Many Sudden Issues

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jesusjones

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HI there,

This is my first ever post here, and I'm here because I no longer think my tank mates are at their best.

Where do I even start........Fluorite... that's when it started.
I recently decided my fish tank was sort of dull and I wanted some plants to make it more natural and offer hiding places. So I bought some plants and put them in the tank. Most of the plants died. I never had any luck with plants. But then I heard of fluorite substrate. I went and bought a bag of Brown fluorite and put it in my tank after a rinse(note that I put some in before rinsing but it clouded the water)

The water cleared up eventually and the plants seemed to get better.

Shortly after my 3 of my 4 cichlids got swollen anuses. And one was devoloping a white patchy spot. Also they were itching lot's and continue to till this day. I knew this was a bad sign. I looked into it slightly and bought some Melafix and aquarium salt. I used both for a weak.

At the same time. My smaller Goldfish. Maybe from the P.O.'d Cichlids attacking him had terrible fungus all over him. I gave him a salt bath. Along with the Cichlids. This helped the goldfish for sure. And the Cichlids Anuses were no longer swollen.

Now just in the past couple days I've noticed my water looks like it has millions of tiny bubbles floating around in it. But they are not bubbles. That's just what they look like. I did a 75% water change. I was getting fed up. I never had any problems like this before. I washed everything that could come out of the tank with salt. And did the 75% water change.

Instantly things seemed improved. My loach seemed to be sinking more(Previously he was adjusting his float ALOT and he was sinking rather slow) And the Cichlids seemed more active.

Now today only a couple days after the 75% water change. The tank looks like it has more of those bubbles(but there not bubbles)
My plants are not thriving. They either turn red or Hardly grow. My Cichlids are always outside(instead of hiding and hating each other) My loach is always adjusting his float. And the guppies I have in that tank are always itching!!!!!!!!!!! I just can't deal with it anymore by myself. I had to come and ask some people who know more than me.

And only one of my Cichlids has a single spot that looks like itch/a grain of salt.

I just don't know whats wrong. I never had weird issues like this before I tried getting plants to grow in my tank. Which makes me think my plants are the issue.

I'm sorry for the long post but I just wanted to throw it all out there.

Any thoughts or ideas will be greatly appreciated.

I will also post pictures soon. So you can see what type of plants I have, and the water condition.
Thanks for your time,
Rudy

P.S. I have had my larger goldfish for nearly 7-8 years.
 
picture

picture

Are these real aquatic plants? Or are they possibly normal house plants that have been submerged and are poisoning the water..?

P.S. I have more pictures of the plants when they were newer with more leaves if there completely unrecognizable
 

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

Whitespot looks like the fish has been sprinkled in salt.
The spot does it have a circling of red around the edges or a red centre as fish can get columnaris spots, which are hard to get rid off.
The fungus on the fish is it white and fluffy.
Enlarged anus can be dropsy to internal parasites.
Any fish look thin or bloated.
What does it look like when your fish go to the toilet.

Did you steralise the live plants as they can fetch all types of nasties in with them.
Any fish darting around the tank or gasping.
 
I don't know the volume of my tank. But I know the size(thank you tape measure)
3 feet long, 1 foot wide, 19 inches high.

The fish for the most part look normal. Not bloated, and not shrinking away.

The spot on the Cichlid from what I remember did not have any redness to it. Or near it.

The smaller Cichlid has a white patch which is not puffy. It's just white. Almost the scales are gone and only white flesh remains. I've seen fungus. And it's close, but no where near as puffy.

I have 2 goldfish. One is from a pond that some one bread. The other is just a big feeder goldfish.
I have a loach.
There are 5 guppies in the tank.
And the 4 Cichlids. They look very close to the fish on this Flake food [URL="http://www.strictlypetsupplies.com/_043324...lake-Food-7-8oz"]http://www.strictlypetsupplies.com/_043324...lake-Food-7-8oz[/URL]

It's hard to catch them going to the washroom. But I have seen some skinny poop hangin out of the Cichlids

Ever since the swollen anus issue I may just be extremely paranoid. But I have noticed the cichlids definatley not hiding as much as before. And not so territorial.
I bought that exact food for them also. I thought something new and more nutritional might help them out.

I'm sorry but I don't have PH and ammonia testing supplies. I've never really seemed to need them. Perhaps it's time though.

The plants I just threw into the tank, minus the water they came with. Bad move on my part I suppose.

The only other strange behaviors I've noticed:
Is that one Cichlid now just hangs around the top corner of the tank near the filter.
The Cichlids will all shake/vibrate violently then dart about or itch. It could be a territorial thing. But there doing it when no one is watching so it seems odd compared to before.
And on one occasion my largest Cichlid was popping his head out of the water in the current of the filter.

