Multiple Problems

[Amunet]

I'm losing fish left and right and I just don't know what to do anymore.
 
Long story short...
 
Old 29 gal, transferred the fish and old mature media to a 55 gal about 2 weeks ago.
Fish started getting sick and dying soon after.
 
Ammonia reading of 0.25 so dosed with Prime thinking it was a mini cycle.
Ammonia remains at 0.25, nitrite 0, nitrate stays around 5, ph is a little over 7.
Added marineland quick start stuff hoping it would work. Nope. Added tetra safestart... again, it doesn't seem to have done anything.
 
Fish developed Ich so I used a med. It didn't work so I raised the temp a couple days later (it's only been about 3 days since I raised the temp). Temp in the tank is at around 80F right now and won't go higher even though heater is set to 88. Added an air stone to help aerate the water.
 
BN plecos are now dying, still getting 0.25 reading for ammonia even after putting in MORE mature media from another tank.
 
I've done multiple water changes these last couple of weeks and they don't seem to be helping at all. Ammonia IS in our tap water (about .5-1), but it has never been a problem before, so not sure why it would be a problem now. I dechlorinate with every water change. I usually just use a normal dechlorinator in my smaller tanks and Prime is for my larger tank, but since getting the 0.25 I've been dosing the tank w/ the Prime.
 
Any ideas on what I could do? Am I just getting false positive ammonia readings maybe? Is the ich actually killing my fish (now)?
Going to go find another heater and put it in the tank to try to get the temp up a little more.
I've never had an ich outbreak this bad before. Will it get worse before it gets better? Is there anything I can do to protect the fish while the ich dies?
 
In the tank are guppies, gourami, rasbora, tetra, platy, bn plecos

 

[star4]

If you are doing water changes and you have added mature media I would suspect you are getting a false reading. Are the readings always .25 ammonia 0 nitrite and nitrate 5 or so they differ?
 
Ich will kill fish if left untreated. If you are in the UK get some esha exit, this medication is fantastic, it is the only one I know of that will attack the parasite while it is on the fish.

 

[Amunet]

Every time I've checked, it's always 0.25, 0 nitrite, and 5 nitrate.
 
Not in the UK unfortunately. Once my daughter is up from her nap, I'll head to the store and see what other meds they have for Ich.
Would it kill the fish this quickly though?

 

[star4]

If the ich has got onto the gills then yes it is possible.

 

[Amunet]

They have been breathing rapidly so that could be the problem. Hopefully I'll find something that works.

 

[star4]

get another test kit if you can just in case, both the ammonia and ich on the gills would produce rapid breathing unfortunately.

 

[Amunet]

Another dead pleco today. Started on a new Ich treatment. Have to dose the tank again tomorrow.
Ordered a new test kit and should be getting that tomorrow as well so we'll see if my tests have gone bad or if they've been accurate. Hope some
thing works and keeps the rest of the fish alive.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Isn't there a test kit that shows a false positive for Ammonia?
 
I think its time for a step back rather than charging off to buy new test kits, treatments, etc. Test kits are notoriously vague so I really wouldn't get carried away with the results just yet.
 
I guess its possible there's some sort of mini cycle going on (I would have expected higher nitrate levels for a cycled tank for example) but can you elaborate on the water changes you've carried out? You say multiple changes over the past few weeks but can you be more specific?
 
What did you do re substrate? Is this new too? New filter for the new tank?

If it were me in your situation I'd change around 75-80% of the water now, then 50% tomorrow, 30% the day after and then a couple of days of 25%. You can run the tests to see if there are any changes but the key factor will be the behaviour of your fish.
 
I don't think the high temperature will help with Ammonia poisoning so I'd get it back to normal as this could be having an affect on your fish.

 

[Amunet]

Multiple water changes... I'm not sure how many exactly (at least 4), but all of them have been at least 40% water changes.
 
I needed new test kits anyway. The ones I have are pretty old so could be giving faulty readings. I'll experiment once I have the new one in to see if I get the same results on both of them.
 
The substrate is new. I know beneficial bacteria is in the substrate but still didn't expect it to have this kind of problem w/ the old media.
 
It is a new filter, BUT it has the old matured filter media in it and I've put even more matured media in to it from a different tank.
 
The temp is only staying at around 80F which is only a few degrees more than what it normally sits at (usually at about 76). I would actually raise it more but my heaters for whatever reason aren't heating the tank to what I have them set at :\

 

[WILDER]

The mature filter sponges from your 29 gallon might not been enough for a larger tank of 55 gallon. Even adding  more mature filter sponges to the tank. Plus new substrate..
Also whitespot  medications can higher ammonia readings.
Did you half dose with having plecs in the tank?
We will no more when you get your new test ki.
 
Sorry for your losses.

 

[Lunar Jetman]

Multiple water changes... I'm not sure how many exactly (at least 4), but all of them have been at least 40% water changes.
 
I needed new test kits anyway. The ones I have are pretty old so could be giving faulty readings. I'll experiment once I have the new one in to see if I get the same results on both of them.
 
The substrate is new. I know beneficial bacteria is in the substrate but still didn't expect it to have this kind of problem w/ the old media.
 
It is a new filter, BUT it has the old matured filter media in it and I've put even more matured media in to it from a different tank.
 
The temp is only staying at around 80F which is only a few degrees more than what it normally sits at (usually at about 76). I would actually raise it more but my heaters for whatever reason aren't heating the tank to what I have them set at :\

 
But have they all been in four consecutive days? If there's a problem in your tank and you've changed water twice a week, it may not have had any effect. You need to change the water daily for a few days to see any benefit.
 
And why do you want the water warmer? I would have thought that 75 degrees would be fine so am puzzled why you want it warmer than 80?

 

[WILDER]

I went throw the same thing when I set a larger tank up. Thought it would be cycled  adding mature filter sponges from the smaller tank. But it stuck in a mini cycle for weeks. I think the tank has to mature.

 

[Amunet]

Yeah, that's what I thought was happening to the tank Wilder. That it was going through a mini cycle, but I wasn't sure and started to doubt it.
I dunno though. We'll see I guess.
I'll be sure to only do a half dose tomorrow. Had no idea you're only supposed to half dose with plecos. Crap, that makes me feel terrible. I'm probably the cause of a lot of the deaths since I had been doing full doses.
 
And I've raised the temp to try to get rid of the Ich sooner when the meds I had used didn't work.
 
The water changes weren't consecutive.

 

[WILDER]

I did everything to cycle the tank faster. Even sucking some muck out of other tanks substrate to add to the 
new tank set up. Even adding more mature filter sponges. But it still took a while to fully cycle..
 
Plecs are very sensitive to parasite medications.
 
Please post your test results when you get your new test kit.
 
Good Luck.

 

[Amunet]

Should I even do the 2nd ich treatment? Just fished out 3 more dead plecos Poor little fish.
Maybe just trying to higher temp would help better?
Debating but leaning more towards that plan instead of dosing the tank again. Would hate to lose the large male and female (that bred all of the little ones that are dying).
That test kit can't get here soon enough. Hopefully it comes early so I won't have to wait all day for it.