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Stats:

30gal tank
Ammonia = 0ppm
Nitrite (NO2) = 0ppm
Nitrate (NO3) = 20ppm
PH = 8.2

Other fish = 2 tiger barb, 2 albino tigers, 1 Angel fish, 2 bala sharks, 1 pleco


Story =

I have had this tank maybe 3 months, had bought it off someone. It came with the Gourami, Angelfish, and a 13inch Pleco. When I got it everything tested fine (PH was 7.8 then) except for Nitrates which were over 160ppm. I took this forums advice with lots of water changes and deep gravel cleaning. I then gave the 13 inch Pleco to a friend with a bigger tank, and got a small Pleco in its place.

While getting the 13 inch Pleco out, my heater broke. I bought a new heater, and placed it in, acclimated it and such.. turned it on, and when I woke up the temp was 27 celsius which I believe is in the range of the all the fish. Anyhow, that means it went up 3-4 degrees overnight.

When I came from work all the fish were super active, but the Gourami was resting on the tank bottom. James(the Gourami) will periodically swim around, and it isn't erratic at all, except when he gets near something and he swims like he doesn't see it. (Example: swimming into the glass vigorously like its not there, swimming into the pump stem)

He will then swim to the top of the tank, and take a few breaths, and go back down to resting.. I have also noticed his fins have a red tint to them where they join his body.

There are no obvious signs of disease. No cloudiness in eyes, spots, or anything but the fins as described above.

Advice (including the PH level, is that to high)

Thanks so much.

new symptom.. he seems to of gained a red tint to him, all over.

I don't know what it might be. I would suggest getting in touch with a QUALITY fish store (as in, NOT one of the major chains), and talking to the manager or owner of the store (who should be a basic fish guru) and describe the symptoms to him/her, and tell them about the red tinting. Hopefully they'll have some answers for you.

Redness near his fins, where they connect to the body, is a sign of parasites. I would see about getting some parasite medicine for the tank in case it starts to spread to your other fish.

Well, I called the LFS, and talked to owner... he said he thought it was a bacterial infection and gave me some anti-bacterials to add to the water.

That was 2 days ago. Today I found a Bala Shark had died, the AngelFish is getting it, as well as the other Bala Shark.

The Bala Shark that is still alive has cottony type stuff on it.

Looking through this forums it seems like it is "fungal"????

I suppose I am gonna to give both the Anti-Viral, and Anti-bacterial stuff at the same time (as the forum suggests)


Any advice?

What meds specifically did the lfs give you?
I would recheck all your water quality levels as many meds will kill the bacteria that keeps your tank cycled. If ammonia and nitrite are up, you may need to neutralise them while dosing meds.
Also make sure you have water surface agitation, to increase the oxygen levels in the water.

---

Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

woke up, 2 more fish passed, the other bala and a small pleco...

wth is this? i've never seen something come on so quickly and so badly.

the specific meds are MelaFix (anti-bacterial) and PimaFifungal)

nitrite and ammonia are at 0 and i have plenty of surface agitation as i have 2 pumps going in it at this time

called another fish store, they said stick with the anti bacteria... third dose no change.

The tiger barbs in the tank started picking on the Gourami to the point where he started bleeding. I put the tiger barbs in a partitioned part of the tank, kinda small, but i put an air stone in there.

could the tiger bard of killed the bala sharks and pleco over night by picking on them while they were sick?

Tiger barbs will be rather aggressive when kept in small schools, you've got two different ones and they can attack each other and others.

Red in the fins can also be a sign of septicemia, during the deep gravel cleaning a lot of waste can and does get stirred up, usually this is picked up by the gravel vac but can also enter the fishes system. I went through a similar situation when trying to get a used tank I had rescued under control. The nitrAtes were off the charts, fish poorly stocked and many of them just not doing well. The water changes almost seemed to do more harm then good for many of the fish.

IMO/IME melafix is not an antibacterial. If it is a bacterial issue in the tank you need to get a proper antibacterial medication. Also, when dosing medications make sure the carbon is out of your filter (it will remove medication from the water column) and it can help to add Cycle to help keep the beneficial bacteria alive and kicking.


^_^

I am glad Lindy mentioned about the Meds could be killing the "Good" Bacteria in your tank.

To remedy that I would double dose your tank with Seachem "Stability" for one week only then as per instructions this might seem radical radical but the way you are going at the moment you will not have a fish left in your tank.

When using the Stability I would turn off the lights feed only 50% every third day this will reduce the fish waste considerably.

Also add as much air as you can this will increase the water surface and aerate the tank a lot more.

Finally see if you can get some cheap leafy floating plants. Even floating stem plants will help.


Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith





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