NOT AGAIN!!

[sgtbirch]

OK hears a run down of the last month. My tank has been fine for a year. I buy another fish (female nic). Tjis overstocked my tank) 4 fish total 2 nics 1M 1 F 1 firemouth 1M and a growstar pleco. I decide to invest in a 70 gallon tank and try it out. But then Whammo!! My 30 gallon goes whacko!! I have a fish die from what I dont know I treated him with everything. I think he was sick before I added the female. Water quality has always been good. Last weekend My plecko comes out of his normal spot with a sunken belly the next day he has a nasty nasty fungal infection. The next day he dies. The whole time water quality was good. Now I am down 2 fishes. I continue to feed the nics the same amount. but for 3 days the male doesnt eat and with no pleco aroung to cleen things up the last 5 days results in overfeeding and the development of Planaria worms ( I think). I do a 30-40 percent water change and clean the decor in tank (water cleaning only). I notice the female rubbing her body on the gravel and the male doing the shimmy and rubbing his body on the gravel. This started yesterday so I threw some maracyn (by Mardel)in the tank cause I had it left over from the pleco incedent (he died when I got home with the meds) Today I feed them first time in 3days. The female goes nuts and eats alot but the make acts like he wants to eat but cant find the food. Planaria are gone havent seen them since the water change. There are absolutely no physical signs of stress. Color good. resperation good. no spots no fin rot. Fish swimming just fine also still active. But outta the blue I get a nitrite spike today .8. And water cloudy ( is this from the maracyn) I read the fish diagnosis sheet maracyn puts in thier package. Looks like it may be a parasite with no signs on the body so its inconclusive?? I think I am teating with the wromg stuff looks like I need Maracide or copper. Am I right.

Please tell what you guys think. My wife is sceaming at me " why invest in stocking the 75 gallon when you cant manage a 30 gallon" I think shes right. Why would a tank go berserk after a year?

 

[sgtbirch]

 

[CFC]

Dont worry some times we all go through bad times in fish keeping and feel like there will be no end to our troubles,trust me ive had enough myself (recently lost 3 rare expensive catfish when a case of velvet flared up from no where ).Get your larger tank set up and treat yourself to some new fish larger tanks are easier to maintain and have fewer problems than small ones

 

[sgtbirch]

velvet was one of those diseases that could possibly be affecting my fish. Its so hard to determine what the problem is. Still no signs except the itching on the bottom. do you know if maracyn makes the water cloudy? or the nirtrites spike?

 

[semper fi]

maracyn would not make the nitrites spike. could be that the nitrites spiked with the medication being used for a few weeks since you do have to remove the carbon from the filter. my sa/ca's do have tendencies to rub against the gravel and decor in the tank. almost like they are marking their territories out.

do agree with cfc that larger tanks are easier to maintain are are alot less problem than a smaller tank. the concentrations of toxins is greater in the smaller tanks than in the larger ones. larger ones are more forgiving also. on the smaller tanks that i have now i test the water before feeding the fish if the levels are starting to elevate than i do a water change. get some of the test strips and you can cut each strip in half. just dunk in a sample of water and if you get any kind of a reading do a water change of about 15-20%.

keep an eye on the nics and look for any disease. you will have to watch and make sure that they do not injure themselves with the rubbing. open wounds can allow infection to set in.

you may want to add some salt to their tank. salt is good, imo, not only for gill function but also to help to control parasites.

maggie

 

[sgtbirch]

thanks mags

I didnt remove the carbon though. I use Mardel products which say to maintain normal filtration and air.
Nitrites spiked right after water change Hopefully I didnt clean to much bacteria from the gravel and send my tank into a mini cycle. I was assuming there would be enough bacteria on the biowheel.

 

[semper fi]

that is where your problem is. did not remove the carbon! you may well as taken that medicine and flushed it down the toilet and hoped that it returned somehow to treat your fish! as soon as you added the meds to your tank, the carbon removed them, so your treatment was for naught. sorry do not mean to sound so mean. anytime that you add meds to a tank you do need to remove the carbon from the filter. keep the filter running with the pad, sponge or sleeve whatever the filtration requires. just NO CARBON! after treatment has been completed, replace the carbon into the filter to remove the remaining meds in the tank. that is where you went wrong.

feel bad cause i did not make it clear enough to remove the carbon. after answering so many posts i tend to leave things out i guess.

maggie

 

[Jimthefish]

Over stocking can cause very short lived but none the less stressful ammonia and nitrite spikes. This could be your problem. These spikes may only last for a few hours os you can test and test and still miss them. Once the fish are stressed they're subject to every ill going.

 

[sgtbirch]

My tank isnt really that overstocked. Just 2 fish they are just getting a little too territorial

 

[sgtbirch]

oK NOW i AM MAD I didnt remove the carbon as I normally would have. But the guy at the LFS told me not too with Mardel products as they are formulated to work with the carbon installed. I skimmed ove rhte instructions before medicating but I decided to read them more thouroghly after I read you post and this is what I found.
Coppersafe-remove carbon if under 5 days old. Maracyn- remove carbon if under 5 days old. Maracide- remove carbon(which I did before starting this med last night). Firdt of all my carbon rarely gets over 14 days old, 21 at the most. So its my fault. Maggie I read your posts often and I have seen mention of pulling out carbon but I thought there was an exception. Guess not. Learned a valuable lesson. I think when I have more time I will start a thread GOOD?BAD advice given by the LFS. Speaking of which I was down in your area today and looked up Cichlid World (not an easy place ti find) especially when youve never been to garden city and cichid world not in the phone book. Plus no sign out front. Anyway Its was closed today!! Bummer. My female is acting better today shes starting a new construction project in the gravel(first time shes ever done this). But the male is more sedentary than ever. Niether are eating though I hope the meds work it will be the first time ever to bring a fish back to good health so wish me luck

 

[semper fi]

cichlid world is hard to find and the only day they are closed is on tuesday. sorry!

i would keep up with the meds without the carbon in the filter. add some salt to the tank. one tablespoon per every five gallons of water dissolved before putting into the tank. water changes of 10% every day, adding salt to the amount of replacement water only. should do the trick. as for them not eating, considering that a female holding will go up to three weeks without eating, they will not starve. offer the food, but if it is not eaten within 5 minutes remove it.

keep us posted.

maggie

 

[sgtbirch]

I am doing everything you say I only had 1 talespoon per 10 and will boost it up to every 5. If all this works it will be well worth it since this fish was the reason I bought the 75 gallon. Thanks so much