Need To Know The Problem

[cegha]

ok last sunday i got 5 corys and 6 neons. The 2 danios that were keeping my tank cycled i believed to be that one of them MIGHT be getting ick. I picked up some ick medication (called quick cure), to be safe.

Ok fast foward to about yesterday. Fish are doing good. Cory's don't hide each time i goto the tank. Ok, i have been adding 5 drops of the ick treatment each morning (since sunday). It said 1 drop per gallon, but for tetras 1 per 2 gallons, so i just decided 5 drops was fine for my 10 gallon tank with the tetras and corys.

Today, got home, fed my fish a tubifex worm cube thing. All today (mainly the corys) have been acting weird. When i walk over to my tank, they jet all around the tank at VERY VERY high speeds.

It probably started yesterday or day before last but my plants are dying. They are slowly turning browner and browner and the needle lookin things falling off and getting sucked into the filter.

Just about 5 mins ago, i looked into the tank. One of my neon's is dead and floating on the bottom.

This is not good, one neon is dead, 2 of my plants are dying (when previously they have been fine), my cory's are acting VERY strange and darting at VERY VERY high speeds. My amazon swordtail, i can't tell if it's dying or getting better (it wasn't in good shape when i got it).

I'm running water tests now, but i'm 99% sure my ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are all fine. I have no idea what is causing the problem but i need to fix it.

 

[WILDER]

Stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph.
Corys and neons can't handle parasite meds to well thats why you half dose.
Have you increased areation in the tank as the high temp and med reduce 02 in the water.
Dilute it down with a water change.

Darting around poor water quality, parasites, stray volatage but I doubt its that, and meds where if fish can't handle it.

 

[cegha]

Stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph.
Corys and neons can't handle parasite meds to well thats why you half dose.
Have you increased areation in the tank as the high temp and med reduce 02 in the water.
Dilute it down with a water change.

Darting around poor water quality, parasites, stray volatage but I doubt its that, and meds where if fish can't handle it.

Seems you always end up in my topics.

Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 5ppm
pH - ~6.2

The temp in the tank is usually almost always at 80. I have left the water level a little lower then normal so that the water that is dumped back into the tank from the filter makes more of a splash and adds more oxygen back into the water.

Now looking at my tank, earlier like a lot of the air bubbles were collecting on the top of the water. Now they seem to all be gone, except for the few that collect for a few secs above where the water goes back up.

Bah, stuff runs well for a week then goes to hell in a handbasket.

Edit: didn't mention it but the neon died at about 9ish, and i probably looked at them and counted them all at like 8 or so, and they were all there and looked fine.

Edit2: did a water change, gonna goto sleep for the night. Hopefully rest of my fish will be living in the morning.

 

[cegha]

There is something wrong with my corys. There all acting very weird. I think a few of them are starting to miss scales or something. It looks like there worn away kinda just behind there head.

Someone please help me. I think im heading to my LFS, i ask them if they might know whats up.

 

[WILDER]

Need stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate, and ph.
How many corys have the missing scales.
Any fluffy growth on them.

 

[cegha]

Need stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate, and ph.
How many corys have the missing scales.
Any fluffy growth on them.

I included them in my 2nd post. It's really hard to tell exactly what is wrong. I don't know if im paranoid or if there hurt. I think there fine but it just looks odd. I looked at a pic on planent catfish and they look about the same.

Mine are C. Aeneus. I might have found the problem in my tank. One of the plants i had looked like a psalm like you get from church. The plant is called "green and white acorus".

I went to petsmart to get another neon and i got another large amazon swordtail too. Well i was moving plants around and went to move the acorus and the roots were all black and stuff. I took it out the tank and was washing it off and the most horrid stench hit me. I think it was like rotting or something. I think that might have been part of the problem in the tank.

It is now sitting in my sink. I believe it to be dead. I will post a pic in a lil of how disgusting the roots looked. There all like black and brown and smell terrible.

 

[WILDER]

Water change, are you still using the med as I would run some black carbon.

 

[cegha]

Water change, are you still using the med as I would run some black carbon.

I didn't use it today. I did do a partial water change again today though. When i was reorganizing the plants i used my gravel vac to suck out all the crap floating around.

Should i stick my new filter cartridge in there, if so how would this work. I got one in there that i took and cut open and emptied all the black carbon out of so it's like a filter for the bacteria to live in but without the black carbon. There is also this other thing in my filter. It's white, and spaced out. It's not really woven together enough to serve as a filter and its behind the filter (like just before the water is dumped back into the tank).

I want to say that it would have enough bacteria bulit up in it that i could toss my old filter and replace it with my new one, without causing my tank to cycle.

My mom's being an annoyance and won't let me use her camera, or i'd take a pic of it.

I'll get a pic of it tomorrow and you can tell me if it would have enough bacteria built up so i could just change the filter out.

 

[WILDER]

Ok, good luck.

 

[xoedusk]

Do a thorough gravel vacuuming asap. Rotting plant roots may have left some nasties there.

 

[s_anthony]

I went to petsmart to get another neon and i got another large amazon swordtail too.

If you got tank issues, 1st suggestion is to fix the tank issues first before adding new fish.... not only are you probably stressing that new fish if there is a problem and have the chance of loosing it as well, but you could be bringing in new issues to your tank....

I'll get a pic of it tomorrow and you can tell me if it would have enough bacteria built up so i could just change the filter out.

You won't see the bacteria... How long as the filter media been in? How long has the tank been cycled for?

Depending on the answers above you might be better off cleaning the media with aquarium water (chlorine in tap water will kill the bacteria)... you could always pop in the new media cartridge behind the other to give the bacteria a new home before you change your media out if your concerned about loosing your bacteria - although bacteria can also ive in your substrate too...

Just my 0.02


I don't know how others feel, but having only one or two fish in to cycle it then loading it up with the amount of neons and cories probably threw your parameters off in the tank. Anytime I've cycled, I've gradually added in fish and never have had problems. How big of a tank is it - sorry if I missed that part of the post earlier..

 

[cegha]

I went to petsmart to get another neon and i got another large amazon swordtail too.

If you got tank issues, 1st suggestion is to fix the tank issues first before adding new fish.... not only are you probably stressing that new fish if there is a problem and have the chance of loosing it as well, but you could be bringing in new issues to your tank....

I'll get a pic of it tomorrow and you can tell me if it would have enough bacteria built up so i could just change the filter out.

You won't see the bacteria... How long as the filter media been in? How long has the tank been cycled for?

Depending on the answers above you might be better off cleaning the media with aquarium water (chlorine in tap water will kill the bacteria)... you could always pop in the new media cartridge behind the other to give the bacteria a new home before you change your media out if your concerned about loosing your bacteria - although bacteria can also ive in your substrate too...

Just my 0.02


I don't know how others feel, but having only one or two fish in to cycle it then loading it up with the amount of neons and cories probably threw your parameters off in the tank. Anytime I've cycled, I've gradually added in fish and never have had problems. How big of a tank is it - sorry if I missed that part of the post earlier..

Everything seems to be fixed now. I quit using the med, and threw out that plant. They all seem to be fine now.

I know that i won't see the bacteria, i was just wondering if it was large enough that it could hold enough bacteria that changing the main filter wouldn't cause any problems.

I still need to get a pic of it.

It's a 10 gallon tank, been running since like Oct 7th or something. My tank is cycled and all, i perform the nitrate, nitrite, ammonia tests about once a week to make sure everything is good.

 

[WILDER]

Glad everything is ok.