Major Advice Needed!

[paleeagle]

Hi all.

I posted a few months ago when I had a blue gouramis that had ulcers on its body and it wouldnt get better. Well things have gone from bad to worse since then and I am really at the end of my tether.

The blue gouramis eventually died, having not responded to any treatments. (I also asked the local fish guy and he had never seen anything like it) Anyway after he had died I noticed one of my siamese algea eaters had what looked like fin rot. So starting to get really annoyed now I started treating for fin rot. This didnt work and after about a week the fish died. Then the following day another algea eater with fin rot type symtoms. It didnt respond to treatment and after about 2 weeks it also died.

Are you seeing my problem now

Couple of days later I noticed that my male blood red gouramis had ulcers on its body as well as slightly eroding fins. This time I treated the tank with Tetra Medica General Tonic as I was running out of ideas at this point. Needless to say this didnt work and after a couple of days the fish was swimming upside down and soon after died.
At the same time I also noticed that my only remaining siamese algea eater had a red streak in its dorsal fin which very quickly started to erode right down to the spines. I went back up the local fish shop for some advice and they advised that I treat for parasites for 3-4 days and then treat for bacteria after that.

This I have been doing over the last 2 weeks and on the very last day of bacteria treatment (yesterday) the algea eater took a turn for the worse (the fin didnt look any better either, although it didnt advance anymore) and got little greyish white marks all over its body. And this morning it was dead.

The problem I have now is that I obviously didnt cure whatever disease is present but I have a lone blue gouramis which is bullying a lone female red bellied gourmis. (the female is now hiding wish wounds on her head and side) Everytime she appears she is bullied by the blue gouramis.

WHAT DO I DO! I cant add more fish and I dont have a hospital tank as our house is too small for more than 1 tank.

Sorry if this is a bit rambling but I am trying to get all the info across while my 2 year old son sits on my lap trying to press the keys.

Any help would be great.

Tank 150litre
trickle filter (carbon pads removed for treament)
Up and running for 1 year 3 months.
Water change normally 50% once a week althogh during the problem period it has been more like 40% every 3-4 days
Temp 24*C
Ph 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite almost non existant.

Heavily planted with java fern on bogwood with a few anubis

Fish:
1 blue gouramis (female)
1 red bellied gouramis (female)
3 pengiun tetras
6 algea eating shrimp
2 assassin snails.

 

[phil140701]

ammonia levels good, nitrite level should be ideally 0.
whats your nitrate level like?

 

[paleeagle]

ammonia levels good, nitrite level should be ideally 0.
whats your nitrate level like?

The nitrate levels I am unable to test today as I think the kit is faulty. It is reading >110ppm in the tank, but also on the tap water and some mineral water I have lol. The last time I measured it (about 1 week ago) it was 20.

Nitrit I should have been more specific with. It is nearly clear with ever such a slight tinge. not even to be reading 0.1 but still not crystal clear (0)

Can I test with the current medication in? Currently using MYXAZIN I am into day 6 of treatment (final dose in bottle)

 

[phil140701]

ammonia levels good, nitrite level should be ideally 0.
whats your nitrate level like?

The nitrate levels I am unable to test today as I think the kit is faulty. It is reading >110ppm in the tank, but also on the tap water and some mineral water I have lol. The last time I measured it (about 1 week ago) it was 20.

Nitrit I should have been more specific with. It is nearly clear with ever such a slight tinge. not even to be reading 0.1 but still not crystal clear (0)

Can I test with the current medication in? Currently using MYXAZIN I am into day 6 of treatment (final dose in bottle)

you should be able to test it whilst using treatments altho i'm not familiar with the treatment your using (i know the name and what it's for but never used it myself) i would sugest a minimum 50$ water change to get the nitrite gone from the water making sure to use a dechlorinator of some description (as long as safe with your current treatments).

where are you based? in my lfs they do skin scrapes and other tests in shop free of charge so i would highly suggest finding out if any of your lfs supply this service and see what it shows up it may show something but then it may show nothing,

as for hospital tanks and your fish bullying the other it might be worth investing in a tank divider along the lines of Tank Dividers as i would suggest you need to treat both fish for whatever it is and this will be the easiest solution to seperate them. i'll be honest gourami aren't something i keep so my knowledge of them is again limited

also i note your ph is 8 recommended ph for them is 6.5 - 8 so i would be tempted to try to get this lowered slightly by use of a ph buffer of some kind.

hope this helps, maybe someone else might have a few better suggestions
Phil

 

[paleeagle]

thanks for your help Phil. I will take ANOTHER trip up to the fish shop tomorrow and have a look for a tank divider. The bullying would probably stop if I bought some partners for the 2 lone fish but for obvious reasons I cannot yet.

I will ask while up there about the scrapes as the guy is normally really good so even if they dont do it there he might know somewhere that does.

