Need A Good Semi-Cheap Medication

[Amunet]

I dunno what the heck is wrong with my 125gal tank, but I do not want it to get worse.
I've lost almost all of the cories in the tank, the large pleco, and the remaining one is dying.
It seems to have spread to one of the clown loaches, and I don't know what to do.
I treated the tank for parasites, but that doesn't seem to be the problem so it has to be bacterial.

They don't show any physical signs of being sick, such as sores or whatnot.
They're pretty inactive and don't eat. Whatever this is it takes a LONG time for the fish to die. I think starving is what eventually kills them.

If anyone has some medication recommendations I could use in the tank, that would be SO helpful. Something preferably that wouldn't wipe out the beneficial bacteria and my wallet would be nice.

 

[ron4sum1]

If it's very inactive and just doesn't eat, it's probably due to ammonia. Has it got its fin darkened on the edges? If it is, it's probably that. If you have a testkit, you could probably test it and see if your water parameters are suitable for your fish. If you don't have one, you have to assume you have high concentration of ammonia. Perform about 80% water change. Every time you put the water into the tank, make sure it is dechlorinised first or it could kill the beneficial bacteria. It's hard to tell which medicine is good if you can't see any symptoms. Do the water change every day for 3 days, then every other day (3x), then every 3 days (3x again) and 4 days until it gets better. If you have the time, bring your water to the fish store to check. If it's gets better, you can go back to 20-30% water change weekly after 2 months. I hope this would do it ...

I don't know much about plecos, but I hope you're not overstocking ! Wish you all the best~

 

[Amunet]

I should've clarified my post a bit more.
The water parims have been perfect. I've been testing them and testing them and testing them again b/c I was worried about some freak ammonia spike as well, but it is NOT that. The water is exactly where it should be. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and around 20 nitrate and the pH isn't fluctuating.

Water changes have done absolutely nada for the sick fish.


I think I'm going to try some pond pimafix & melafix. I think the Petsmart here carries it and read that they're not supposed to cause harm to the beneficial bacteria.

 

[Caprichoso]

Maybe look into API General Cure. If the fish are wasting away, it could possibly be a parasite. Many meds have to be dosed for several rounds in a row to be effective so if you didn't do that, that may be why it wasn't effective. Also, if it's a bacterial issue, daily water changes and gravel vac should take care of the problem. Other factors are stress and poor genetics. Stress is a huge contributor to fish death and it can bring out all sorts of conditions and diseases that appear dormant in the tank but will manifest on a weak fish. I noticed you have a BGK? That could be causing stress to the other fish at night when the lights are out. How much water changes are you doing? IME, melafix only works on minor problems and I personally feel that good clean water is much more effective.

Good luck

 

[Tolak]

What product did you use to treat for parasites?

 

[Amunet]

I used Hikari brand Prazipro. I did 2 treatments of it. Dosed the first time, waited 3 days, did another water change then dosed again.
I've never noticed any kind of weird poo from any of the fish, but thought maybe parasites. That doesn't seem to be the problem though.

I usually do about a 30-40% water change.
The BGK isn't aggressive towards the other fish in the tank. The only one I ever saw it be aggressive w/ was the big pleco in the tank, but that seemed to only be when the pleco intruded in the BGK's territory for too long and the BGK never did any damage to that pleco other than pushing it away.

Purchased melafix and pimafix. About to go do a water change and dose the tank.
I know there are probably better options, but for the size of the tank... going to have to hope this works.

 

[Amunet]

Alrighty, so... maybe a no-go on the melafix/pimafix. Tried it on the tank after a water change and it just seemed to stress the fish out. Breathing heavier even though I increased aeration in the tank.
Did a smaller water change. Hope it helps some.

I'll try doing a few more water changes for a while. Maybe every 3 days. Not sure what else to do at this point.
UGH I'm beginning to regret my fish enthusiasm....

 

[Caprichoso]

Alrighty, so... maybe a no-go on the melafix/pimafix. Tried it on the tank after a water change and it just seemed to stress the fish out. Breathing heavier even though I increased aeration in the tank.
Did a smaller water change. Hope it helps some.

I'll try doing a few more water changes for a while. Maybe every 3 days. Not sure what else to do at this point.
UGH I'm beginning to regret my fish enthusiasm....

Do an initial 50% water change then try 25% water change daily for the next 10 days, then weekly 50%. Do a good gravel vac as well, making sure to not create a debris cloud. I find that this regime goes a long way to treat and prevent illness IME. Try not to let it get you down, these things happen but you will get it sorted out

 

[Davo86]

hard to say whether it is internal parasites, internal bacteria or even fish tb,

octozin should help if you think its internal parasites, and there are also a few anti internal bacteria treatments