ADVICE NEEDED

[Sang72]

Ok, my roommate has my old 10 gallon tank which he has been keeping his feeder goldfish in for a couple of months. Two weeks ago he decided to keep tropical fish instead. So I turned up heat to 78F, tested water, as I recall

Ammonia 0 - .05ppm
Nitrite .05ppm
Nitrate 5-10ppm
pH 6.8

I figured since the tank had already cycled with goldfish, it should be ok with a 10% water change and some BioSafe conditioner. He decided he wanted a red tailed shark, and came out with a red tail shark, 3 green tiger barbs, and a spotted puffer. The puffer came with a guppy that got caught in the net and the LFS guy threw him in as a bonus. The tank already had 2 golden algae eaters about 1" long and an ADF left over from it's goldfish bowl days. I wasn't sure, but thought that an additional 6" of fish would be pushing it but ok, as long as he kept a close eye on them daily.

Ok, now it gets fun. First day he tossed in a shipload of bloodworms, the puffer ate so much his tummy was bulging oddly for the rest of the day. I cautioned him to feed less. Filter clogged 2 days later, advised it was from overfeeding, replaced filter.

About 4 days ago I noticed that his puffer was curling his tail (sign of stress), so I tested the water again.

No ammonia test on the quik dip strip,
Nitrite .5 - 1ppm
Nitrate 20 - 30ppm


Did a 20% water change, used purified (aquarium pharmaceuticals #175 filter) tap water and BioSafe. The puffer immediately calmed down, and began swimming around normally.

Two days ago, I notice the puffer hiding and curling again, also notice a white spot on his head. Doesn't look like ich, actually looks like lint. No sign of spots or illness on the other fish. Tested water again with quikdip.

Nitrite 1-2ppm
Nitrate 60-70ppm

suggested 20% water change, followed by 10% daily, stop feeding for 2 days. Added 1/2 the recommended amount of Amquel Plus, tossed in a zeolite pillow.

Today, I see the puffer hiding and curling at the bottom of the tank now had 2 white spots on his head. No spots on the other fish, resting on the gravel. I put in a very very tiny pinch of bloodworms to test his feeding reaction. He nibbles at it slightly, still curling and hiding. Tiger barbs eat some, but not much. ADF is full of air and floating listlessly on the top of the water. (still alive tho) Decide something is wrong, do a 20% water change with filtered water and Biosafe.

As soon as I added the water, all the fish came to the surface and started gasping and thrashing for air. The puffer actually barfed up the few worms he ate.

I panic and run around in circles for a little bit, grab my hospital tank (puny lil 1 gallon desktop with incandescent light and airstone) fill it with water from my 20gal, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0 Nitrate 15-20, pH 6.8 and put the gasping fish into it. Put in the thermometer and placed in a warm spot. Temp holding steady at 77F

Do a liquid test on the suspicious aquarium water.

Ammonia = Oh my Gosh, it's so high my kit can't read it. Test sample is light Brown, instead of light yellow or yellow.
Nitrite 3ppm

I think there was a bunch of junk in the gravel that I stirred up when changing the water , releasing huge amounts of ammonia into the water. Nitrites are relatively low though comparitively speaking.

So the fish are crowded into my Intensive Care Unit, not looking really happy about it. The puffer is not curling, but definitely not happy, can't keep them in there for long. What should I do?

Should I completely tear down the 10gal, rinse the gravel and refill with purified water?

Help please, the fishies will appreciate it.

 

[Pointy_kitty]

OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you put a red tailed black shark in a 10gal??
oh dear!
first of all red tailed black sharks need at least a 20gal and even that is small so there can be NO overcrowding or there will be terrible aggression as he gets bigger!
in a 10gal (even with a million plants and caves) he will have virtually NO territory and will go nuts protecting the entire tank from intrudors (your other fish)

secondly you have a whopping 25" of fish, once they are full grown!!!!!!!!!
red tails get 5-6" and chinese algae eaters (golden algea eaters) get 4-5"
your barbs only get 2" and ADF stay small
the guppy SHOULD NOT BE IN THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
barbs, puffers and sharks are notorious fin rippers! that guppy is a disaster waiting to happen!

And thirdly yes you could have stirred up a bunch of junk from the bottom but it might just be that your tank is hugely overstocked!

