Help, losing a number of fish every week

[*Sonic*]

Hi, I have a problem with my current tank and fish stock, in that I lost quite a few fish last saturday/sunday and I have lost about the same amout again this saturday/sunday

My Tank is 30"x12"x15"

with undergravel filter, powered originally by airstone, now a powerhead, and a fluval 2 original style (12 years old)(to be replaced with a fluval 3, which I have already purchased)

Originally over a period of a month or so I had the following fish

Siamese Fighting Fish
Angel Fish (approx 1inch in length)
Silver Shark (approx 3 inch)
Clown Loach (approx 2 inch)
6 Guppies
3 Neon Tetras
Pleco Catfish (unsure as to which one) (approx 3 inch)

I bought 3 more guppies, to balance out the male/female ratio as the males had started nipping each others tails

the day after all 3 new guppies had died full of white cotton wool like substance around their tails

The Siamese fighters mouth went all white and crusty, i treated the tank with Anti Fungus and Finrot, and the figter died almost instantly

I checked all the water levels, and nitrates were very high, but all other levels (ammonia, nitrite, Ph fine), so I did a major water change (approx 45-50%) removed the dead fish, and checked and found my Fluval 2 pretty blocked

After all of that things settled down through the week, and the remaingin fish all looked very healthy ( I lay off the feeding for a few days initially too)

Anyway I noticed on saturday that the remaining 4 female guppies, all have what looks like finrot and bits of white around the body (not white spot) and sunday one had died, and this morning, 2 more had died and one of the neons has lost all of its colour, and a male guppy now no longer looks healthy

I treated the water again to anti fungus and finrot on sunday, prior to this checked all the water levels and they are all fine, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and Ph (Ph is about 7.5) and filters are working correctly

Im really not sure what is happening, or why this is happening, but could do with some pointers on where to go from here, without losing any more of my fish

I have 2 more tanks setup wich one currently houses a Paroon Shark, but I dont really want to mix the other fish in their even with a divider in case I end up infecting the Paroon Shark

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Regards

Steve

 

[Gourami Girl]

First things first, what are your readings now?

Who is left in the tank?

How long has the tank been running?

Are there still disease symptoms in the tank?

 

[emma12321]

Take a look at this link http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/panga...gasiu/268_f.php

hope you knew what you were buying.


Emma

 

[*Sonic*]

First things first, what are your readings now?

Who is left in the tank?

How long has the tank been running?

Are there still disease symptoms in the tank?

[snapback]919258[/snapback]​

Hi

The readings are all normal ( i dont remember the actual values, but looking at the variuos colour charts the water is all within an acceptable range, and Ph still about 7.5

The tank has been running now for approximately 2-3 months, the disease symptoms cleared up last weekend, and all fish have been very heatlhy looking during the week, but again this sunday now all the female guppies have disease symptoms

exactly a week after the last symptoms appeared

Steve

 

[*Sonic*]

Take a look at this link http/www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/panga...gasiu/268_f.php

hope you knew what you were buying.


Emma

[snapback]919269[/snapback]​

Emma

Well at the time I was told that the Paroon shark wouldnt grow 'that' big, subsequently another stockist told me that Paroon Sharks dont grow 'that' big either, and will be fine in a smaller tank, and better with two in the same tank, as they will stay relatively small, and also not to feed them too often, and not so much high protein food like mussels etc, and unlike their brothers the Pangassius Catfish which do grow extremly large, they did actually advise me against buying the Pangassius, and I would be much better off with the Paroon Sharks

Edited to add the Paroon Sharks are not in the main tropical tank, they are in their own seperate tank


Steve

 

[*Sonic*]

Just another note maybe worth mentioning

My Pleco looks very very similar to the Golden Nugget Catfish, but has white spots, instead of the golden colour

But when you look at him closely, he looks like he has dust on him, or a dusty like look to his skin

not sure if this is entirely normal, but he seems fine, eats well, and other than that looks perfectly healthy

One other thing I noticed is that since the Siamese Fighter died, my clown loach now swims the entire tank, sometimes mimicing the silver sharks swimming patterns, and they both regulary swim up and down the side of the tank against the glass in quite an amusing manner

Steve

 

[Gourami Girl]

This does sound odd, if the fish have been healthy for a while and are now ill again, it really does sound like a water problem.

As you have an undergravel filter, you really need 2" of gravel for it to work properly, the gravel should also be cleaned less often than a tank without undergravel filtration, about every 6 weeks, as long as you keep on top of the water changes.

You say you washed the Fluval out, how did you do this?

I would say that if they have finrot do a water change and take at least 33% out, then treat with a good treatment like the Waterlife Myxazin (I think this is the one for finrot.)

