HELP!!! Fish are sick

[sej683s]

ok, im going to have to make this quick as i am at work.

i have a 30 gal tank (perfect water conditions)

2 bumblebees
1 electric blue
3 tiger barbs
1 pleco
1 rainbow shark
1 green severum

all of these fish are about 2 inches long. the severum and elec. blue are the biggest.


i left my roomate in charge of them for 3 days. he left the light off for 3 days and overfed the fish. the severum turned dark and the electric blue turned white. after changing the water temp back to 78 (he somehow got it on 84) and turning the light on the fish got their color back.

now...

the pleco has a whitish slime on him and hides under a rock and doesnt want to move

the severums fins are in bad shape and he has white cottony stuff on his mouth.

1 bumblebee and the elec. blue have 2 large (relatively)spots on their bottom fins


i know

the electric blue is somewhat of a bully and the tiger barbs are fin nippers.

my question

it seems as though i have a variety of issues here. how do i treat them.

also, i obviously need to separate the fish. what is the best way to do this.


thanks

 

[cschum00]

Sounds similar to a fungus problem I had. Might be bacterial though . I'd use something that would work for both of these at the same time. Not an expert here, so maybe someone else can help. I know the water change was a great idea. Why are you wanting to separate the fish? not getting along or for quarantine. Personally if its for quarantine,they have problably all been exposed and more than likely all fish will neeed to be treated, so why not leave them together. Just my opinion.

 

[sej683s]

the fish are not getting along and i think stress has something to do with the problems

 

[WILDER]

It's columnaris and you will need an antibiotic treatment.
http/www.flippersandfins.net/flexibacter.htm
http/article.dphnet.com/cat-02/columnaries.shtml

 

[sej683s]

thank you. i hope its not too late. i havent seen my fish today and didnt know what to do. i was planning on doing a salt bath. any other advice? are you sure that is what my pleco has? it seems that all of my plecos get this for some reason. i've had 2 of them and both got similar symptoms. ive never had an issue with the other fish though

 

[webcat5]

Your fish are possibly stressed out by being left in the dark, fattened up and boiled all at the same time. It sounds to me that they may have Velvet disease, although I can not tell for sure. You should treat all the fish because they all went through the same thing and are already exposed to whatever the other fish have.IMO.

 

[sej683s]

Your fish are possibly stressed out by being left in the dark, fattened up and boiled all at the same time.

yeah, i feel bad for the poor little guys.

i guess ive learned my lesson. so should i do a 30% water change or so and then treat the whole tank as it is or should i put them in a different tank to treat them?? this sucks, i hope they arent all dead when i get home

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

No don't use salt as plecs can't tolerate it and it will burn their skin; if the site descriptions that were given to you don't match exactly what you have got you probably have some sort of fish fungus on your severums and your plec has a slime coat desease which is usually a reaction to somthing that has gone amiss in the water(which is curable).
Firstly i would do a series of 30% water changes over the next couple of days once every two days for a week to try and improve water quality conditions and help aid your fish's recoverys; any more info you can give us on your fish's symtoms/strange behavior like flicking and rubbing themselves against objects/hanging near the bottom or top of the tank lots etc.
Also i would get a water quality test kit that tests for ammonia/nitrates/nitrites ASAP as these stats will be able to help us diagnos and help the situation better

If you are planning on rehoming any of your fish which i have a feeling you will have to do in the future i would do it after you have sorted out the problems in your tank.

 

[webcat5]

so should i do a 30% water change or so and then treat the whole tank

Yes to both questions.

P.S. I hope your fish are still all there when you get home as well.

 

[sej683s]

my electric blue rubbed himself against the bottom when i first got him but he hasnt since. the pleco has always hid away and just recently got the slime (how do i treat this by the way) my severum has always stayed at the bottom of the tank and doesnt swim much. i thought this was normal so i thought nothing of it. no change in behavior in the other fish. also, the severums side fins have always looked frayed. is this normal or is it possible when i got the severum he brought an illness into my tank. i dont know if i mentioned this, but all of the fish are small. does this affect treatment.

lastly, i think this is important:

this is my second pleco. my first one was large and within 2 days had this slime all over him. i took him and a water sample to the fish store and they tested my water and said it was fine and couldnt figure out what the problem was so they exchanged him. i will get a water test kit tonight. thanks for all the help. keep it coming!! i have to stay here until 6 and then im immediatly going to get whatever medication or treatment it turns out i need. if i dont need any, water changes it is.

 

[WILDER]

You will need to treat the tank with anti slime and velvet med, good luck.

 

[sej683s]

so you dont think its columnaris anymore?

 

[WILDER]

If they are covered in a grey slime i would go with a slime med.

 

[sej683s]

only the pleco is. the others are not. the severum has the white fuzz and the elec blue and bumblbee have large (by large i mean larger than ich ) white spots on bottom fin. i really need to take some pictures or something so i can show you guys. sorry for all the questions. i just feel awful and dont want my fish to die.

 

[WILDER]

If you have fluffy bits on the fish body it's columnaris, you will need anti internal bacteria med, antibiotics will wipe the bacteria colony out, try some salt baths on the really bad fish with columnaris, the slime on the other fish can be bacteria or a parasite, so see if it clears up with the bacteria med, and do some water changes.