That's all I can tell you as of now.
Thanks for the help
Rudy
 
Your tanks severely overstocked.
Goldfish shouldn't be really kept with tropical fish.
The first goldfish alone need 20 gallons then 10 gallons for every other one added.
You need double filteration to the tank as gold fish are massive waste producers.
I would strongly suggest investing in some liquid test kits. For now take a sample of your water to the lfs and ask them to write
the readings down for you.
Is theere any spots on the fish the size of a grain of salt.
I would do a immediate water change and increase aeration in the tank.
I would strongly suggest rehoming the goldifsh.
 
What type of cichlids are they.
Yours stocking all wrong too.
Long stringy white poo and enlarged anus can be a sign of internal parasites.
 
Blah. I've been wanting to remove the smaller goldfish for a while. He's a waste of good fish food. What can I really do with it? Because I wont get another tank to house that fish.

And I know that the goldfish are clearly not tropical fish but they don't seem to mind the company.

Nobody bothers the Guppies any more. (I have a tank full of guppies, I've been throwing a couple in the big tank everytime a few new ones show up)

And yes 4 cichlids is a bit crowded. I know they definatley like there space.

But strangley...When I checked to see what kind of ich cure I had. I noticed two of the cichlids sleeping with eachother. Right next to eachother. And a third one was very near by. Which I find very odd.

The larger goldfish and Cichlids have been together since the Cichlids were babies (My mother got them from a breeding lady at work). 2 years later I think they are alright together. Even though they should not be.
And I really have no clue as to what type of Cichlids they are. I just know it looks extremely similar to the one on that can of food.
For the parasite. I heard soaking their food in Garlic juice before feeding can help to remove parasites. Is this worth a shot??
Rudy

P.S. My filter Has two filtering sides to it. I think it handles 40-60 gallons or more. I'll remove some water to get better airation
 
Can you get pics of the cichlids so we can identify them please?
 
I would definately get your water tested as it's the first thing to rule out is bad water quality.
Bad quality water can stress fish making there immune system weak and thins there slimecoat, also it can burn there skin and gills.
So no grains of salt size spots on the fish.
 
picture of my cichlid

I'm gonna go down to Pet Cetera. I'll see if they can test my water for me.

This morning I noticed one of the Guppies Bums are swollen. It could just be pregnant, but it seems fairly large to me.

After I test the water, I will probably chnage 75% of the water and filter the rocks as best I can. Then summerge everything else in a hot salt bath. Then put it all back to normal. Unless any one here thinks that would be a bad idea.

Medicine seems to do my tank more bad than good. It makes sense though medicine is just a weak form of poison. Thats probably why when I tried to treat them they ALL got ill.

I have liquid super ick cure. It apparently adds a protective slime coating. It contains 1.9 mg benzaldehyne green and providone/colloid mixture. In each teaspoonfull. Any good??
 

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Well Pet Cetera was all out of testing equipment. They said they could test it for me on friday.

So I went ahead and changed roughly 75% and cleaned out the gravel in the process.

And I think I found the cause of my murkey water. I put natural rocks in aquarium that I took from my lake. They were becoming soft and with minor rubbing you could get a white past to form on the rock. So out the rocks came and hopefully this will clear up the water.

But could rocks cause my fish to become ill??
 
I would like to know the reasoning for the not keeping the goldfish and cichlids together?
Thanks,
Rudy

P.S. I've owned the Cichlids since they were so small, that they learned to respect that big Goldfish.(Or else it would eat them)
I feed my Cichlids 2-3 times a day so that they don't get hungry and eat the small guppy's in the same tank.
And my large goldfish usually just floats there motionless. Or munches away at my gravel. Everything seemed OK to me for 2 years.
Other than just lately when my problems developed.
 
Are you very attached to the goldifsh as really they need rehoming as the tanks not big enough.
Cichlids are aggressive and you have to be very careful how you stock your tank with them.
There this med for internal parasites, as I bet with the guppy having an enlarged anus it's camallanous worms.
http://www.thegreenmachineaquatics.com/mal...ol%20001/198936
 
Alright. My tank mates are finally looking and behaving properly.

The guppy just turned out to be pregnant I think. She had a white thing comign out of her bum. SO I put her in a bucket thinking she had a internal parasite. I came back 10 minutes later and there was a larger baby in the bucket with here. If the baby was that big in the mother then I'm assuming that was likely the problem.

But my fish do have itch. I'm not sure if just improved water quality will help them fight this off.

I have Liquid super ick cure. It's a blue liquid. Each teaspoon containes 1.9 mg benzaldehyde green and Providone/colloid mixture

Does any one know if this stuff will work?? I've already dosed them and removed the activated carbon. And the tank is well airated at this point. Should this be enough to fight it off?? Some salt to maybe??
Thanks
Rudy
 

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