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hey guys..
i got back from holidays on wednesday.. and prob did the most stupidest thing. i decided to clean my tank and treat it with tri-sulpher and they had fin rot.. and now my fish are dropping off like flies! ive already lost two cardinal tetras and the other two dont look like they will make it through the day and my six other tetras have all but pretty much lost their fins.. my cory's havent moved from the corner of the tank. i tested the water and the nitrates were 0, the ammonia was mid range but i got it down to 0ppm and the ph was around 7...
the only thing ive noticed is the tetras have llike a water covering (and no fins!!!) and one of my gouramis has something that looks like an ulcer near its mouth.. and one of the cory's has a red spot...
i so dont know what to do! i dont want to lose them..
can anyone suggest something?/

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Fish dropping "like flys" is not the goal of many hobbyists on this Site...

I'd like to crab about dosing junk in your tank but I'll bite my lip and keep my mouth shut.

An immediate water change must be done, as much as 50% of the same temp and pH as the host tank to dilute the concoction that attacked the fish in a rather quick fashion.

If you have a bacteria starter like the New Improved Cycle, now's the time to use it.

Do a smaller change, perhaps 25% in three days and let me know the results.

--garyroland.



[span class="edited"][Edited by garyroland 2004-07-10 18:54][/span]

thanks for the help garyroland.. im so stressing about them at the moment... ill do a water change today...
should i treat them with triple sulpher or just let the water settle for a bit?
my bf has similar views to you about "dosing junk" into the tank and im kicking myself now for doing it...
any suggestions about what it is that is wrong with them?

i dont actually have a bacteria starter but will get some in the next few days....

thanks again!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Don't wait a few days if possible, the sooner you add it in, the better your chances of helping your fish.. Good luck !

The Amazon Nut...

ok things have gone from bad to worse!
so far ive lost all 4 cardinals and the others dont look far off..
i dont actually know whats wrong with them so i dont know really what i should be treating them with.
i just had a look at the tank now and my two corys are lying nearly on their sides and havent moved all day. They are developing several red patches on their tail...
the black widow tetras have almost no fins they just have ragged edges left and have a sort of white cloud covering them.. they are also like gasping for air even though their is adequate aeration in the tank,, its like their mouths are really big but their lips dont meet .. i dont know how to describe it... the other fish in the tank have similar signs..
im really worried about my african butterfly fish.. he is like my prized possession in there!!!

if anyone can help it would be much appreciated.. so far ive just done a 30% water change....

DaFishMan.. where can i get bacteria starter,, im pretty new at this and ive never heard of it..

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

could ich be my problem???

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

If the fish started dying after dosing the med then of course the med is the problem...

You can treat with Melafix if you have any and keep up the water changes.

If you have the skill you can actually hold the fish in a wet towel and swab Melafix directly to the fin rot.

--garyroland.



[span class="edited"][Edited by garyroland 2004-07-11 10:48][/span]

ive lost two more fish overnight this is so depressing!
since the last water change i havent added any more chemicals to the tank. Ive sent mum out today to get bacteria starter from the LFS as im stuck at work.

garyroland.. i have melafix and the fish arent really swimming at the moment so it wont be a problem to catch them do you just soak a cotton ball in melafix and dab on the fins??

it also appears that my gourami has a ulcer near its mouth should i attempt to treat it or just the fin rot for the moment?

i cant believe one tank could have so many probs overnight and im not exactly an expert on all this!!!

thanks for all your help its so very much appreciated!!!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

this has gotten really bad and i dont know whether i should flush all the tetras and both the gouramis and just keep the butterfly (he is hard to replace around here.. not that replacing of fish is my objective!!)
i added bacterica starter as suggested and also attempted to apply melafix directly to the fins of the fish.. which they didnt really appreciate... is it like dettol to them? does it sting them when you apply it cos they jumped as soon as it touched them!
my other black widow died yesterday and i flushed my santa clause tetra as it was at the surface near death and i couldnt bear its suffering any longer...

so where to now???
i noticed the fish have started twitching and they are sitting on the gravel really lethargic...
im out of ideas! ive tested the water and nothing has come any different..

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

I'm not sure what the problem is, it was probably dosing the meds that did it.

Your fish do not have ich if they don't look like they've been attacked with a salt shaker. Ich are tiny parasites that look like tiny grains of salt stuck to your fish.

I feel really badly for you, I know how much it sucks to have a tank completely crash and not know why. In my case it was because I mucked around in it too much. I never let it cycle properly, kept adding fish, and salt, and chemicals, and medicine, and tested the water like every hour... you get the picture.

