Need advice

[Kthefish]

I have a newly established tank (10 weeks old) containing 2 cory's, a pleco, 4 guppie's, 3 molly's, 3 silver sharks and a shoal (10) of neon tetras. I had the water checked last week only to be told my Ph was sky high, not wanting to use chemicals I was advised to remove 3 of my 7 plants and to carry out frequent small volume water changes. Having the water checked yesterday we found the nitrite to be high hence plants back in, and a 20% water change.
Today I lost a shark, a guppi and a tetra, the remaining fish are rife with white spot and maybe a hint of fungus.
I went to the retailer they sold me 'King British white spot terminator'. Having administered this I lost another shark and the remaining fish don't look at all happy.
I have now read on the net that the treatment (malachite green) can be detromental to My filter health.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh No, another tetra has just let go!

 

[Loboto-Me]

welcome to the forum Kthefish,
Your best bet would be to post this in beginners area of the forums, because I'm sure someone will be there quickly with advice for you.

Hope everything goes better with your new tank

 

[franky]

Are ther any probs with amonia levels, how did you cycle your tank? no fish /fish? did you build the no. of fish up gradualy in the tank? how regular have you been carrying out water changes?

Im fairly new to keeping tropical fish my self so will do my best to offer advice but you may want to move this post to the fish emergancy section of the forum to get more help

 

[Kthefish]

Thanks Loboto-Me & Franki I am trying to find how to move my topic to the emergency forum, but my computer skills are about as good as the poor tetra I have just lost.

 

[sandyd]

Sorry to hear of your trouble, but it seems to me you are still cycling. If you Nitrites are high, then your tank in in the secound stage of cycle. Nitrites although not as toxic to your fish as ammonia, will still cause lots of havoc on the fish. I would suggest that you keep up with the water changes and hopefully it will bring it down enough so that all of the remainig fish make it.

As for the PH of your tank, have you tested the ph of your tap water? If it is high coming out of your tap, then you will know adleast where you are beginning, and then be able to figure out why it is high in your tank. There are natural ways to lower the ph of a tank, if indeed you ph from you tap is high.

Sandy

 

[Kthefish]

Thank you Frankie & Sandie, in answer to your questions I let my tank establish for just over 3 weeks, Each week I have added a few fish having had the water checked each time, and for a period of about 6 weeks everything seemed fine. I do a 20% water change weekly and hoover the gravel regularly. It was only last week the trouble started firstly with the Ph then the Nitrite and now the white spot/fungus. Regards

 

[babyfish]

Sounds like the treatment has knocked out some of the bacteria in your filter, this is why your nitrites have risen again.
Why on earth your lfs would advise you to remove your plants I have no idea, the plants will help to lower the ph eventually as leaves break down in the water (notice the ph in the amazon, the water is stained from the effects of leaves and bits of tree breaking down).And plants can only ever be beneficial to an aquarium and its inhabitants.
As for the whitespot you may be better off using Interpets medication as they are normally safer with your filter.You can also mix some interpet treatments, check the leaflet to make sure.
Fungus is best treated with Melafix, this is a natural product and quite safe for your fish,plants and filter.
Make sure you cut down the amount of food you feed to your fish until the filter repairs itself and is able to cope again.
Remember to do plenty of water changes(small) and add enough medication to treat the amount of water you are putting back into the tank only

 

[sinistral]

I might have missed this information, but how big is your aquarium?

 

[Reefbum]

Just went through the white fuzzy spots myself and finally contacted the Marine Biologists at That Fish Place. (A great place to buy fish and fish products.) They advised me to use Formalin for the Fungus and Melafix as a Antibacterial Remedy. They also told me that Primafix is a new all natural product to treat Fungus. They have it but several days shipping involved. I had been using Melafix for several days and the Fungus spread to other fish that I purchased from The Discus Place. I started Formalin this morning and have orded Primafix from That Fish Place. Anyone interested it is http/www.thatfishplace.com A great place price and product. Good luck.