:help2: This is my story. I need advice on the symptoms I saw, the treatments advised and what I’m missing.
PetSmart is my source for fishes and most of my aquarium needs. I moved 4 bala sharks and 2 tiger barbs from a 10 gal to a cycled 55 gal tank. I went back to PetSmart and bought 4 more barbs.
Within a week, one barb started acting strangely: flipping over, swimming sideways at the surface of the tank, breathing rapidly (swim bladder? transit? stress?). It died 2 days later. About two more barbs started rapid gill movements. Several fish seemed to have lost most of their appetites for fish flakes, but the frozen blood worms were still popular.
Two days after that, one of my precious sharks showed similar symptoms like the barbs, including pointing downwards for a long time (swim bladder?). :cussing: I did an emergency 50% water change and regular water treatment (vacuum, wash out filters, stress zyme, stress coat, alkalinity/pH regulation and reinstate the 0.2% salinity).
The sick bala’s upper torso turned dark green (almost black) with a fine gold dust (velvet?). It also became lethargic – at one point, it lay still at the front of the tank and even allowed me to shine a flashlight on it! It also had frayed fins, displayed a shimmying behavior (cotton mouth?) and I noticed redness at the base of the dorsal fin (haemorrhagic septicaemia? tuberculosis?). :bang:
I went to PetSmart the next day and was advised to raise the temp to 85°F (up from 78°F) and triple the salinity to 0.6% for a week. The sick bala shark died. :cry: I took it back to PetSmart but they couldn’t determine the root cause
. They advised me to start a 5-day broad spectrum treatment using Lifeguard from Jungle Labs (http
/www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=TT102), even with the elevated temperature and salinity levels. During this period, one barb showed raised scales around its abdomen (dropsy?). :irk: It is now day 6 and I’m down to 2 sharks and one barb.
The barbs began to die, one after the other. I took a close look at one of them: it had swollen gills and abdomen and what appeared to be a yellowish slime at the side of its torso, behind the gills (tuberculosis?).
To add insult to injury, one of my last two precious balas is now swimming on its side, has a darkening upper torso (it’s currently brown – is this velvet?), has redness on its dorsal fin and is sometimes lethargic. I should mention that it got ill after fraternizing with one of the sick barbs, so maybe it contracted something?
:evil: I have resigned myself to accepting that all the fish will die before I get the root cause(s). I need find out what really went wrong (I’m strongly suspecting a bad batch of barbs :anger: ), what I need to do re-stabilize the tank and what other tests I should get to prevent this from happening again (I have tests for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, hardness, pH, alkalinity, chlorine, temperature, oxygen and salinity).
The whole purpose for getting the 55 gal tank was for keeping the 4 bala sharks for many years and see them grow to their 12-14†adult size. :cheers: I never encountered this magnitude of problems with the 10 gal tank even though it was heavily overcrowded. This is an addictive hobby and I’ve come too far in five short months to quit. I’ll appreciate any help that you, the more seasoned experts out there, can give me. Let me know if you need any further information from me.
PetSmart is my source for fishes and most of my aquarium needs. I moved 4 bala sharks and 2 tiger barbs from a 10 gal to a cycled 55 gal tank. I went back to PetSmart and bought 4 more barbs.
Within a week, one barb started acting strangely: flipping over, swimming sideways at the surface of the tank, breathing rapidly (swim bladder? transit? stress?). It died 2 days later. About two more barbs started rapid gill movements. Several fish seemed to have lost most of their appetites for fish flakes, but the frozen blood worms were still popular.
Two days after that, one of my precious sharks showed similar symptoms like the barbs, including pointing downwards for a long time (swim bladder?). :cussing: I did an emergency 50% water change and regular water treatment (vacuum, wash out filters, stress zyme, stress coat, alkalinity/pH regulation and reinstate the 0.2% salinity).
The sick bala’s upper torso turned dark green (almost black) with a fine gold dust (velvet?). It also became lethargic – at one point, it lay still at the front of the tank and even allowed me to shine a flashlight on it! It also had frayed fins, displayed a shimmying behavior (cotton mouth?) and I noticed redness at the base of the dorsal fin (haemorrhagic septicaemia? tuberculosis?). :bang:
I went to PetSmart the next day and was advised to raise the temp to 85°F (up from 78°F) and triple the salinity to 0.6% for a week. The sick bala shark died. :cry: I took it back to PetSmart but they couldn’t determine the root cause
. They advised me to start a 5-day broad spectrum treatment using Lifeguard from Jungle Labs (http/www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=TT102), even with the elevated temperature and salinity levels. During this period, one barb showed raised scales around its abdomen (dropsy?). :irk: It is now day 6 and I’m down to 2 sharks and one barb.The barbs began to die, one after the other. I took a close look at one of them: it had swollen gills and abdomen and what appeared to be a yellowish slime at the side of its torso, behind the gills (tuberculosis?).
To add insult to injury, one of my last two precious balas is now swimming on its side, has a darkening upper torso (it’s currently brown – is this velvet?), has redness on its dorsal fin and is sometimes lethargic. I should mention that it got ill after fraternizing with one of the sick barbs, so maybe it contracted something?
:evil: I have resigned myself to accepting that all the fish will die before I get the root cause(s). I need find out what really went wrong (I’m strongly suspecting a bad batch of barbs :anger: ), what I need to do re-stabilize the tank and what other tests I should get to prevent this from happening again (I have tests for ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, hardness, pH, alkalinity, chlorine, temperature, oxygen and salinity).
The whole purpose for getting the 55 gal tank was for keeping the 4 bala sharks for many years and see them grow to their 12-14†adult size. :cheers: I never encountered this magnitude of problems with the 10 gal tank even though it was heavily overcrowded. This is an addictive hobby and I’ve come too far in five short months to quit. I’ll appreciate any help that you, the more seasoned experts out there, can give me. Let me know if you need any further information from me.
