My Fish Are Dying!

[mrpotts]

I set up my first tank. I did it by the book waiting 2-3 weeks before introducing fish and all was fine. i then bought (about 3 weeks later) some small fish with a stripe along their side that the shop assured me were none aggressive community fish and a few days later my guppies were dead or dying ( the new fish are fine as yet). It appears to be tail rot. I bought a nitrite test but the water seems ok? What can I do? can fish be carriers without showing symptoms? is there any other test I should do?

 

[Shelby]

I set up my first tank. I did it by the book waiting 2-3 weeks before introducing fish and all was fine. i then bought (about 3 weeks later) some small fish with a stripe along their side that the shop assured me were none aggressive community fish and a few days later my guppies were dead or dying ( the new fish are fine as yet). It appears to be tail rot. I bought a nitrite test but the water seems ok? What can I do? can fish be carriers without showing symptoms? is there any other test I should do?

you should post this in the emergency section. I'm sure Wilder would be able to help you. There are meds for fin rot but I can't remember the name off the top of my head.

 

[waterdrop]

Totally agree! You need a consultation with Wilder or the other experts over in Emergencies so you can carry out the correct procedures for finrot.

Then be sure to come back here if you need to because you are also in what we call an unplanned "Fish-In Cycling Situation." Fish-In cycling can be a safe thing when done by experienced aquarists, but most beginners end up in the situation because they've been misinformed at shops and because they've never had access to any of the rather arcane information about the need for a working "biofilter" in a tank prior to adding fish. The creation of a working biofilter can only be determined by testing and not by simply waiting some length of time. Having fish in a non-cycled situation leads to disease outcomes, finrot being one of the most common. Anyway, we can help a lot with Fish-In cycling once you get back here after you've been to the hospital, so to speak.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[WILDER]

Size of tank in gallons or litres.
How many fish and which type.
Water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Finrot is mainly caused by bad water quality.
Daily water changes till ammonia and nitrite are 0, increase aeration.

Best to do a fishless cycle as the cycling tank takes it toll on a fish.
It's awful watching them suffer.

You need to test for ammonia, nitrate, and ph also.

Guppys have very delicate fins and it dosn't take much for them to start to rot away.
Once guppys lose half of there tails they rarely make it.
Are the fish struggling to stay balanced.

The only things is a bacterial med dosn't always help in bad water quality.
If in the uk, myxazin by waterlife.