Please Help - My Fish Are Dying!

[joloco]

in the last week two female gouramis, 1 german ram and 1 betta have died- what's wrong?

i was treating the tank for white spot (for a week - temp to 30 degrees and white spot medication - no salt as i have khulie loaches) which the german ram had developed. two of my gold rams have also developed white spot and one looks as if her fins have just rotted away. my betta had no signs of white spot but again his fins were turning white and looked as if they had been shredded - the male gold ram was attacking him (but this is only since the fin whitening) and then he died. the female gouramis had no white spot but died overnight for no apparent reason! all of these fish had stopped eating or were eating less and less during the week before their death.

my water chemistry hasn't changed - the ammonia was up to .2 before a water change but i guess this is due to the fish rotting over night and during the day as they seem to manage to die when i am asleep or at work. i'm pretty sure the white spot medication is working as my army of pond snails have been dying off.

does anyone know what might be wrong or know what i should do to save my remaining fish?
please please help!

 

[WILDER]

Have you increased aeration in the tank with the high temp and med.
Whitespot can cause bacterial infections on top and finrot is very common on top of whitespot.
Do a water change, and can you post your stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph.
Remove the snails as dead snails can be toxic to fish.

 

[joloco]

ammonia - .1
ph - 8.5

nitrate, nitrite results tomorrow as i've just discovered my test kit has been 'borrowed'

female gold ram dead

i have increased the aeration and had a really through clean of my filter and components as i noticed it was running slowly

 

[WILDER]

Sorry bless him R.I.P. Is that ammonia reading 01 or a higher reading on the chart.
Good filters soon clog up, you can tell when the filter dosnt seem to be pushing the water out as fast, a sign of some maintance needed.

 

[joloco]

its the lowest on the chart - described as 0.1

 

[WILDER]

Ok that fine, that will be the med knocking the bacteria colony in the filter abit.

 

[joloco]

ok my other water results are

nitrite 0 mg/litre
nitrate 75 mg/litre


pretty high nitrates!!! why!

 

[WILDER]

High nitrates need to look at size of tank in gallon or litres, full fish stock of which type and how many.
Filter how many gallons does it turn over and hour.
And maintance routine on the tank.

 

[joloco]

i'm not sure how many it turns over...

tank size is 100 litres and stocked with the follwoing:

2 x khulie loach
1 x male dwarf gourami
1 x male gold ram
3 x leapord corries
2 x Apistogamma trif.

3 cherry shrimps

some pond snails

i'm not sure how many it turns over...

tank size is 100 litres and stocked with the follwoing:

2 x khulie loach
1 x male dwarf gourami
1 x male gold ram
3 x leapord corries
2 x Apistogamma trif.

3 cherry shrimps

some pond snails

i do a 25% water change once a week

could it be an internal parasite of some kind?

the dwarf gourami has long white stringy poo hanging from him at the minute.

 

[WILDER]

What your tap nitrate reading and when did you last check your sponges in the filter.
What make is the filter.
What do you feed the fish as long stringy poo can mean a number of things, is the fish bloated.

 

[falcodarkzz]

If the gourami has poo like that hanging from him then qaurintine him, it is most likely a parasite.
I had one and it claimed two of my fish, its important you qaurintine him.

 

[joloco]

its an aqua via ar 620 internal filter so i assume its made by aqua via.... and i can't find anywhere in the product literature how many gallons it turns over an hour!!

fish get fed flakes and some discus sinking pellets which a friend gave me which they love and very occasionally lettuce.

the fish look thin actually not bloated at all.

 

[WILDER]

Going thin can be a sign of internal parasites.
Can you issolate him though the other fish may be infected now, check the anus to see if it look enlarged or red and inflamed.
Need frozen foods in there diet as well, feeding to many dried foods which lead to constipation.

http/www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/nematodes.shtml

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=142441

 

[joloco]

yep the male gourami does have a redden anus, the male apistogamma trif. has become sluggish since yesterday and has sat on the bottom of the tank for the rest of the day. he hasn't eaten since yesterday either. As i possibly have two fish that are infected - should i isolate them or just treat the entire tank?

 

[WILDER]

Best to treat the whole tank, as fish can even get infected by sucking on the infected fish poo, good luck.