Somethings Killing My Fish And I Don't Know What!

[Kev_A]

I really don't know what's happening in my tank at the moment, for starters it's a Fluval Roma 240,

The water parameters are as follows:

PH - 7.2
Amonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20

I have 2 airstones in there + a powerhead

It's all been over the past week when this has been happening, I had

6 clown loaches
1 Red tail black shark
1 Sailfin plec
4 Angels
2 Pearl Gourami's
2 Gold Gourami's
1 Three spot gourami
1 Black ghost knife fish
1 Leopard Danio (he was in the bag with some other fish when I got home)
1 Juvenile fire eel
2 Paradise fish
18 Glowlight tetras
5 Black widow Tetras
+ numerous small species of shrimp

over this past week I have lost the following


1 Clown loach (possibly 2 as now I can only ever see 4 at any one time) - Went very thin and refused to eat, in the end had pale blotches all over him.

My Red tail black black shark - usually very bold black and red went pale and was swimming on the spot constantly until I came in and found him dead.

My Fire Eel - As per my previous post, he was acting strange and also showed the same pale patches as the loach + had a slightly lumpy belly but he was still eating so got him into my breeder net, he panicked a bit at first but then settled down, after a day he was dead

Last night my Pearl Gouramis weren't looking too clever, both sat near the surface, dorsal fins down with the same pale blotches on their backs, last night I also noticed some of my fish have whitespot which I am convinced is a result of adding water from Pets at home, I'm always really careful when it xomes to things like this, after floating bags with new stock I always net the fish out of the bags and release them into my tank, on friday I'd bought a couple of shrimp and 3 clams from PAH, as I was tending to the clams the shrimp bag sunk and released the water into the tank, all of a sudden my fish have whitespot!

Last night I took the advice of a friend to treat the whitespot, I'm using Protozin, but as I have my knife fish and loaches I was advised not to use a full dose, on the bottle it says 5ML will treat 75 litres so I added 10ML, I was also advised to raise the temperature of my tank slightly up to about 30 as apparently the parasites don't like this (temp was only on 26 so adjusted it to 28), it also says on the bottle to use on days 1, 2, 3 & 6. I added 10ML yesterday, 10ML today, presumably add another 10ML tommorow, leave thursday and friday then add again on saturday, my mate also said that on Sunday I should do a big water change before starting the meds again on the monday.

Came home from work tonight and one of my Pearl Gouramis (the smaller one) had disappeared, after observing closer the larger Pearl was acting strange, didn't seem to have the strength to balance himself and ended up on his face in the front left corner of the tank, as I scooped him up he only had a couple more breaths left in him then that was him done aswell

At the moment one of my Clown loaches looks the same as the 1st one that died, does alot of hovering by himself and is very pale and not eating despite me adding the usual bloodworm, sinkers and flake, my 3 spot Gourami is also acting different, he usually hides and lurk at the back of the tank, he's quite jittery and darts for cover if you approach, he still does this but is not hiding as much.

I'm really really upset and fed up now, my tank was perfect, just the way I wanted it, and now this, I feel really disheartned and don't know what to do

PLEASE! Help me if you can!

Kev

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons is the tank as you have alot of fish.

Are the fish acting ok with the full dose of whitespot med as I would of gone in with half dose first.
Have you increased aeration in the tank.

The white blotches are they beneath the skin.
The clown loach that went skinny did it lose weight due to not eating.

Info taken from this link.
http/www.bollmoraakvarieklubb.org/artikl...own%20loach.htm

Loss of weight or "skinny disease" is also quite common in Clown loaches. Typical symptoms are loss of weight and behaviour known as "knifeback" even though the fish is acting and eating normally. This sickness is more difficult to treat, it comes from a parasite organism (spironucleus) in the intestines of the same type that is thought to cause the so called "discus disease". I have successfully removed this disease from newly imported fish by using Spirohexol from JBL in the form of tablets. I have taken one tablet and crushed it and dissolve it in as little water as possible. I have then used discus granules which have been soaked in the solution. It becomes like a thick porridge after a short time when the food has drawn in the liquid. I then feed this to the sick fishes, after a week it looks like the sickness is gone. For the best possible effect do not feed with any other food. Flagyl (Metronidazole) also helps fight against this sickness but at least here in Sweden it is on prescription and can be a little difficult to come by.