 

[paleeagle]

well I now have the fish being bullied in an isolation net. However I have no noticed what looks like a single white dot directly in the centre of the eyes (just 1 dot) of both my angel fish. These fish also have a whitish colour coming on their tale fins although no erosion yet and I have noticed some flicking on plants and bogwood. On closer inspection they have tiny white what look like minute "slinter" type marks on their body also. When looked at head on you can see the spots sticking out of the skin like a slinter.

Having just treated for bacteria for 7 days I am going to try the parasite medication again. Any suggestions for how long? Personally in the frame of mind I am in (completely fed up ) I am going to treat until my next due water change 5days. And then redose again. HOw long should I do this for. The medication is meant to be a 1 time only treatment. The previous treatment of 5 days, 2 weeks ago obviously didnt do the job if it is parasites.


Just tested tank again before medicating.

Ph 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10

 

[fatheadminnow]

Have you added any new fish recently? As new fish could have carried a disease in and is now affecting your other fish. It is important to quarantine any new fish you buy for about a month to see of that fish develops any sort of disease.

It sounds like to me that your fish have in internal parasite with the flickering you mentioned, and should be treated with the proper medication.

A pH of 8 is just fine, as fish can adapted to different pH levels outside their normal pH range. Also, don't let you pH drop down to 6.5 as you will have problems with your Autotrophic bacteria going into a dormant state.

What type of test kit are you using?

Like stated above, nitrite should be at 0 ppm, if it is not then you have a problem, one in which should be dealt with immediately. In your case a water change would be in order.

-FHM

 

[paleeagle]

Have you added any new fish recently? As new fish could have carried a disease in and is now affecting your other fish. It is important to quarantine any new fish you buy for about a month to see of that fish develops any sort of disease.

It sounds like to me that your fish have in internal parasite with the flickering you mentioned, and should be treated with the proper medication.

A pH of 8 is just fine, as fish can adapted to different pH levels outside their normal pH range. Also, don't let you pH drop down to 6.5 as you will have problems with your Autotrophic bacteria going into a dormant state.

What type of test kit are you using?

Like stated above, nitrite should be at 0 ppm, if it is not then you have a problem, one in which should be dealt with immediately. In your case a water change would be in order.

-FHM

I am using Nutrafin Essenstial mini master test kit. My Nitrite levels are at 0ppm so I dont understand why I would have to do a water change?

I havent added any new fish since June which is when all this began. About 2 months after getting them one began to get ulcers on its body that even the local fish shop guy couldnt diagnose. When that fish eventually died individual fish began getting what looked like cases of fin rot which wouldnt get better with ahy treatment for it. It has gone through the tank since then one by one up to where we are now.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Have you added any new fish recently? As new fish could have carried a disease in and is now affecting your other fish. It is important to quarantine any new fish you buy for about a month to see of that fish develops any sort of disease.

It sounds like to me that your fish have in internal parasite with the flickering you mentioned, and should be treated with the proper medication.

A pH of 8 is just fine, as fish can adapted to different pH levels outside their normal pH range. Also, don't let you pH drop down to 6.5 as you will have problems with your Autotrophic bacteria going into a dormant state.

What type of test kit are you using?

Like stated above, nitrite should be at 0 ppm, if it is not then you have a problem, one in which should be dealt with immediately. In your case a water change would be in order.

-FHM

I am using Nutrafin Essenstial mini master test kit. My Nitrite levels are at 0ppm so I dont understand why I would have to do a water change?

I havent added any new fish since June which is when all this began. About 2 months after getting them one began to get ulcers on its body that even the local fish shop guy couldnt diagnose. When that fish eventually died individual fish began getting what looked like cases of fin rot which wouldnt get better with ahy treatment for it. It has gone through the tank since then one by one up to where we are now.

The reason I said to do a water change is because you said

Nitrite almost non existant.

which means you have some sort of nitrite present in your tank, unless the nitrite is now at 0 ppm.

The disease most likely entered you tank then, back in June, where after that the first signs of disease started.

If I were you, I would make a new thread in the "Emergency section" on this forum where members will diagnose your fishes symptoms and will tell you want medication to use.

-FHM

 

[paleeagle]

ok. Is there anyway of moderator moving this thread into the emergency section?

Yes in my most recent test, which was posted today, my nitrite was 0ppm. (looks like I edited it with the results at the same time as you posted your message) Sorry about the confusion.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Yes, I can have a mod move it for you.

-FHM

 

[paleeagle]

ok I have been treating for parasites for 4 days now and have seen no improvement.

Also have now noticed some degrading of the fins as well. Just the ends looking a little ragged.

Do I allow this treatment to take its course. Which means ending tuesday. Or do I do a water change today to keep the water quality high and just retreat when finished.