Sick Neons And Cardinals

[Shaun]

Hi,

7 of my neons/cardinals have died today. The remaining six have small white spots all over their bodies and 1 of them has the top part of his/her caudal fin missing. They all seemed to be fine last night. Does anyone know what the problem might be and whether i can get something to treat it?

My tank stats are;

Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 20 ppm
p.H - 7.2

The temperature is 26 degrees

The tank is 22g with 3 live plants and a large piece of bogwood (there is a picture of it in members aqariums under "my first tank" if that helps). The fish that are in the tank are 4 guppies, 2 dwarf gourami's and there was 6 neon tetras and 6 cardinal tetras.

Thanks in advance

Shaun

 

[WILDER]

If they look like there sprinkled in salt its whitespot.
Need a med but check instructions well as neon tetra's don't tolerate whitespot meds to well even have to half dose.
Turn temp up to 30.
Increase aeration in the tank as the med and high temp will reduce 02 in the water.
Remove black carbon if you use it.
Finrot is common on top of whitespot, the med should help with it.

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

 

[Shaun]

Ok thanks, Turning the temp up to 30 degrees - will my other fish be ok at this temperature? 1 of my female guppies has just started to give birth will she be ok? Are my other fish likely to become ill aswell?

 

[WILDER]

As long as you increase aeration she should be fine, are you keeping the fry in the tank, if so I would only half dose with fry and neons are funny with parasite meds anyway.
When you have a whitespot outbreak you have to treat the whole tank.

 

[Shaun]

Ok then. No ive moved all the fry over to my fry tank. As for the black carbon, in my internal filter i have a big green sponge, a big blue one and a small black one with a thin white one on top. The black one needs to be removed yea?

Thanks again for your help wilder

 

[WILDER]

Sounds like a juwel tank, yes the black sponge is the carbon sponge that removes meds, so that wants removing, that all I use black carbon for it to remove meds.
The green sponge is the nitrate sponge and not proven if they work, have to change the black carbon and the green nitrate sponge every six weeks so it turns out to be an expensive job.
You could always buy one of the blue softer juwel sponges instead of using the green one.
Just soak the sponge in tank water and squeeze some bacteria from the old sponges onto the new blue sponge.
Though I wouldn't bother adding the blue sponge till you have got rid of the whiespot.
Leave the blue sponges in the filter chamber that's your bacteria colony sponges.

http/www.juwel.co.uk/maint1.htm

Juwel Nitrate Removal Sponge Standard

Change the nitrate sponge every 6 weeks to maintain optimum water conditions.
Suitable for Rio 240, Vision 250, Vision 260, Panorama 200

price £3.99
more info and bigger pic...


Just another juwel product to get there money out of us
Juwel Nitrate Removal Sponge Standard

Juwel Nitrate Removal Sponge Standard
This sponge effectively removes nitrate from your aquarium therefore dramatically improving conditions for both fish and plant. Less nitrates means less algae, better plant growth and healthier fish, all the things we strive for as fish keepers.The Juwel Nitrate Removal sponge will reduce the nitrate to zero, test the water regularly to monitor nitrate levels and change the sponge every 6 weeks to maintain optimum conditions in the aquarium.
Suitable for Rio 240, Vision 250, Vision 260, Panorama 200

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[Shaun]

Yea it is a juwel, ive got a new blue sponge anyway so il swop it with the green one like you said. i havent done this before as i wasnt sure whether it would be ok without the green 1

Thanks!

 

[WILDER]

I don't even buy them white filter pads by juwel that remove fine particals.
I just buy a big bag of filter matting and put in in the top of the chamber.
Alot cheaper with running three tanks.

Yea it is a juwel, ive got a new blue sponge anyway so il swop it with the green one like you said. i havent done this before as i wasnt sure whether it would be ok without the green 1

Thanks!
If you think it keep your nitrates down keep using it.
But it's alot of money every six weeks if it dosn't do much.
To keep nitrates down a gravel vac and water change once a week.

 

[Shaun]

Ok thanks for that info. Il get some med tomorrow for the whitespot from my LFS. Hopefully i wont loose anymore fish.

Shaun

 

[WILDER]

Turn temp up now to get going.
Get the med fast as whitespot soon kills a fish as it destroys the gills.
Good luck.

 

[Shaun]

The temp is up now, how long do i leave the temp at 30 degrees for? Im gettin the med as soon as my LFS opens tomorrow.

 

[WILDER]

Best to leave it at 30 even when the spos have gone, some fish keepers treat whitespot for an extra week after spots have gone.

 

[Shaun]

ok then thanks for all the help