I think that may be what has happened to your tank, or maybe what has caused the problem. A simple case of messing around with it too much. Since there was ammonia visible, and no NitrAte, and your tank was fully stocked, your tank was definitely not Cycled.

That would be the first, and main problem, as high levels of ammonia and nitrIte can easily do away with your fish, and weaken them so they are susceptible to the myriad of diseases that is constantly in all tank water. Normally your fish can hold their own against these nasties, but when stressed out due to harmful toxins in the water, they fall prey.

Then, adding an array fo additives to the water (aquarium salt, melafix, triple Sulphur, you probably have some sort of PH balancing agent, and so on and so forth...) just aggravate the situation.

I am definitely not trying to make you feel bad, you've done better than most, you atleast WANT to help your fish! I'm just trying to help you understand the situation a little better.

Like I said, I too had a tank that ended up royally screwed up, and it was awful. Wiht my tanks now, less is more. They certainly get religious (weekly, 20%) water changes of dechlorinated water, the temperature is constant, and I feed them regularly, but that's about it. I don't add all the chemicals and things I used to, and I made DAMN sure that my 20 was cycled before I attempted to do pretty much anything with it!

Hope this helps a bit D, I feel for you

Oh! and no matter what you do, DON'T flush living, fish, no matter how sick. They can live for quite some time in the sewage, but it isn't pretty. They slowly suffocate from the lack of oxygen and clean water, and are poisoned to death. There are several more humane methods of euthanasia, if that becomes your last resort. If you'd like more info, let me know.

Oh! and no matter what you do, DON'T flush living, fish, no matter how sick. They can live for quite some time in the sewage, but it isn't pretty. They slowly suffocate from the lack of oxygen and clean water, and are poisoned to death

I totally agree. http://www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/thread.asp?id=42985

oh i thought they died with the toilet chemicals... will stop doing that then!!! i dont want to make it more painful then it already is! thanks for that piece of advice!

ive had the tank running for a while and havent had issues but like you said i think i got a bit happy trying to cure them i should have left them alone and let nature do its thing ...

ive had white spot before and apart from the spots it all seems the same.. is there something else that is simliar?

my african butterfly seems to have a white film over his eyes and his feelers are disintergrating which is really worrying me... and ideas on what it might be?
im not planing on adding any more chems to the water was thinking of just doin a small water change and leaving them to it. there is no ammonia in the tank so i know its not the ammonia.. ive tested nitrate and its not that ph is around 7 so thats fine.. im gng to get a nitrite kit this weekend and test for that... im pretty new at all this and am not sure really what i should be testing for just picking it up along the way...
any suggestions at what else i should be testing the water for?

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Thanks for all your support! its been so depressing!
also what other forms of humane euthansia is there just in case ???

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Velvet is similar to white spot in that it is a parasite also, you cam't see visible spots, but the fish have a gold film on them. They will flash and rub against the rocks if they have parasites.

If your tank is cycled, Ammonia is 0, nitrIte is 0, and nitrAte is less than 40 ppm. If your ammonia or nitrIte is not 0 , then the tank is not cycled. The disintegrating feelers could be from a lot of things, it could be bacterial fin rot, or maybe an injury that has progressed to fungal fin rot. Are the ends fuzzy at all? It could also just be from chemicals in the water, it's very difficult to tell without seeing the fish! Do the water change, it should probably help. Once you have the test kit, you should test the water daily (while they are sick) for ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte, and PH. the temperature can also be important, if it is not constantly the same.

hope that helps!

As for other methods of euthanasia...

here's from the FAQ

or try this longer thread, definitely worth a read.

I could in no way imagine decapitating any of my fish!!!
but the vodka way looks the best.. i guess when your drunk you dont feel a thing!
well a few more deaths overnite.. my overly stocked tank quickly depleted to just four...

the tank was cycled with everything balanced but with adding the chemicals its all out of wack again. i did a 50% water change last nite and have stopped adding anything to the water for the moment to see if it will stabalise.

the feelers of my butterfly fish are really short its sort of like the bottom bits bend then disppear like someone has burnt them off not fuzzy at all.. he is really sluggish and just sits at the surface would that be a type of fin rot or has the chemicals burnt them off?

none of my fish appear to be itchy so i dont think its velvet.. but that was one of the first diseases i looked at with the symptom of film over there eyes .. but there was no gold dusting there was originally a white one though...


thanks for all your help and support.. its been a difficult time.. my whole family hs labeled me a fish killer!

just wondering .. if the worst does happen and i lose them all.. ill clean out the tank fully and start it up again.. how long till i can start to restock it?

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them