My Black mollies....and others

[mezoblue]

I just set up a 55 gallon tank about a month ago in my house. I let the water cycle for 48 hours before I put any fish in. I bought about 6 fish one day and about 6 a couple days later. So far 4 have died and now it looks like more are on their way to dying. the first 3 died with no signs of being sick. then a couple days ago I noticed my 2 black mollies started getting all scaley and it looked like they were shedding. Weird skin bubbles formed around their eyes an they also got white spots all over their bodies. I treated the tank with ick med. now it's 2 days later and lots of the other fish in the tank are getting the spots on their tail and fins. the fourth one died today. It looks like 2 more may die anytime. They are just sitting on the bottom of the tank barely moving.

Does anyone know what I should do?? I have checked all the vital things that need to be checked with the water and everything is right on where it's supposed to be.
What am I doing wrong? I don't want my needle nose gar to die!!!

hope someone can help asap!
mezo

 

[Angry_Platy]

What did you check? You might wanna read this http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=10099

I am thinking that your problems have stemmed from the fact that your tank is cycling.....(see above). Cycling leaves the fish prone to a lot of other illnesses and may result in death.

You need to get yourself test kits for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate (if you don't allready have).....if you do, post your readings here and we might be able to help more.....

 

[kitty falol]

Yes, your tank is definitely suffering from new tank syndrome.

Your tank doesn't really start to start cycling until you put fish in it - or ammonia if you are doing a fishless cycle. - A fishless cycle being the ideal option.

Basically you've put too many fish in at once and your ammonia has probably gone through the roof, which will poison your fish. Don't blame yourself, it's a very common mistake and for some bizzare reason your LFS never tell you about this.

I did the same. I was encouraged to buy 4 guppies for my 12 gallon tank by my LFS and within a month I only had 1 left.

The best advice I can give is firstly, see if you LFS will take the fish back until your tank has cycled.

Alternatively, limit feeding to a small amount, 2 or 3 times a week until your ammonia is at zero and definitely don't buy any more fish for a while.

Also, keep doing 15% water changes every day until your ammonia and nitrite levels are down to a safer level. You could also add some sort of prime to 'bind' the ammonia and nitritres while your tank is cycling.

Good luck and don't let this experience put you off. I promise you will start to enjoy it soon!

 

[kitty falol]

Oops, sorry, about the white spot.

Combining with the ich medicine, it is more important to do a daily gravel vac to pick up any of the ich tomites that have settled on the bottom. Also, adding a teaspoon of salt for every gallon helps (although check to see if your fish are compatible with salt) as well as turning the temperature up, as this will speed up the lifecycle of the ich.

You need to keep treating them in this way for at least a week after you've seen the last trace of white spot on their bodies as you can only combat the ich in its tomite and freeswimming form.

 

[mezoblue]

Oh thank you so much for the replies!! I will test my tank and post the results as soon as I get back from the Dr. which will be in about 2 hours. I turned the heat up. It's at 80 right now and climbing. I aslo added salt last week.

I will post soon,

mezo

 

[mezoblue]

Ok I just got home and discovered my needlenose Gar committed suicide.
I found him on the floor all dried up. That makes me so sad! and I just got him some rosie reds too.

so I did some tests:

My tank is Freshwater and it's at :
0 for amonia
160 for nitrate
nitrite is extremely high-not even shown on the table provided
alkalinity is at 80
PH level is at 7.8
water is hard

HELP!

 

[kitty falol]

Oh dear!

I'm really sorry about your needlenose. Sadly, jumping does tend to be an indication of stressful water quality.

OK, so you're through your ammonia spike, but now your nitrites are spiking off the chart, which is only a little less toxic

The best thing you can do is a 30% gravel vac and water change - you might even want to try 50% (maybe someone else could advise???)

I've got a product called Seachem Prime which is supposed to remove chlorine, ammonia and detoxify nitrites. Could you see if you could get something like this while your tank is cycling? The only problem with it is that it's impossible to get accurate readings while your tank is cycling, but if your levels are at zero, they will register at zero - if that makes sense!

Whatever you do, don't put any more fish in though. Your filter is just not mature enough to handle so many fish, which is why your readings are so high.

 

[mezoblue]

Ok so more fish are dying as I type this. I did a 30% water change/gravel vacuum, the temp is up to 85 and I added a little more ich medacine. Anything else I should do? When can I check the water again to see where the ph and stuff is at? Should I get a better filter? I was reading about the wheel kind? I can't remember what it's called off the top of my head. Would that help?

That's all for now.
Mez

 

[gale]

I was reading about the wheel kind? I can't remember what it's called off the top of my head. Would that help?

That's a bio wheel filter and they're supposed to be really good. I have one in both of my tanks. Good luck-it's frustrating when you're losing fish and not getting good advice from your lfs.

 

[mezoblue]

Ok. So I think I might have gotten my tank under control. This was the first morning I woke up and there we not any dead fish. That's a good sign. I bought some nitrite/nitrate stuff yesterday and I think it's doing the trick. The Ick is all almost gone. Only traces of it on one fish. Ok so nevermind. I just did a test on the water and
nitrate is at 80
nitrite is still off the charts high
Soft water
alkalinity is at 40
ph is 6.8

What else can I do? Do I need to do another 25% water change/gravel vacuum??
I bought a new biowheel 400 filter should I put it in now or wait until the tank is better? I'm sorry I am so clueless

Mezo

 

[sylvia]

Put th other filter in as well. Don't take the other one out. Do as many water changes as you need to bring nitrites down to one of the lowest readings on the chart. This should also bring down nitrates. Keep up daily partial water changes (as large as needed) for as long as it takes for the nitrite readings to start going down on their own (probably a couple of weeks). It may take longer for your tank to cycle this way but you'll have fewer dead fish in the end so it's well worth the wait. Good luck!

 

[mezoblue]

Thank you so much! I'll give it a whirl.

Mezo

 

[kitty falol]

'Fraid I'm no expert on filters. I've just got a sponge filter with some bio-chem stars in it, which (once it matured!) is doing me fine, but then my tank is quite a bit smaller than yours.

Yes. if you've still got white spot on your fish, you need to be doing a gravel vac every day to try and limit the ich tomites in your tank.

Ich is a living organism and can only be tackled after it's fallen off your fish and is either lying on the bottom maturing and reproducing, or in its free-swimming state.

You need to continue gravel vaccing for quite a while after you've seen the last white spot on your fish.

You're also killing 2 birds with one stone as this will also help to keep your nitrite levels down - Don't remove too much water though as this won't give your tank a chance to cycle.

 

[Mezoblue2]

Hey this is Mezoblue- I have great news!!! I finally got my tank under control. It's quite sad I had to lose a needle nose gar, a cory, 3 mollies, and a $20 dollar fish that I have no idea what it was. All the readings are way better than they were. Here they are:

Nitrate-between 20 and 40
nitrite-0 YAY!!!!
soft water
alkalinity- 40
pH- 6.8
No traces of ick!!!!!

Now I just have a few more questions so things don't go crazy again.
do I still need to do water changes to get the make the nitrate go down more or is it ok where it is?

What is the Hardness of the water supposed to be?

Will my fish die if the alkalinity is to low?

Any other info you can give me that I should know from my readings would be great!!!

Thank you so much! Without you guys ALL of my fish probably would be dead. I am so thankful for this board!

By the way Happy Thanksgiving!

Mezo

 

[poohbear]

congrats on getting your tank under control.
I dont know much about alkalinity or ph etc cause someone once told me never to play about with it.
I use a water conditioner when I add new water to my tank and do weekly nitrate, nitrite and ammonia tests