Apart from this Clown loaches are not more susceptible than other fish, the above sickness usually occurs in fish that have been stressed during transport or subjected to other stress factors like cold water or poor aquarium hygiene. Do not buy fish that look emaciated! Well looked after fish are seldom sick. To quote my friend Elisabeth Hallberg; "the best way to avoid sickness is to keep the fish healthy".

 

[bronzecat]

Hi

Wilder - Roma 240 is 240 lts, 48"x16"x20" 52 gallonsish?

Hi Kev A

How long has the tank been set up? And what filter are you running?

I would say that a 4ft tank is really only suitable for 1 clown loach, as they can attain 16+ inches.

have you added any fish recently?

Just noticed you added shrimp and clams recently. I really dont know they can carry whitespot, but i'm sure someone will enlighten us.

 

[WILDER]

Thanks bronzecat.

The tanks overstocked than.
Best to over filter a tank if tanks slightly overstocked.
I agree clown loaches need 90 to 100 gallon tanks.
What fluval filter are you using.

 

[Kev_A]

How many gallons is the tank as you have alot of fish.

Are the fish acting ok with the full dose of whitespot med as I would of gone in with half dose first.
Have you increased aeration in the tank.

The white blotches are they beneath the skin.
The clown loach that went skinny did it lose weight due to not eating.

Info taken from this link.
<a href="http/www.bollmoraakvarieklubb.org/artikl...own%20loach.htm" target="_blank">http/www.bollmoraakvarieklubb.org/artikl...own%20loach.htm</a>

Loss of weight or "skinny disease" is also quite common in Clown loaches. Typical symptoms are loss of weight and behaviour known as "knifeback" even though the fish is acting and eating normally. This sickness is more difficult to treat, it comes from a parasite organism (spironucleus) in the intestines of the same type that is thought to cause the so called "discus disease". I have successfully removed this disease from newly imported fish by using Spirohexol from JBL in the form of tablets. I have taken one tablet and crushed it and dissolve it in as little water as possible. I have then used discus granules which have been soaked in the solution. It becomes like a thick porridge after a short time when the food has drawn in the liquid. I then feed this to the sick fishes, after a week it looks like the sickness is gone. For the best possible effect do not feed with any other food. Flagyl (Metronidazole) also helps fight against this sickness but at least here in Sweden it is on prescription and can be a little difficult to come by.



Apart from this Clown loaches are not more susceptible than other fish, the above sickness usually occurs in fish that have been stressed during transport or subjected to other stress factors like cold water or poor aquarium hygiene. Do not buy fish that look emaciated! Well looked after fish are seldom sick. To quote my friend Elisabeth Hallberg; "the best way to avoid sickness is to keep the fish healthy".

Hi, as I said I'm not using a full dose. I'm using roughly 2/3 of a dose and yes at the moment *touches wood* they are ok, I don't really have anyway of increasing aeration in the tank, yes the white blotches appeared to be beneath the skin, the clown loach that died, yes I'm presuming it's because he wasn't eating, he wouldn't eat anything even after I managed to get him in my breeder net.

Hi

Wilder - Roma 240 is 240 lts, 48"x16"x20" 52 gallonsish?

Hi Kev A

How long has the tank been set up? And what filter are you running?

I would say that a 4ft tank is really only suitable for 1 clown loach, as they can attain 16+ inches.

have you added any fish recently?

Just noticed you added shrimp and clams recently. I really dont know they can carry whitespot, but i'm sure someone will enlighten us.

