fish laying on gravel and breathing heavily

[smb]

so placing the fish in water 0.4 ppm different from what they are currently in is too big a pH difference?

i think it is a fungus because it is getting bigger and is now about a mm2. i don't know what to do. . . should i try to treat the fungus so my fish can live, or would that be cruel to make them live but suffer from the gill damage?

should i place the fungus-infected fish in my 5 gallon plastic bucket to quarantine him?

I would say yes if they aren't acclimated to it first.

Is there any way possible to post a pic here of what you're talking about so we can be sure?

I will host it on my site for you if you don't have a site to host it. Just let me know.

That might make a huge difference to us if we could see it.

 

[smb]

should i try to treat the fungus so my fish can live, or would that be cruel to make them live but suffer from the gill damage?

I'm sorry, for some reason I kept typing in my previous post bt it didn't show up when I replied. So...


Yes, if it's not too late, it can be saved.

should i place the fungus-infected fish in my 5 gallon plastic bucket to quarantine him?

Most certainly. Always quarantine sick fish if possible. No matter what happens here, remember it. Chances are you might come across this again in the future here and will know right away what to do.


The main thing is, never ever mess with water paramaters. Always keep them constant. Fish have the slime coat to fight off diseases and considering every disease in the book is in every cup of water we put in their tank, and they always fight it off, is a sign that it works. The biggest stress to a fish is ever changing water parameters. Not different water parameters, just sudden or ever changing differences.

 

[cutechic]

ok, ill move the fish asap. and i have taken some pictures of the fish. . . none of them are very good, but hopefully they'll help. theres 5 pictures, so could i put them on your site (i dont have one). thx

 

[reg2k2]

update: 1 white cloud now moving fins rapidly but not swimming; slowly drifting backwards. is this shimmying?

Possible sign of acidosis...see this link.

could the lack of carbon be why the pH levels are low?

Confused here. You first said u tried to lower the pH. How? Or is the pH dropping on its own...

if i improve the water conditions will my fish get better? should i try to move them to water with a more neutral pH, or should i just leave them in the water with a pH of 6.0 ppm?

If the cause is acidosis, most counts I've read say it's easily reversed by doing just that.
Might want to see what others think.

On the pic's, you might upload them to the 'pic's forum' and link it here.

 

[cutechic]

my fish arent gasping just under the water surface, but they are darting around, so im not sure if it's acidosis.

first said u tried to lower the pH. How? Or is the pH dropping on its own... 

i tried to lower the pH in my other tank by using a pH neutralizer. in the 5 gallon that my fish are in, the pH is 6.0 ppm, so i was trying to raise it using the same pH neutralizer. the 5 gallon's pH used to be 7.4 ppm, not 6.0 ppm, so i was wondering if this drop in the pH could be because i took out the carbon in my filter

here is the link to 4 of the pictures i took of the fish:
Pictures of my Pygmy Catfish

 

[reg2k2]

Poor thing. Someone else will have to give an opinion on the pic's.
But, no, removing carbon would not drop the pH. Does the pH in the other tank drop at all?
Try this. Take a glass of tap, test the pH, then let it sit overnight/24hr...test again.

 

[cutechic]

no, the other tank's pH doesnt change.

i just noticed something. the pygmy catfish without the fungus had really short fins, but i thought it was just from fish nipping at them in the pet store, because the tank was overstocked. but now he's got almost no fins. . . its probably bacterial fin rot, right? anyway, he was laying upside down, not moving, for several hours, so i thought he had died, but when i tried to scoop him up he went beserk. now he's laying right-side-up, but not moving. i'll try to get some pics of him to show his fins, but i wont be able to upload them til the morning. lets just hope hes alive.

i siphoned out 20% of the water and added water from the tank with a pH of 7.6 ppm because i was told that this may raise the pH slightly, but the pH is still at 6.0 ppm.

i just tested the pH of the tap water (dechlorinated) and it is at 6.4 ppm. last week it was at 7.2 ppm, and my dad, who works for the water company, says the water source hasnt changed at all. i'll test the water again in the morning and see what happens.

next morning: both catfish are virtually finless. the one with the fungus has a few red dots over his body (it almost looks like ich, except thje spots are red). catfish wont eat but other fish will. the pH of tank in the morning is still 6.0 ppm. the pH of the tap water that sat overnight is still 6.4 ppm.

 

[Wasserpest]

Hi Cutie,

PH values are not measured in ppm, they are the (negative) concentration (power) of Hydrogen. That scale is logarithmic: a pH of 7 is TEN TIMES more than a pH of 6.

So if you are lowering your pH from 7.4 (where your fishies would be quite happy) to 6.0 it's basically like you taking a nice bath in hot vinegar.

A pH that low will mess up your water chemistry big time. Some things that are no problem around 7 can get really tricky and poisonous for fish around 6, like Ammonia and Aluminum.

Anyway... I am sorry for those fishies

 

[cutechic]

the test kit i have says pH is measured in ppm though, so im confused.

does anyone know what the red dots are on my fish's body? now there's so many of them that it looks like a rash, except its bright red

i didnt move them from 7.4 to 6.0. the pH in my other tank is at 7.4 ppm. the pH i moved them from was 6.4 ppm, and i was told that because it was less than a 0.5 ppm change, it wouldnt bother my fish.

 

[cutechic]

one of my catfish just died his body turned a washed out white colour, except for his stomach, which was pink. he looked like he had been dead for days, even though it was only a few hours.

my second catfish died overnight

the guy at the lfs said the red dots were probably ulcers caused from the pH shock.

 

[kevy]

I'm sorry for your loses , but think positivly...you'll never make that mistake again, and I'm sure any newbie that read this thread (myself) won't ever make that mistake either.

 

[cutechic]

yes, you're right. i should look back and learn from my mistakes