Please Help!

[Emilie]

Hello everyone.......

I have an emergency, I noticed yesterday that one of my Mollies had pop-eye (not gone cloudy yet) I went to the pet shop and brought from the advice of the 'expert' some medication. It was for finrot but he said It was the same bacteria that caused Pop-eye. I followed the manufacturers instructions and 90% of my fish are dead in less than 24 hours!!
The medication was JBL Ektol fluid for finrot (live in Germany, so you may not of heard of it!)
The instuctions said;
Change 2/3 water
Do not use water conditioners (although I had to use something to remove the chlorine....Aquasafe)
Since my water hardness is 22 and it says use 125% dosage if above 15 degrees
10ml per 40l = 90ml for 350l

I have a 350l Juwel trigon with 1 external filter (eihem) and the jumbo Juwel internal filter, I have turned the external filter off as stated in the intsructions due to damage to the cleansing bacteria, I have not fed the fish, as again, it states not to ( it had only been 1 day)

My water is in good condition and I have checked this and everything is normal, apart from lacking iorn, needed for healthy plants. I was planning to add this when I had completed the medication.

I am sooo upset and angry, I know they are just fish but you do learn to love them....you guys know what I mean!!
Not to mention the hundreds of euro's worth of fish...... some of which I had had for 5+ years

Tetra's - neons and phantoms
Coolies
Catfish
Mollies
Frogs
Swordtails
Male Beta
Guppies
Danios
Loaches
Siamese and Chinese suckers
Hatchets
And lots of fry from the livebearers.....All Dead!!!

What should I do about the petshops advice.......should I complain.....is it their fault and why did they all die.....???
There is NO doubt that I got the dose wrong and I done everything that I should of done.....They were all eating well and seemed to be happy apart from the one with the pop-eye (sad, but still eating)
I have removed the 5 fish that are still alive and set up an emergeny tank even though I have a feeling these will die too!

Please help me,
Warm regards,
Emilie x

 

[WILDER]

Check the med box to see if the med was out of date.
Did the fish start darting around the tank and gasping before they died.
Sounds like there something in the med that was toxic to fish if most of them have died.
Immediate water change and run some black carbon.
<a href="http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?...products_id=135" target="_blank">http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?...products_id=135</a>

I wondering if the water conditioner acted with an ingredient in the med bottle of they told you not to use it.
JBl Meds are normally good.

Did you add the correct amount of med and not overdose.

 

[WILDER]

This is what the med treats.
JBL Ektol fluid


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General disinfectant against fish diseases in fresh water
Ektolfluid fluid is an exceptionally effective disinfectant against bacterial and parasitic diseases in aquarium fish. Ektolfluid fights bacteria which cause diseases such as finrot, ulcers, mouth fungus, protruding eyes and drosy.

Ektolfluid is also beneficial in cases where the fishes behaviour indicates the early stages of a disease (e.g. sticky fins, rubbing against objects) which can as yet not be diagnosed.

It prevents secondary fungus infections.

 

[Davo86]

Do you know the exact water stats? if the filter has been off for the last 12 hours it is possible that there was an ammonia spike?
although i'd doubt that would kill all of the fish that quickly.

Any product telling you to turn off the filtration has to be questioned IMO

 

[WILDER]

I agree you need aeraton in the tank with meds as reduces 02 in the water.
Did you run an airstone.

 

[WILDER]

Scroll down to 18.
I think what it meant was remove mature filter sponges and just run some filter floss in the filter.
Also to keep your mature sponges beneifical bacteria alive run the filter in a bucket of tank water.

http/www.jbl.de/dl_documents/uk/uk_WWW4.pdf

 

[Emilie]

Thank you for your help everyone.
There is no doubt that the dosage was correct I have checked it again and again.....10ml per 40litres of water = 90ml for 350l tank!!
The date is fine; 01.2012.
I had to use aquasafe otherwise the fish would of died from chlorine posioning and the advice was that this was OK to use with the Ektolfluid.