Hi, the tank has been set up since the beginning of November, I thought Clown Loaches could only attain hat sort of size in the wild? I would never keep one by itself, from everything I've read they are realy social/community fish and need to be kept in groups, I don't think shrimp and clams carry whitespot but as I said I don't think it's came from the the creatures themselves, more from the water in the bag that they came in that I spilled into the tank.

Thanks bronzecat.

The tanks overstocked than.
Best to over filter a tank if tanks slightly overstocked.
I agree clown loaches need 90 to 100 gallon tanks.
What fluval filter are you using.

It's a Fluval 305 external filter, would adding an internal power filter to run alongside the 305 help at all?

 

[Kev_A]

Also, just to add, my black angel appears to have something growing on his eye, sort of a white blob, any ideas?

 

[WILDER]

With all the fish it would be wise to get another filter to help out.
How long do you have to go with the whitespot med.
The white blob does it look like slime or hard, can you describe it abit more.

 

[Kev_A]

Hard to tell, it looks hard I would said, like a clear spot, TBH it looks like some kind of cateract

When I rang my LFS today they said try adding aquarium salt for the angel, how much do I add though?

The stuff I have is "Crystal clear" Aquarium salt

The is what's written on the bag....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Crystal clear" Aquarium salt is specially prepared in extra fine granules so as to dissolve swiftly.
Tonic salt is beneficial to a great majority of tropical and cold water fish.
To set up new aquariums, use an average of one teaspoonful to three gallons of water, do not forget to add tonic salt when you do a water change. A stronger dosage may be given to brackish water fish.

To hatch brine shrimps Add 2.5 oz of salt to 1/2 gallon of water at 80 deg. F put into a glass or plastic container and aerate vigorously for 24 to 36 hrs.

To Steralize aquariums Fill tank with a very strong solution of salt water and leave for 30 minutes then drain and rinse.

This special mix of "Crystal clear" salts give fish a natrual defense against bacteria and therefore is a good deterrent against tail rot and fungus, and may be made into a dip of 2 teaspoonfulls per 1/2 gallon dipping the fish for up to 15 minutes, remove the fish at the first sign of distress. Certain fish cannot tolerate a lot of salt in the water if in doubt ask your dealer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How much do I use?

 

[Kev_A]

Going to buy a Fluval U3/U4 tonight, managed to snap a pic of the black angel too, this is on both his eyes now, exactly the same on both sides, it covers the whole eye and comes to a peak in the centres, doesn't look pretty at all (Excuse the water, I'd just added some Daphnia and he came out

)

One of my other angels doesn't look too happy either, think he has fungus growing on his nose, Protozin treats this too I believe, my LFS reckon after I've finished this cycle of Protozin I should switch to Myxazin as even with a full dose it's safe to use with the knife, CL's & Inverts going to pick some of that up tonight too

 

[joshjames]

i had the same type of eye on one of my platys who also had whitespot and with a few dosages of white spot treatment it was cleared fine

 

[Davo86]

The angel looks to have pop-eye which can be brought on by a parasite or bacterial infection,
I don't think the tonic salt that you have will do any good tbh

The clamped fins and patchy blotches also point to Parasites

 

[Kev_A]

I don't think it's popeye mate, his eyes don't appear to be raised from his head, it just looks like there's something sitting on top of his eyes on both sides

 

[Netty]

Definately looks like Popeye to me too. We've found using Myxazin clears this really well.

 

[Kev_A]

Well I've now added a Fluval U3 to my tank to run alongside the existing Fluval 305 external, is this sufficient filtration?

I've also added 12 Tbsp of API aquarium salt and I've bought some Myxazin ready to start using on monday after the Protozin course has finished and I've done a water change

 

[WILDER]

See if the whitespot med clear is up. Eyes can go cloudy with parasites.
popeye the eye will look swollen like its bulging out.

Good link to popeye.
[URL="http/www.flippersandfins.net/pop-eye.htm"]http/www.flippersandfins.net/pop-eye.htm[/URL]

Can get whitepsot on the eyes aswell, do they look like little white dots all joined up.