Jewels Dropping Like Flies

[skippy_49nz]

Hi, I'm new here but have a situation where I have some jewels and they appear to be dying for no reason. They are around 6-8 months old I would think and maybe 3-4 inches long. All water parameters seem fine, the ph is on the low side at around 6.8 but this shouldn't be enough to knock them off. The fish seem to have no physical damage to them, they just seem to get tired one by one and then die off over a day or two. I had a bristlenose catfish in the tank which became bloated and I removed and I'm treating if for a velvet like condition. I don't know if this is causing the problems with the jewels. I put some Furan 2 into the water just in case....Anyone got any ideas?

 

[kribensis12]

I think it is your water. What is your water paramters? For the bristlenose, take some peas and boil then and make the into a mush. Feed that to him. He should poop out whatever is making him constspated. What size tank are these fish in? Any other tank mates?

 

[skippy_49nz]

Water seems fine. Ammonia, nitrates hardness all fine. Ph around 6.8 which shouldn't be too bad for jewels. Bristlenose is feeding fine and everything else. Its a female which made me think perhaps it was about to lay eggs but when I saw it in the light I could see it looked a bit ghosty which is why I'm treating it with some Furan 2. They're in a 3 foot tank which holds around 90L. There were 5 jewels and 3 BN. Now down to 3 jewels and 2 remaining BN. The sick one is in a separate tank and is hopefully getting better.

 

[kribensis12]

Can you give me actual mesurement's of the Ammonia, NitrIte, and NitrAte? Hardness doesnt exactly matter. I would definatley try feeding the pea's, if it doesnt work, it's not like you harmed the fish. Bristlenose's LOVE pea's.

 

[skippy_49nz]

The shop tested the water but all measures were zero or near enough to

 

[australia]

i would buy myself a test kit mate and recheck..........

 

[kribensis12]

^same here. Near enough to zero could be the difference of life and death between the fish

 

[skippy_49nz]

Two different shops have checked the water and both have said everything is fine. Water has been tested 3 times now and will possibly be tested again in a few days. I can test it until I'm blue in the face but I don't think it is anything to do with what they test for. If it is the water, which is possible, then it must be something other than what is tested for. If its not the water then I must have some sort of pathogen in there. So far no more have died, although they often get a tired look and their tails close up a little. The fish guy who seems to know a lot is scratching his head and said unless another one dies and I take it in for an autopsy, there is nothing more I can do.

 

[kribensis12]

When you say shops have tested it, are they like Petco, Petsmart, Walmart, Pets@home kinda shops? If soo, they testing they use is unreliable and the scale they use is innaccurate. Go out and buy a 25 dollar API Liquid Freshwater Master Test Kit. LFS arent very good for testing water. Everything you are describing sounds like bad water. How long has the tank been set up?