If i were you i would see if i could return some of those fish (possibly for store credit) OR buy another tank (20gal at least since you have the shark and chinese algae eaters)

then for the 10gal i would do a 50% water change and then spring some cash and put some ammonia killer (jungle fizz tabs are cheap and work almost immediatly) then make sure that your carbon is still good (they need to be changed once a month) and your sponge isn't junked up

you could also add some cycle to your water, as it will probably go through a mini cycle due to the large water changes

i really don't mean to sound like i am yelling but i am really concerned for your fish!
not that i think your not taking care of them, cause everyone on the forum is obviously here for their fishes well being so they are obviously good fish mommy's and daddy's
but you were obviously very misinformed

i wish you the best of luck and please keep me updated on your situation

 

[Pointy_kitty]

i just realized you said this was your friend who did this
well let them know about the things i told you and hopefully you can use this info to help them figure things out!

 

[Sang72]

Thanks for the advice. Yeah it's my roommate and he's not really good with animals . After his python died (he says it was inbred and wouldn't eat, I say he kept forgetting to buy mice ), I've been keeping an eye on his new water dragon and now his fish.

He was supposed to just get a red tail shark to go with the ADF and golden algae eaters, since all they seem to do is lay around and suck (pun intended) and ended up with fish buying fever. Are you sure the gold algae eater is the same as a chinese one, I had a chinese one (before it had a heart attack, long story)and it looked and acted completely different. My CAE was larger, territorial and agressive, and moved around a lot. The GAE are smaller about 1" - 1.5" long and are very passive and docile. The LFS said they get about 2". The guppy was a complete accident as the LFS accidentally netted it with the puffer and was too lazy to put it with the rest of the guppies.

I'm rather new to fishkeeping myself (3 mos or so), so I tried to give him the best advice I could. I didn't think the red tailed shark would be a problem because I have one 2" in my 20 gal and he just hangs out and munches. The worst mine does is occasionally chase one of the red eye tetras.

 

[justupgraded15]

Puffers are brackish fish and should be kept in aquarium salt. That was WAY too many fish to put in a ten gallon at one time. Nitrate levels above 40 are toxic to fish. I'd take some of the fish back. If the puffer is the most liked fish, set up the tank as brackish and keep him by himself or with another puffer.
J.R.

 

[Pointy_kitty]

yeah i've had red tailed sharks before and they can get 5-6"
they are passive and comical until they get about 4" then they go nutz and establish strict territory!
i still love them but i'd get him a bigger tank for sure!

as for the algae eater there are 4 main fish that are commonly mistaken for each other:
flying fox: 5.5"
otto: 1.5"
siamese algae eater: 4"
chinese algae eater: 5"

the full name of your friends is a "golden chinese algae eater" or
Gyrinocheilus Aymonieri (the GAE IS a chinese algae eater )

your lfs must have mistaken an Otocinclus (or commonly known as an "otto" which only reaches about 1.5") for a GAE

remember that they all look very simular when they are grey (although there are different variations of colours in the otto's and algae eaters)

either ya were mistaken on the names or you had a really young one

 

[Sang72]

I dunno, these guys are gold colored (just like a goldfish) like to hang on the side of the tank by their mouths.

 

[Pointy_kitty]

justupgraded15,
there are fresh and brackish water puffers
it depends on the exact species of spotted puffer

the Spotted Congo Puffer is freshwater
Milk Spotted Puffers, and Green Spotted Puffers are brackish water

 

[Sang72]

UPDATE

Pointykitty, thanks so much for your help. I think you are right, these are baby golden chinese algae eaters.

I made my rommate stir up all the gravel (get all the yuck into suspension) and then siphon 50% of the water.

Refilled with purified tap water.

Added biosafe just to be sure.

Waited till 78 degrees

Tested water, Ammonia .1, nitrite .5

Put fish back into tank.

So far ok, the puffer is swimming normally, but I think I'm gonna have to yank him and treat him for fungus tomorrow.(two cottony patches on his head).

Tiger barbs don't seem to care one way or the other, same for shark.

The ADF is still alive, but air sac is inflated and floating on the surface.

I've talked to my roommate, and the GCAE are going with my Gourami's to a friend's empty 60 gal tank on Sat. (the Gourami's are not happy in my 20 gal) The guppy is going into his betta bowl (about a gallon), the shark can stay since he is still small, he will decide if he's gonna get a bigger tank or give away the shark. I hope he gets a bigger tank, b/c I want my 10 gal back for an anemone and pair of clownfish (NEMO!!!!! ) My LFS said this would be ok for just those three fish, but we all know how reliable they can be.

 

[Sang72]

BTW, what is a pointykitty? I've heard of tabbykitty and calicokitty.