Not Tropical... But Newbie Needs Help!

[fish_virgins]

Hi

I need some help please...

Am completely new to fish and just got a small tank with what was 5 WCM's... but is now 4!

Tank was set up for a week with filter, gravel, plants etc b4 populating and all levels were fine. Added fish, checked 1 week on, and ammonia was up to approx 1ppm.

So... been doing daily partial changes (25-50% varying)...

Level has dropped a bit (maybe 0.5ppm now), but in the meantime one of the WCM's went all pale and was very lethargic. Tonite, i thought we'd lost him (as in i couldnt find him) but then spotted him stuck to the filter inlet. He was so weak he couldnt free himself from the current, so we had to pluck him out and decided to put him out of his missery

Before disposing of him tho, we noted a red blotch on his body - he was also very pale. I thought it was kinda like his skin was semi transparent and u could see his innards, but my better half said no... he's got some disease... looks like there's summit in the spot.

Have checked couple of books we have and cant work out what it would be, but am concerned we dont loose more of the shoal.

Any ideas?

Should we be adding any treatment to the water (other than the usual safe water and safe guard) to prevent the spread of disease/kill it etc?

Thx in advance

Lee n Kelly
fish_murderers

 

[diademhill]

Have you tested for nitrites?
these could be spiking by now & are even nastier for fish than the ammonia.
Keep up the daily changes - How big is the tank & what filter does it have?
I would just use the safe water (dechlorinator) as there is a chance the safe guard is slowing down your tank's cycle.

 

[WILDER]

When you use fish to cycle a tank they are know guarantee they will make it, as the cycle takes alot out of them as they have to go through the ammonia stage then the nitrite stage.
The red patch could of been septicemia, plus being pale is a sign of stress.
Buy some liquid test kits, increase aeration and add some salt to the tank.

 

[riverman444]

I think your nitrite levels are up. The red spot on the fish was probably the suction of the filter vent...kind of like a hicky.

You should invest in a good test kit if you haven't already done so.

 

[fish_virgins]

...and add some salt to the tank.

SALT?!

to answer the questions...

not tested for nitrite or nitrate since saturday which is when we did all 4 tests (pH, ammonia, Nitr(ia)te)... discovered the ammonia was up so been doing that test daily since, together with the water changes.

The tank is small... 30 litres i think it is... not sure what the filter is, the whole lot came from 'pets at home' (not as a package)... the filter is very quiet tho, black, suckers onto side of tank... probably described 99.9% of filters there... lol

What does the salt do? how much should i put in? we only have rock salt in the house... lol. Oh, or some nice smoked salt

To be honest, the other 4 WCM's seem fine... they were dancing about quite happy a min ago.

How long will it take for the tank to settle into it's rhythm? We were told set it up for a week, and then we could get the fish. which is what we did

lee n kelly
fish_virgins

 

[WILDER]

http/www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/...?article_id=335