Killifish Need Help!

[Up2uday]

Tank size: 20g long
tank age: 2+ years
pH: 8 -it’s always high
ammonia:0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 10
tank temp: 23.7

Can anyone tell me what has happened to my killi fish? I thought he was constipated as he would not eat the last 2 days. This morning I tried peas but he wouldn’t even look at them. I gave him an epsom salt bath and thought I saw poop in the water but was hard to tell. Now he’s like this and I have no idea what to do next. The areas by his pelvic fins was not red like this earlier. HELP!

 

[Colin_T]

The red patch on the belly, the scales sticking out around the belly, not eating or pooping, would all suggest an internal bacterial infection.

If the fish has stopped eating and can't swim properly, euthanise it.

Do the following to reduce any disease organisms to reduce the chance of other fishes getting sick.
Clean the inside of the glass
Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate every day for a week. Make sure any new water is free of chlorine or chloramine before it's added to the tank.
Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks.

 

[GaryE]

I can't hit "like" on @Colin_T 's message, because who likes bad news? But that does look like a fatal, untreatable internal infection. Sometimes, bodies break down at random.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. I understand your frustration. I had very little luck with keeping fish early on until I quit trying to keep fish alive in small tanks. I had more success when I went to a 30 gallon tank and even more when a set up a 45 gallon. And, I kept just a few, small fish. Finally, I started keeping larger and larger tanks and I found I could keep about any fish I wanted if I limited the number and kept them in a lot of water. Large tanks are so much more forgiving of mistakes. This hobby is 100 percent about keeping the tank water clear of toxins. You have to change a lot of tank water every few days and you absolutely can't feed much. Food creates toxins and toxins kill fish. If for whatever reason you really must keep a small tank, then you can't keep large adult fish and you have to keep the number very small.

10 Tanks (Now 11)