium salt and this other tank which has no heater.



I am about ready to burst into tears and my boyfriend is looking at me like I am a freak.

I wish I had never listened to the lfs when they said my tank was ready for fish

please help!

EDIT

I have live plants that dont look so great, my emperor tetra kinda seem tinted orange all over and one guppie just did a white poo?

two gouramis dont look very happy right now.

One tetras black stripe is no longer a solid stripe... its almost as though some scales are missing.

I have been staring at my fish for hours each day and all of this has seemed to come from nowhere.

 

[Bblou]

well I did a 75% water change, don'tknow what, if anything that will acheive. I am going to put some aquarium salt in.

I am winging it as no1 seems to be around to answer.

or maybe you all think i am doomed. well, they are doomed.

 

[JenCliBee]

just a sugestion but could it be ur gouramis attacking the other fish making red marks like bruises
white stringy / hollow poo maybe an internal parasite/bacteria infection u could try treat for this just in case other than that not really sure wot else it could be sorry!!!!


not much help but i tried


jen

 

[Bblou]

for the gouramis, I did see one attack my guppie that died not long before he did die. I have nowhere else to put them until I get a heater for the thrid tank I have.

I do have another tank but its got a betta in it. I moved the betta coz he was going for the gourami.. so cant put them in there.


Ive put some salt in.. it said one teaspoon per 5 litres... that worked out about 20 teaspoons and sounded a lot so I put about 8 in... which still sounds like a lot. should I follow the book?

the orange is kinda in a place where the gouramis couldnt really attack them... if ive seen them go for anyone, its been the tail. this is.. kinda.. what i would call their armpits lol. right up against their bodies by their fins. and their scales look orange... almost like theyre coated in something... like if i rubbed them clean itd disappear?

as for the internal bacteria thing, what should I treat them with?

what about my bloated guppy? could that be what you said or something else?



I did the water change and added some salt. I am also so skint at the moment so dont know if ill even be able to afford to buy medicine. I will have to beg someone to lend some money.



since the water change, all but the bloated one seem a bit happier and the tetras scales do look slightly less orange ....

thankyou for answering

 

[Bblou]

well my guppie is hanging on...... only just. i think it is only a matter of minutes. he has been mauled in the night by all of the other fish.

I have my net balanced on the top and hes inside there looking dead, but if i move it, he is still alive. but i think he is dying as we speak.

I read the euthanasia of fish bit... is this what I should do? i dont have the chemicals.

 

[Spishkey]

put the poor fish out of its misery it is suffering, perhaps wrap it lightly in some kitchen paper and give it a tap on the head. do not freeze it or flush it alive.

 

[Bblou]

it has allready died. it was actually bleeding it looked like.

I feel so bad.

I am really skint at the moment and am looking around my house for things to sell to a pawn thingy place to get some money for medicine.

 

[WILDER]

R.I.P.

 

[Colin_T]

I wouldn't worry too much about medication at this stage. The most common killer of fish is poor water quality. If the tank is new (less than a month old) and is in the middle of a fish in cycle then just keep the feeding right down and the water changes up. The less food going into the tank the lower the ammonia & nitrite readings will be. Do big 50-75% water changes every couple of days to dilute any nutrient build up and also to decrease the bad bacteria and other disease organisms in the tank.
Quite often this will keep the fish alive and well and they should recover.
Guppies and dwarf gouramis are some of the weakest fishes around these days. The dwarf gouramis carry a virus that knocks them about and guppies are so inbred they are now weaker than many strains of discus. Once they settle into a tank they aren't too bad but it is a matter of getting them to settle in.
Aquarium salt can be used at various dose rates but it depends on if there are any corydoras catfish, loaches or discus in the tank. if there are then keep the dose low, around 1 teaspoon per 20litres. If there aren't then you can increase the salt to about 1 tablespoon per 20litres.

 

[Bblou]

thanks colin. I did a 75% one yesterday and added some salt.

havent tested my water yet today, will do that shortly.

Today I bought a heater for my spare tank so it is kinda ready to be a hospital tank and I set about getting the medicine bits miss wiggle suggests in her signature but they didnt have all of them in my lfs...

so I have a bottle of myxazin and protozin.

I will not use anything more than the salt I have allready put in as I dont know what, if anything, is wrong with the remaining fish.

will keep you posted.