Clown Loach Emergancy!

[10walkham]

Hi

One of my clown loaches has been very still in the corner of mt tank for a few days , i have now noticed 2 white patches now on his middle region and his top fin looks abit tatty and im not sure why?

I have had water problems of late due to my filter bacteria being wiped out and so im having to do a daily water change of 15% to keep the ammonia levels down.

TBH im struggling to get the filter to " Recycle " its been over 2 months now and all im getting is a slight reading of nitrite but no nitrate.

Ammonia : 0.4 mg/l ( achieved by daily water change 15% plus using PRIME every day with water change )
Nitrite : 0.1 mg/l
Nitrate : 0 mg/l
PH : 7.0 ( Broad Range )
Tank Temp 24c - 25c
I have also noticed that if i do not do a water change every day my PH will fall from 7.0 to 5.0 in the space of 2 days! , My plants are all plastic and i have a 270 litre tank with external filter by tetratec, im feeding the fish every 2 days and then only small amounts to keep the ammonia down

Fish are :

2 Clown loaches
1 Red sailfin pleco
8 Neon tetras
8 Red platty's
8 Yellow tail guppys

The clown's are about 3 months old and no other fish is showing signs of illness apart from the 1 clown loach


WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE ANY ADVICE!

 

[*Fishkies*]

Could possibly be caused by stress from water parameters changing especially with PH flutuations.

 

[rust81]

I would be concerned as to why your pH is dropping so much. A 2 point drop would be enough to kill all your fish in the tank. Have you tested what pH your tap water is? Whilst you are at it, also check the ammonia levels in your tap water. It's possible that the dropping pH levels are the reason why you have an ammonia reading. When the pH drops below 6.0, ammonia will only be processed very slowly or not at all - hence this could be the underlying cause of all your water parameter issues.

Have you got any bogwood in your tank? If so i'd get that out asap, as that cold be contributing to the pH drop.

 

[10walkham]

Hi

No i dont have any bogwood , my tap PH is 7.5 so im scratching my head as to why the ph is dropping , i will test the ammonia in my tap water now , il post back asap

I only have fake plants and a couple of rocks and a ship wreck ornament

 

[10walkham]

Ok my tap water ammonia levels are 0.1 mg/l

 

[10walkham]

Correction my tap water ammonia levels are 0.4 mg/l !

How can i win if my tap water ammonia readings are that high?

 

[WILDER]

Ask about the ammonia it your tap water in tropical chat.
Good luck.