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OK, I am having a problem . . . the majority of the fish population in my 180 gallon aquarium has started dying off . . . and I am not sure why.

First thing I noticed was that a TinFoil Barb had some haze on his eyes, but he was swimming around and eating great. I found him dead the next day.

Later on, I saw some of my clown loaches had signs of Ich popping up . . . and then my Green Terror and various other fish in the tank, and then . . . other fish started getting haze on their eyes, and a Silver Dollar even has a white fuzz/haze spot on his side.

What is this? I tried putting a little Ich medicine in, very little since I didn't want to hurt my Plecos. or clown loaches . . . but now all but one of my clown loaches is dead, all Plecos. are dead, my Pacu is fine (yes, he will eventually outgrow this tank, I know), and that's it. Everything else looks sick . . . convicts are showing hazy eyes, etc.

What do I do?

Perform a 40% water change of the same temp and pH and dose "Fungus Eliminator" according to bottle directions...

Wide-spread fungus infections take a while to correct so be patient.

--garyroland.

Will the medicine be harmful to my remaining Pleco. and Clown Loach?

Since Clown Loaches have no tolerance to certain meds, there's a good chance the Clown will become sick...

In your case, where a tank becomes sick with disease, it's always a tossup whether to save the many or risk the few.

An antibiotic can be dosed instead like Maracyn Plus but I still can't guarantee the safety of the Clown.

--garyroland.

IME fungus = bad water. . . please read the sticky at the top of the hospital forum (the one with the name in caps) and answer the questions on there. looking at just the stock you mentioned either that is a really HUGE tank or you have some major stocking issues too. no sense dosing meds without fixing the cause of infection.

Ok, sorry, missed that the tank is a 180. . . either way your tank is seriously mis-stocked IMO. I'm always amazed at the people who will post "Ok I know I'm doing something wrong here but forget about that for a moment, MY FISH ARE SICK!" or something along those lines. . . *shrug*

Last edited by trystianity at 19-Nov-2004 12:00

"no sense dosing meds without fixing the cause of infection."...

What exactly does that mean??

Do not dose meds to stop infection??

"Fix" infection by not dosing meds??

Any other silly comments??

--garyroland.

I'm not exactly sure what part of my last post was "silly," but just to be PERFECTLY clear, I'll explain exactly what I meant.


From the first post, I gathered that you have a 180 gallon tank which was stocked with:

tinfoil barbs
clown loaches
green terror
silver dollars
plecos
pacu
convicts
"other fish"

Now, unless your planning a fishy re-enactment of the civil war, that's probably not the best stock list for your tank. I'm not sure of the current size of these fish, but when they reach full size your tank will be WAY overstocked. Even now I'm not surprised you're having issues in that tank, it would be nearly impossible to keep it clean with that kind of bioload.

What you'll really need to do is correct your stock in that tank. Medicating for fungus may solve the problem you're having NOW, but with that stock list the next problem will be just waiting to happen. I understand that you have already lost a few fish, but unless changes are made to reduce the bioload and level of agression in that tank, it will not be long before more are lost.

The point I was trying to make is that medications are not a substitute for responsible fishkeeping. Unless the root cause of your problem in that tank (mis-stocking) is corrected, medicating is really futile. I had assumed you would agree with that point, gary, what with your usual promotion of a sort of "zen" fishkeeping style.

"Zen:"

"A Japanese sect of Mahayana Buddhism that aims at enlightenment by direct intuition through meditation."

I always aim at enlightenment but sadly am a little short on meditation.

The last time I tried to meditate I got a vision of a super fat goldfish stuck in a flower bowl.

However, all "Zen" aside, the original poster, in all sincerity, would like to know what the heck is killing his trops.

I don't believe he asked for a rundown on the quality of his fish collection in a 180 gallon tank that is capable of comfortably holding/maintaining many, many species of trops.

I told him what to do to remedy the problem. If he decides to follow my advice, his water quality will improve, his trops will improve and my Japanese Zen friends will rejoice.

--garyroland.

Last edited by garyroland at 19-Nov-2004 19:02

The last time I tried to meditate I got a vision of a super fat goldfish stuck in a flower bowl.

And here I thought I was the one making silly comments.

Gary, I wasn't disagreeing with your posts in any way, I simply thought it would be useful to further the conversation a bit. IMO dosing meds is just a bandaid solution in this situation. Whether the original poster was looking for it or not, I thought it would be useful to address the underlying problems that might cause such a disease outbreak. As you said, he would like to know what is killing his trops. In this instance saying "it's fungus" really doesn't address the underlying issue.

If you disagree with my opinion, it would be much more useful to state your position directly than to mock my posts.

Last edited by trystianity at 20-Nov-2004 01:48

Last edited by trystianity at 20-Nov-2004 01:49

I'd reccomend Pimafix-- it helps cure fungus and secondary infections. Good luck!

I've got a fever... and the only prescription... is more cowbell!