My Boys Fish Are Dying

[mell433]

Hello,
The tank is fifteen gallons, water change fifty percent every two week, nitrate ppm 0-20, nitrite ppm 0-.5, alka. Ppm 80, ph, 7.2-7.8. He has 2 male guppies 3 male mollies, had 2 phantom tetra lost one and lost one pleco. The latter 3 fish are new to the tank were added about 1 1/2 weeks ago as well as a hogwart plant. It looks like we are going to lose the other phantom as well as a mollie. I have taken pics for u to see, as we are waiting for your response before moving further, other than a water change. There appears to be a mucus like surrounding them, they are both listless, the phantom seems to twitch breathing seems shallow. Plz help.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

How long has this tank been set up?
Was the tank cycled before fish were added to it?


What is the ammonia reading? Are the readings you are giving from a 'test strip'?

 

[mell433]

We cycled it for a month before adding fish and yes i am reading from a test strip thier is no reading for ammonia on the test strips

 

[Akasha72]

I'm not sure how much I can help regarding the mucus as that could be any number of fish deseases and the treatment could differ depending on what it is. Sometimes increasing the temperature can be all that's needed, other times a proper treatment is needed.
 
I can help with the other problems though. Firstly the test strips are known to be really inaccurate and I would never recommend them. The best test kits are the liquid drop kits - API do one called the Master kit, Tetra also do a similar kit which is good and JBL have now released one on to the market which is also a very good kit. They can be pricey but they last a long time and with a new tank it's a good idea to have a good quality liquid drop test. 
 
Gasping at the surface can be a sign of Ammonia in the tank and high levels of Ammonia is very toxic to fish and it will kill. Without a test kit though it's impossible to know if Ammonia is present. Ammonia will also burn the fishes skin so the mucus you are seeing could also be a sign ... equally though it could be a desease.
 
Taking all this in account, I know what I would do. I would do a large water change and add back temp matched water but leave out the dechlorinator (if it's an internal filter remove the filter media while you do this - put it in a bucket of tank water that's been dechlorinated. Do not allow filter sponges to come into contact with un-dechlorinated water - this is really important. If it is external make sure it is switched off).
 
So refill the tank with undechlorinated water ... the reason for this is that sometimes the water that comes from our taps contains things that can act as a mild medication. Once you have the tank refilled then add the dechlorinator - remember to dechlorinate for the whole tank, not just for the amount you have changed - ... leave it for a few minutes and then return the filter to the tank and get the tank running again. 
This is only what I would do, someone else may disagree with me entirely but without a test kit it's impossible to know what is going on here but a large water change won't harm.

 

[mell433]

His tank is filled with spring water and has never been chlorinated. We did add a microbacterial liquid, to add bacteria to the water.

 

[Akasha72]

ahh okay, well in that case the best option would be to do a water change until you can get a test kit and then let us know how the ammonia and nitrite are looking. Until we've got an idea if this is ammonia poisoning or some kind of desease there's not much more help I can offer 

 

[mell433]

Thank you, for being patient with me and for the help. I have just purchased the master testing kit u suggested and on our way home to take it. I have also purchased all the api, fungal bacterial and ick drops. So im ready, to do whatever it is u ask.lol

 

[mell433]

Hello so we have done the testing and yes the ammonia is reading @ 8.0 ppm , the nitrite is reading @0 as well as the nitrate. I just seen the phantom tetra and he seems to have a fuzzy ball @ his tail that seems to b weighing him down. It was not like that at one when i last checked. Whatever it is growing quickly. So what should I do now?

 

[mell433]

Umm sorry another question is it possible for them to have more than one thing wrong? The tail fin seems to b deteriortiating as well as the fuzzy on the beginning of it?

 

[mell433]

Hello again, we have just lost the tetra, but i dont think what he had the others have. They seem to have more of a white spot thing than what he had. We are changing the water by 25 percent right now, and waiting....

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hello so we have done the testing and yes the ammonia is reading @ 8.0 ppm , the nitrite is reading @0 as well as the nitrate. I just seen the phantom tetra and he seems to have a fuzzy ball @ his tail that seems to b weighing him down. It was not like that at one when i last checked. Whatever it is growing quickly. So what should I do now?

Ok, so that is the crux of the problem. Ammonia poisoning makes the fish susceptible to secondary infections, etc. But the ammonia is at the root of it all.


You need to do a MASSIVE water change. 25% won't do anything significant. Removing 25% will bring the level down to 6ppm, which is still in the toxic zone. You need to bring it as close to zero as possible.


This means doing a 90% water change with temp matched water.



Why are you using spring water and not tap water (unless you have a well system)?




Step one is to get the ammonia under control. Then we can try to deal with the other stuff.





EDIT: Out of curiosity, you mentioned 'cycling' for a month before adding fish. How did you cycle the tank? WIthout a test kit for ammonia, it seems very unlikely that you did what we would consider a 'fishless cycle' where you add ammonia to the tank to cultivate the bacteria we need in the hobby.

For reference, here's the article we recommend following: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/

 

[mell433]

Thank you very much we have empty the tank 90% now what?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Fill back up with temp matched dechlorinated water and retest the tank for ammonia in a few hours.




Your test kit is going to get a work-out. You'll need to keep testing and changing water as necessary to keep the ammonia levels down. Right now the ammonia levels are incredibly high. The water changes will also help with the secondary infections as 'clean, fresh' water is a great tonic for most fish maladies.

 

[Akasha72]

our water in the U.K contains copper and a lot of the meds use copper to fix external parasites etc. This was why I suggested re-filling with un-dechlorinated water and then adding the dechlor at the very end... that way the fish get a 'bath' in water that may (or may not depending on area) contain something useful.
 
As Eagles has said ... change large amounts of water - just leave enough in the tank for the fish to remain upright in! You may be doing this for a few days ... possibly even weeks. It sounds like you've got yourself into what we call a 'fish in' cycle. It's something a lot of people new to the hobby find themselves in so your not alone.
 
From your original post I think you mentioned you have a plec? They are one of the messiest fish I know and so he's gonna make things hard but you will get there. Patience and perseverence is needed now and we're here to help.
 
I'm home now and I'm around for most of the evening so I'll keep an eye open for this thread so if you need any more help or advice just shout out and if I'll try my best to answer you quickly. I'm sure Eagles will be back to help too. Good luck

 

[mell433]

We did a test 2 hours after refilling the tank and the ammonia is in between 0 and 0.25 ppm. We are wo dering if we should put meds in the water. Thxs for the help!