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I need help! Here is what happened. My Tank was at about 86 F mistakenly..that was turned down to 80. Now..I got a small bout with ick somehow...cured that. But I lost all 5 of my red phantoms...they sensitive to the meds? Now I am losing my entire school of lemon tetras.. before the ones that died left.. they got large... ulcers right on their cauduncle area..right before their tail fin. I am down to 3 from 9...and one has an ulcer.. the other 2 are alright. I also lost my large female angel fish]:|]:| not sure why.. the night before she died, she was up a the surface.. heavy breathing...no other physical signs of illness. This is all in one tank. I am now treating with a bacterial medicine...took the filters out(whisper filters)... I mean this has all happened this month.. I lost a platty and paradise fish to dropsy. It has to be a disease because the tank parameters are all correct..after several testings... Im frustrated! My male angel lost his mate.. and im loosing my schools! What is going on!?? ]:|]:|

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)

No one will be able to pinpoint the problem, I can only guess...

But educated guesses must have more info before any kind of accuracy can be achieved.

How did the tank get to 86??

How quick did you reduce the temp to 80??

How large is the tank and what type of filtration??

What type of test kit do you use, liquid or strips??

What brand of ich med was dosed and how often??

I just noticed this post from you awhile back:

--Jungle Fizz Tabs--

"What do you guys think of these meds? I just used it to clear out some ick i had in the tank.. they are kind of cool.. but left my water cloudy...wonder if i should do a water change... But I would like to know what you guys think.. or if you have used them."

Something tells me you had a problem with the Jungle "Fizzers".

--garyroland.



Last edited by garyroland at 31-Dec-2004 15:16

I have to agree with Gary your first problem was the rapid change in temperature, then something must have been wrong the the brand of ich meds you used. I would go ahead and do water changes maybe 10-20% each day...hopefully this will remove the help remove the meds from the tank...and be careful about adjusting the tanks temp...I wish you the best of luck. Heidi

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"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

It hasn't been established that the temp was reduced too rapidly, Heidi...

That's why I was asking.

--garyroland.

As soon as I sought out the temp.. i turned the heater down.. so it was a "self lowering" temp change.. if that makes sense..dropped through out the rest of the day. The first fizz tabs I used.. treated the Ick. that has disappeared... the thing is.. is I lost the paradise fish and a platty to what i am pretty sure was dropsy. i read that this was not a contagious disease...i could have been mistaken.. but I am still not sure. they both had bloat/scales sticking out/ but the paradise fish had the ulcer..and now my lemons are dying.. each having some type of ulcer but no bloat. The tank getting to 86... must have been an error with the thermometer..we had moved the tank..and fiddles with stuff...accident...
The tank is a 60 gallon, and i just changed filters.. i had a marineland canister with bio wheeles.. now to a whisper HOB
I use liquid testing
and like i said above..the fizz ick treatment worked. I just think i have another type of illness in the tank that the ick meds cant destroy. If you can tell me if dropsy is contagious.. i think that may be the problem.. As of now.. the tank got med'd today..and i will see what happens tomorrow.

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)

Does the meds you were using warn they can kill off Biological filtration, the symptoms you are describing sound almost like ammonia poisoning.

test the ammonia level, if it's high, then do a water change, if it's really high then a 50% might be a good idea.. IMO of course.

Did all this happen after you moved the tank???...

No one really knows for sure if Dropsy, a kidney failure problem, is contageous or not. I attribute the problem to bad water conditions but in the same breath I've seen the problem appear in good water conditions.

Consequently, and some would disagree, I believe Dropsy is a kidney disease that can be contageous, especially when more than one trop in a tank dies from it.

Skin ulcers can appear from ammonia burns when a tank's cycle balance becomes disrupted and good bacteria die off.

If all this happened after you moved the tank, the reason for the trop's sickness may be evident.

--garyroland.

Well I tested my ammonia....not right after i moved the tank..and by moving the tank I mean that I re arranged my room... so we completely emptied the tank with about inces of water at the most....but the ammonia level about a week after moving it was at 0... so i dont think that was a problem. Bacterial wise...i just changed filters.. so i didnt kill off any bacteria, this was happening on my older filter. So i am at a loss at where this is going. 2 days have passed now without any deaths...which is good...but a lemon tetra still has its wound...im hoping the melafix will help to have the scales revamp themselves...i hope...any other ideas of this?

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)

You still did not answer my question...

Did the problems begin after the tank was almost empied and refilled???

Skin ulcers can be healed with the combination of Melafix, an anticeptic, and Tetracycline, an antibiotic.

--garyroland.

The problems were before I moved the tank

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)

Ah...then that would be a sick tank that demands a 35% water change and more long-term attention to good water quality...

You're dosing antibiotics now, you claim, so continue the dosing for a two week period and do your weekly water changes making sure to remove any carbon from the filtration system.

Melafix can be added but for just a week and at a low concentration

--garyroland.