Lost 6 This Week

[emmettbaby]

So this is the scenario: I hadn't did a water change for about a month in my 10 US gallon because no one would help me. Two fish died in my tank before this. I didn't realize any had died since they were cories and usually hide anyway, I hardly ever saw all 5 at the same time and they blend so well, I didn't realize the white sand I was looking at was their white bellies. Finally got someone to hold the bucket in did a nice little water change. Noticed the nitrates were extremely high before the water change, so I added EasyBalance. I had never tried it and had gotten a free bottle, so I used it to help bring the nitrates to normal (as this is what the product is designed for). So over the past few days, my fish have literally dropped like flies. I lost two cories, a clown pleco, n 2 scissortail rasboras in about 4 days.

They all have been showing the same symptoms: sluggishness, confusion, and they have all been staying on the bottom. The cories and plec were the first to go, they are always slow and stay on the bottom, so I didn't realize they were sick until they were stiff. The scissortails acted fine until two randomly died and now the other three act like they've never been in a fish tank before.

Today, however, I had a breakthrough! Well... sorta. I had no idea what my fish were dying of since they looked okay until they died. But I was checkin out my cories today and noticed one to have about 4 large white bubbles on him. It honestly looks like a fuzzy mold, so I'm assuming its a fungus? Any ideas and can I help them? I added melafix just now to see if it'll help!

So below are some pics, the things that look like smudges on my fish, are what is actually on the cory

 

[angelfishguy]

im not too good at fish diaseses but im guessing its velvet

 

[Curiosity101]

Hmm I wouldn't say velvet. I'd either say slime coat disease or columnaris depending on which one it is you will need a different medication.
Atm I would suggest Maracyn as a good starter as I recon it's a bacterial infection caused by poor water conditions.

A few notes generally...
If you can't regularly keep up with maintenance then I really think you should consider giving up fish keeping. As you've seen, the fish genuinely suffer...

You say they all died after a water change...this could be for a few reasons. Did you de-chlor the water you put in? Did you temperature match it by hand? Has there been any work on the water pipes in your area? If your answers to those questions are yes, yes and no then I would hazard that it will have been some form of pH shock due to the fact that it's been so long since the last water change.

10gal isn't big enough for most of the fish you have, nevermind all in the same tank! It is definitely overstocked, that + the fact you didn't do a water change for quite some time will have almost 100% led to this outbreak of disease. Just so you know (incase you didn't). Clown plecs grow to around 5-6"... I would image that a 10gal is around 40cm long...and perhaps 25-30cm from front to back. Which basically means the fish had less than 4x it's body length to swim along and 2x it's length front to back. This isn't really the recommended ratio for this fish...
Same with the scissortails, they grow to 5" or more themselves and are quite active. You're looking at a 25gal tank to keep them happily long term.

Finally, only way to properly remove nitrates from a tank is with a water change. To help the fish recover and to give them the best chance in the future they need regular weekly water changes of 20-30%
You should aim to keep the nitrates between 10-15ppm above your tap water value, if you can't, as I said before it's for you to decide but I really would suggest either drastically rethinking your stocking and possibly giving up keeping fish.

 

[Harlequins]

I agree with curiosity ^,the mixture of not doing w/c for a month,overstocking,adding additives and generally poor water quality hasn't help the poor fish.

What have you got in the tank at the moment? what are your water stats for ammonia & nitrite...

Sorry to hear of your losses,but maintainance is a must when keeping fish.Try the meds suggested and see how you go.

 

[emmettbaby]

k thanks will do at the moment i have 2 cories n 3 scissortail rasboras

 

[Avinitlarge]

I have a tank full of corys with 1 filter, No air pump and no heater. I do a 50% water change every few days and have had no problems. I would suggest a large water change and post up your water stats (nitrAte, nitrIte, Ammonia, PH, Temp etc)