Fish Respiring Heavily & Not Eating! Please Help!

[seanus]

Hello all,

Thank you in advance for any advice.

I have a 29 gallon hexagon tank with a Penguin 160 (gph) Bio-Wheel filter that I clean regularly. I also have an air pump with the tube coming out of the two and a half inches of gravel. The tank has been up for almost a year & I think the death rates are too high!

Over the past year, I've lost:

3 African Frogs
2 Plecos
2 Dalmation Mollys
2 Red Wag Platys
2 Gouramis

I am guessing I need to change the filtration or something b/c the pH is 6.8 but I don't have anything to check my nitrate, nitrite & ammonia levels (I know after reading this morning that can be critical).

Right now I have:

1 South-American Cichlid (4 inches long)
1 Bala Shark (4 inches)
1 Silver-tip Shark
1 Red Wag Platy
1 Dalmation Molly
2 Guppies
1 Skirted Tetra
1 Glass Fish

Do you think this is overkill for a 29 gallon tank? I was planning on adding two small turtles to this mix also, but I know I will need to monitor ammonia levels if I do so.

Up until now, I have been performing water changes every two weeks (about 25-30%). I think I should step that up to 4x/ month. Do you?

The problem that just started: two of the three live plants in the tank turned brown REALLY quickly I took them out last night as they were done for!

Then this morning, the glass fish won't eat & the skirted Tetra is breathing/respiring REALLY quickly and also won't eat! I checked the filter & all seems to be well, but I don't know.

The only fish that has a noticeable skin problem (white spots, or other) is the Cichlid. He has had some little holes-in-the-head for about three months that come and go. I really, really like that fish & have read a bit, but am not sure what to do about him either.

I would really appreciate your help! Thanks so much!

Sean

 

[bigfish]

How do you clean your filter?

Your cichlid may have Hole In The Head Disease - basically infected pus in the pores on the head and will need treating.

I would definately recommend test kits these can be in tablet or liquid form, but also can buy dip sticks very useful for pin pionting problem. When ever i usually experience ill fish, first thing i do test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and most important ph value..

The fish gasping could be due to high nitrite or ammonia levels. or skin/ gill paracites or even deprived oxygen.

What temp is the tank at?
Do u over feed?

 

[boom-sage]

i dont know

 

[WILDER]

The sharks need a bigger tank, get water tested at the lfs and tell them to write the readings down for you, do a water change, also what do you feed the fish.
http/species.fishindex.com/species_2895b...bala_shark.html
http/www.worldcichlids.com/diseases/Adamhith.html

 

[bigfish]

I would definately say check your water and do a complete 30% change and see if that improves the clamped fins etc...

What food do you feed? and how many times a day do you feed?

 

[seanus]

Hello all,

Thank you for the replies.

I clean the filter housing with an old toothbrush (to clean the piping and mineral build-ups). The carbon filter, I just run under water and maybe use my hand to rub off the debris. I do that twice a month and usually change the carbon filter every two months. Is that good?

Also, I feed them Ocean Nutrition Community Formula Freshwater Formula Flake Food & for occasional treats, frozen blood worms.

You are correct, the cichlid has hole in the head disease. What do you recommend most?

With two of my three plants dying in less than a week, what do you think that suggests?

I will perform the recommended water change (20-30%) later today and see if that helps. Also, I will pick up a water sampling kit for nitrite, ammonia & nitrate. Just to confirm, Nitrate should be under 40 and the others 0, right?

Thanks again

 

[seanus]

Oh, also, forgot to add:

Tank temp is at 78 degrees.

I feed twice a day. (I may be over-feeding a bit) The food stays for about five-seven min and a lot of tiny flakes end up in the gravel.



I'm guessing it's better to under-feed rather than over-feed, right?

 

[WILDER]

Read this article to.
http/www.ukdiscus.com/spironucleus.htm

 

[seanus]

Hmmm,

Well, it's been 8 hours since I performed a 30% water change. I also changed the filter in my Penguin just to make the water even cleaner. The tetra is the only fish gasping/respiring heavily and it hasn't changed.

How long should I expect it to last or heal?

Thanks very much

 

[black angel]

Do you have an airstone on the end of the tubing? finer bubbles are known to give better aeration especially if a fish is sick. I read that somewhere so i havent a clue why finer bubbles are better than big bubbles
You arent doing enough in the way of water changes. You need to do them weekly rather than fortnightly and it may be you need to do them twice a week if you are slightly over stocked. To begin with do a 50% water change and then 30% for the next couple of days and then each week do 30% twice a week and see if that helps.
But you need to get the water tested.

 

[bigfish]

What sort of filter is it??? is it a bio wheel filter? does it have sponge in it?

If that fish is the only the one thats suffering then it must be some disease. You say your cichild has White spot, are you treating for this? does the tetra have spots too?

White spot tends to affect the skill and also the gills and if not treated then it will die. Have you removed the carbon sachet out of filter? if you are treating White spot?

 

[seanus]

Hey Black Angel,

Thanks very much for the advice. I don't have an airstone & will get one ASAP. I will also buy a test-kit and perfrom the water changes.

& Bigfish,

It is a Penguin 160 Bio-Wheel with a carbon filter with a spongy type layer on the vertical filter.

And yes, it is just the one tetra that's respiring heavily. None of them actually have white spots, but the cichlid has hole-in-the-head & I am going to wait a week to treat it (he's had little holes in his head for months and has been fine - my local fish store said not to worry to much, but to treat it eventually). I do remove the filter when medicating.

Thanks again to both of you!

 

[bigfish]

Delaying treatment may make the fish more stressed and make the holes in the head even worse.

I'm not totally sure why the tetra is acting up like this Are you over stocked? Does the tetra get bullied at all from his other mates in the group?

 

[seanus]

Allright. Since I've seen so many different opinions regarding treatment for HITH, which do you recommend? I have Mela-Fix, something a local store recommended.

I'm not really over stocked. I have nine fish, totaling about 17 inches or 40cm of combined length for a 29 gallon hex tank. I would add another filter, but the hex only allows space for one!

The tetra's gills are inflamed and he still won't eat... He and the bala shark used to get bullied by the cichlid a little bit, but never hurt, just chased. Doesn't really happen much any more though -- the chasing & occasional nips are only between the bala shark and the cichlid, but no one else.

Thanks again for your advice

 

[raseii]

Hi,
I'm a total newbie to all this but have been trying to do alot of reading. You've had your tank up and running for a year I think you said so I'm sure you are doing this, but you said you clean your filter out regularly. Are you running it under tap water to clean the filter media or are you cleaning it in the dirty water from your water changes? When you said you run it under water, that sounded like you run it under tap water which can destroy your beneficial bacteria, right?