Keep an eye on everyone and see what happens.

 

[*Sonic*]

This does sound odd, if the fish have been healthy for a while and are now ill again, it really does sound like a water problem.

As you have an undergravel filter, you really need 2" of gravel for it to work properly, the gravel should also be cleaned less often than a tank without undergravel filtration, about every 6 weeks, as long as you keep on top of the water changes.

You say you washed the Fluval out, how did you do this?

I would say that if they have finrot do a water change and take at least 33% out, then treat with a good treatment like the Waterlife Myxazin (I think this is the one for finrot.)

Keep an eye on everyone and see what happens.

[snapback]919284[/snapback]​

Hi sorry I forgot to mention in my previous post what fish I have left

I currently have the following fish remaining

3 Neons (one now lost all of its colour)
1 Clown Loach
1 Pleco Catfish
1 Silver Shark
1 Female Guppy (slowing fading fast)
2 Male Guppies (one looking now ropey)
2 small angel fish


I only cleaned out the impellor on the fluval, as it was this that was clogged, and providing a very poor flow rate of water

Im wondering if I really need to get some more gravel, as some of it only just covers the surface of the filter plates (it is fully covered tho)

Steve

 

[Gourami Girl]

Oh dear that really isn't deep enough, it does need to be 2" deep.

That means your tank is deficient in the bacteria needed to keep toxins down, it won't be helping matters.

The Fluval will help this as its sponge will contain some bacteria, but you really need to sort the gravel out as the without more, the undergravel filter system is a waste of time.

 

[*Sonic*]

Oh dear that really isn't deep enough, it does need to be 2" deep.

That means your tank is deficient in the bacteria needed to keep toxins down, it won't be helping matters.

The Fluval will help this as its sponge will contain some bacteria, but you really need to sort the gravel out as the without more, the undergravel filter system is a waste of time.

[snapback]919368[/snapback]​

Are you talking about two inches of gravel above the top of the filter plates, or two inches from the bottom of the tank ?

Is a finer grade of gravel better than a coarse grade ?

Steve

 

[Gourami Girl]

You should have the bottom of the tank clear, then the filter plates, then 2"inches deep of gravel. Yes, i'm pretty sure that finer gravel is better than the coarse stuff, but you might want to check just in case.

 

[*Sonic*]

You should have the bottom of the tank clear, then the filter plates, then 2"inches deep of gravel. Yes, i'm pretty sure that finer gravel is better than the coarse stuff, but you might want to check just in case.

[snapback]919383[/snapback]​

Sorry yes the bottom of my tank is clear, then I have my filter plates, I only have about 1"-1.5" at the most of coarse gravel

I had been looking at various grades of gravel over the weekend, but its a tank stripdown to replace it

 

[Gourami Girl]

Oh, that is a problem if you need to take the old stuff out.

Well if you've got a Fluval 3 now (I think that's what you said), and you've got a 30" tank, there's no need to have any more than that anyway as those are designed for tanks upto 3ft I think, so you may not want to bother with the undergravel filter.

What you could also do if you wanted is use the powerhead you have and buy an empty canister to put on it, you can buy proper cartridges to go in them, made of carbon and filter floss, or you can just make your own, just using filter floss. The canisters and cartridges are Hagen Aquaclear. You needn't do this if you feel the Fluval 3 is enough, just keep an eye on the flow rate and make sure everyone looks happy.

 

[*Sonic*]

Ok, got home from work, and the 3 remaining female guppies were all dead

So total fish in the tank is now as follows

2 small angel fish
1 small clown loach
3 neons
2 male guppies
1 small silver shark
1 Pleco Catfish

Ive changed about 30% of the water tonight, hoovered the gravel, fitted my fluval 3, and moved the fluval 2 to the opposite side of the tank (as it has all the bacteria etc)

Im just a bit concerned now that the water flow might be a little too much as the guppies are now finding it hard to swim about with being so small !!

I hope these remaining fish survive

Onto my Paroon Shark, he developed White Spot, (he is in another tank) and I treated the water on saturday, with Anti White Spot, and it seemed to start clearing up, however ive now noticed tonight that it appears much much worse, and he is now literally covered in white spots, but seems to be swimming round as per normal

Its not ready for treating again until Wednesdat according to the instructions, and the carbon filter is still out of the filter system (its a Juwel Rekord 60 tank, with built in internal biological filtration)

Steve

 

[WILDER]

I have a rekord 60 it's only a 12gal tank, that's why they are ill as you are massively overstocked the filter won't cope with them fish, the silver shark should be kept in groups to be happy and need a 120gal tank, the clown loaches also have to be kept in groups, 90gal tank, angel fish need a 30gal tank, i would see if the lfs will take then fish back.