My tank may be doomed... ! Start over?

[jvis0606]

I don't know what to do... for one, I have had a high ammonia level for 2 weeks, at least (around 2) and so I have Ammonia-Lock and have been doing daily water changes of 10-15%. No luck with that! Next, I noticed white spots on some of my fish. So, I had to remove the filter (which has carbon in it) and start the treatments which I did on Sunday. Still doing water changes. And I have raised the temp to low 80's. Today I came home and the fish were looking bad... the black molly was slowly drifting on the bottom, the white molly was gasping for air at the top, the platies were all just frozen in the plants, so much so I thought one was dead and just caught in the plants!! I went to fish him out with a net and he jumped back to life.

Basically, I have been trying to cycle the tank with these poor fish and now I think these guys are doomed.

Another thing is, if I lose this batch of fish, how do I keep the tank going so it continues the cycle process and I can add more fish?

 

[kent]

how long has the tank been running?

 

[jvis0606]

About 6 weeks now. I've even used Cycle to get the thing going.

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

I've not experienced 'Ich' before in any of my tanks, but through what I've read in the forum, Ich is given rise by poor water conditions and/or increased fish stress. Please follow this thread....

http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=7092

You've done the correct thing by these water changes, but I think the real problem lies in your substrate. How often/have you considered cleaning this out?

Good luck

 

[ajhainey]

iirc (feel free to correct more experienced folks!)

ammo-lock means your tests will no longer read true (they still read the 'locked' ammo)...so you may not be as badly off as you think ammonia wise. Have you tested for nitRITE or nitRATE? Do you have any? Nitrite should give you a better idea of the true state of the tank after using ammo-lock. I think you need to do some major water changes (3*20% a day if your tap water is ok) to clear the locked ammonia so you get a true reading - this would also help reduce levels if they are high.

Raising your temp reduces the ability of your water to hold oxygen so I would also get yourself some extra airation (pump and airstone or turn on the 'air' feature if you have a fluval pump OR lower the temp. You don't NEED high temp for ich treatments - it just helps speed things up - better to have oxygen than effective ich treatment

Also treatments tend to be quite stressful anyway and can be bad for the 'cycle' - as you have mollies and platies yuo could try adding salt instead of normal medication??? (never done this myself)

Finally some basic sanity checks
1) Are you treating your water for chlorine before adding it to the tank?
2) How big is your tank?
3) How many fish are in there?
4) Have you ever had a nitrite/nitrate spike?
5) What does your tap water read for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate?

FYI my fish cycle (5 tetras in a 180litre, supplemented with 3 more + 3 puppies after 2 weeks) took 4 weeks.

If you do lose the fish - just keep topping up the ammonia with shop bought as in the fishless cycling...

Hope that helps!

aj xx

 

[jvis0606]

I appreciate your response. I didn't know the Ammolock would skew the results like that, and maybe I have been panicing for nothing. I am going to reduce all of the stresses in the tank for the time being; hold back on treatments, lower the temp to normal, etc. I'll try adding more salt for the Ick, if that is actually what's happening.

I haven't tested the Nitrite and Nitrate lately, so I'll give that another shot tonight.

I have 5 fish in there - in a separate tank I have 6 fry but I don't want to add them to a net breeder in the main tank until the tank is cured.

I've already got an air pump with two airstones attached and the filter running, plenty of O2 I think.

Do I really need to change the substrate?

Any other tips would be very helpful!!

 

[jvis0606]

I appreciate your response. I didn't know the Ammolock would skew the results like that, and maybe I have been panicing for nothing. I am going to reduce all of the stresses in the tank for the time being; hold back on treatments, lower the temp to normal, etc. I'll try adding more salt for the Ick, if that is actually what's happening.

I haven't tested the Nitrite and Nitrate lately, so I'll give that another shot tonight.

I have 5 fish in there - in a separate tank I have 6 fry but I don't want to add them to a net breeder in the main tank until the tank is cured.

I've already got an air pump with two airstones attached and the filter running, plenty of O2 I think.

Do I really need to change the substrate?

Any other tips would be very helpful!!

 

[jvis0606]

sorry for the multiple posts... computer freaked out

 

[tstenback]

Add carbon to the filter to remove the meds. Give the gravel a good vac as you do water changes over the next few days and monitor your water parameters every couple of days for awhile. Let us know what they are. Good Luck