It is pointless putting the carbon and doing a water change...there are no fish left in the tank.
I did not turn the filter off.....I have turned 1 off, I have an external and an built in filter and the built in filter I left running with the power head so it would not cause damage to the good bacteria in the external filter.

The water parameters are;
PH 8
Temp 25.5
Hardness 22
carbonate hardness 6
Ammonia 0.5
Nitrite<0.1
Nitrate <0.1
phosphate <0.1
Iron 0.1 I am aware of this and i need to add Iorn for the plants.
Copper 0
Chlorine <0.02

Thanks again,
regards,
Emilie x

 

[WILDER]

The meds knocked your water stats.
So there was plenty of aeration in the tank.
Did you notice the fish gasping, darting around the tank, or swim upside down.
Sorry about all your losses R.I.P.

 

[Emilie]

Thank you for your sympathy, i have buried them in my garden....sad i know, but i could not bring myself to flush them down the toilet!!
No, I did not notice any of the fish gasping, darting around nor swimming upside down. I noticed that they were dead when I got home from work today. When I went to bed they all seemed fine...some were even trying to get their wicked way with eachother...livebearers eh...always at it!!!

Do you think I should complain to the pet shop...was it their fault and do you think they might replace some of the fish that I have lost??

Warm regards,
Emilie x

 

[WILDER]

If the med has something toxic in it would of expected to see darting and gasping for breath, swimming upside down.
Even if something had gotten into the tank the fish would of been acting like I said above.
Any excess slime on the fish wondering if the med altered the ph fast or something.
Lack of aeration the fish would be gasping
Even bad water quality would of seen signs of gasping and darting.
Any equipment fuzzed or blown.

What your location as sometimes it can be your water supply.
Did you do a water change before you added the med,

 

[WILDER]

You would have to prove that it was the lfs and I can't see what they have done wrong really.
Only fault is that its best to issolate sick fish and treat in a hospital tank.

 

[drobbyb]

Just curious but what were your water stats before you added them med? Especially pH. If the water change effected the pH too fast (more than .2 in 24 hours) for your fish to cope it will cause high losses in most fish. In the wild fish are exposed to almost constant changes in pH however they can swin to another area that is more suitable. In aquaria fish are forced to liv in whatever pH is in your tank. If for some reason you missed a water change or went a long time between waterchanges, the next waterchange you do will give a pH swing. If you changed 2/3 of the water like recommended this effect is multiplied and a large pH change may have happened. Over time your KH (buffering capacity) gets used up by biological processes (nitrifying bacteria come to mind) and this causes your pH to drop. In my case, I have extremely soft water and I must buffer my water (I use crushed coral) so if I go longer than a week my KH drops to 1 and my pH drops to 6.0. The crushed coral combats this by keeping my KH above 4. A KH of 4 is the minimum to avoid a pH crash. I recommend testing weekly to avoid this in the future.

 

[Emilie]

Thanks guys,

that defo explains why all the fish have died with the sudden dramatic Ph change. I did do a 2/3 water change so this would explain it!!.... did not think about that one...oops!!

On a good note, the 5 fish that have survived are doing good........one of the swordtails dropped her fry this morning, 28 babies to rear...yeahhhh!!
I went and spoke to the lfs and they have said what until I have done numerous water changes and the water is good again then he will give me lots of fish to help me replace some of the fish that I have lost (I have been a good, loyal customer, spending thousands over the year!!)

One of the fish that did survive was the one that caused all this....the one with the pop-eye...sod's law ehhh, anyway he now is all better, no sign of a bulging eye!!

Soooo glad I found this website, it's really good advice, keep it up guys.

Warm regards,

Emilie xx

 

[WILDER]

Congrats on fry.
Weird that the fish that was ill survived.
I would invest in some liquid test kits to take a look at your water stats now.
Test tap ph.