New To Tropical Fish / White Spot Problem

[Blaz]

I was recently given a 60L tank by my uncle as an early bday gift, it came with everything i needed. I cleaned the tank and the gravel out, and a left the tank running for a few days before buying fish. When i bought fish i left them in the bags floating for 30 mins before releasing them into the tank, ive also had the water temp at 78. Anyway that was two weeks ago and the fish seemed fine (2 platys and 2 gouramis) until i came home today to find 1 of the platys had white spots all over it and wasnt moving much at the bottom of the tank, within half an hour of me discovering it the fish died. Ive notice the other 3 have little white spots on their fins but other than that they seem fine. The only other noticeable thing is there where quite a few snails ... and now theres lots of empty shells? So im not sure if this is related? Lastly i havent done any water changes yet, as i was told i had to let the bacteria levels build up, i was going to do a water change this weekend, Ive also cleaned the filter out once (using the water from the tank).

So i just want some advice on how i can save my other fish? I would also like to point out that im very new to this and dont have anything to quarantine fish in, i dont knw how to check my Ph levels etc. But im here to learn and hopefully some of you experienced guys can help me out.

 

[Joshwainwright]

Not doing a water change is bad as I suspect you haven't cycled your tank prior to adding fish. This puts you in a situation where you are in what is called a "fish-in" cycle. In order to do this you need to do daily water changes of about 20% to keep the ammonia levels down.

What you should do is purchase a decent testing kit such as the API Freshwater Master Liquid Test Kit and read up on the nitrogen cycle online. A good place to start would be in the beginners resource centre of this forum.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

 

[Blaz]

thanks for the speedy reply! Is there anythin i can do for my other fish? Or are they as good as dead ??

 

[Joshwainwright]

All I can suggest is you do regular water changes with dechlorinated water and hope for the best.

 

[Blaz]

Do I have to buy drops of medicine to put in the water to kill the parasites? Im sure I also read that i have to put all ornaments and decorations into boiling water? I forgot to mention ive also got 2 live plants in there ... do i have to get rid of them??

 

[loraxchick]

Waterchanges are your best friend right now to keep your fish healthy until the filter can keep up with the bioload. can NOT do enough of them.
To help with Ich (if it is ich) raise temp to 84 if able and increase aeration. add copper based meds (Will get rid of your snails too...and the empty shells is likely not result..probably not enough food for the snails OR a buildup of ammonia which you can deal with with lots of waterchanges...at least 4 a week of about 40% or so..
do you have a test kit. a good liquid kit will be invaluable as the tank cycles until you get a feel for the water chemistry and how often to do waterchanges.
Are the fish showing any other symptoms? Flicking or rubbing against objects in the tank? bullying? loss of appetite or swollen/sunken bellies?
keep us posted
cheers

 

[Blaz]

Waterchanges are your best friend right now to keep your fish healthy until the filter can keep up with the bioload. can NOT do enough of them.
To help with Ich (if it is ich) raise temp to 84 if able and increase aeration. add copper based meds (Will get rid of your snails too...and the empty shells is likely not result..probably not enough food for the snails OR a buildup of ammonia which you can deal with with lots of waterchanges...at least 4 a week of about 40% or so..
do you have a test kit. a good liquid kit will be invaluable as the tank cycles until you get a feel for the water chemistry and how often to do waterchanges.
Are the fish showing any other symptoms? Flicking or rubbing against objects in the tank? bullying? loss of appetite or swollen/sunken bellies?
keep us posted
cheers

They have a couple of little white dots on their fins other than that they seem perfectly fine (well except for the dead one). I have noticed one of the gourami's seems to be chasing the other one slightly more than usual. I've slowly got the temp up to 86 (advice from another site) and i did a water change today, im looking into buying a water testing kit.

 

[LilyRose Tank]

you can put some aquarium salt into the tank, according to the instructions on the box. if you can remove all decor from the tank, so there is less area for the free swimming form of the Ich to settle. if you don't already have a syphon, buy one as an invaluable tool, to syphon food debris waste and the parasites out of the water. Water change every day 40-50% percent, and replace with water that has a water conditioner added to it as per instruction, (some on this site dose double as it doesnt hurt the fish) tetra safe, tap safe for tropical are the ones I have used in the past, another brand is Kings British too. Make sure its for tropical as there are cold water ones available too. As the gravel you are using is second hand, it may be worth buying fresh that you know hasn't got the parasite. (I have removed all my gravel from the tank too for this problem....not sure if its adviseable, but my fish do seem to be perking up a bit) as you are in a fish-in cycle situation, daily water testing will be critial, an API master test kit price range about £32. You will need to perform water changes taking into account the test results. if a result is 0.25,a water change of 50% will leave a result of 0.125 which will not show on a test but will build up again by the following day. Fish in cycles can sometimes take twice as long as fishless cycling, so you may be into daily water changes for the next 2-3 months once you get into a routine of water testing daily.
Good Luck, and I hope you manage to save your fish xx