Not Happy With Fish At The Moment

[Nemo8269]

if just been to my lfs and had my water tested

nitrites 0
amonia 0
nitrates 20
pH 6.7

The thing is one of my red eyed tetras has started swimmining as though it has lost all its balance. I have had it about 6 weeks now and all seemed well up until yesterday. Its still eating but is gettting chased by the other red eyes.

Plus one of my pregnant female platy's has white edging around its tail in and dorsal fin. The lfs said it could be a bacterial infection but asvised me to leave it alone and as for the red eyed tetra to lfush it down the toilet.

I was also told not to feed them for a couple of days to reduce the nitrate level

What am i to do???

 

[catxx]

how big is the tank? how often do you do water changes?

your one that's swimming funny, is his tummy all fat? he's probably got constipation/swimbladder related problems.
and the white edging could be several things, if you can, isolate her, chances are it's contagious, treatable, but contagious.

let us know how big your tank is first.

and don't flush your fish!

 

[Nemo8269]

Its a large Jewel corner tank does 180lts sound about right (sorry not much good with measurements) As for water changes i do 25% once a week and the filter was cleaned 2 weeks ago in tank water.

The red eyed tetra's stomach seems fine, just like the others. It is still eating also

 

[catxx]

cool. do another water change, this will help bring down nitrates a little, make sure the gravel gets a vacuum.

does the white edging sound like this:

Frayed, split or ragged fins. Possibly with whitish edge and some reddening of the fins

or

White or or discoloured 'cotton-wool' patches on the skin or fins. Often accompanied by inflammation and skin erosion

for your tetra:

Loss of equilibrium with fish unable to stay upright. Fish may be able to maintain position when swimming, but turn over when they stop swimming.


1) Swim-bladder disorder / disease caused by viral or bacterial infection, constipation (mainly fancy goldfish) or other organ disease.

2) Internal organ disease, i.e. kidney / intestinal disease or blockage. Usually only established at post mortem

 

[Nemo8269]

its sounds like the latter abit like cotton woold attached to the fins although there are no signs of inflammation or sores. there is no signs of raggedness either.

OMG!!! it dosen't sound goodfor my tetra does it....is there any thing i can do?

 

[catxx]

could be Columnaris. hmmm. someone more experienced than me should know.

http/www.fishdoc.co.uk/disease/clinicalsigns.htm

for your tetra, try him with some cooked de-shelled pea! that tends to give them a good "wash through"

 

[Nemo8269]

So leaving the platy alone and not treating advised by my local lfs, would it get any worse or even die, this platy is also pregnant.

de-shelled pea???

what kind of pea...tined peas

 

[catxx]

frozen peas, the kind that come in a bag, garden peas.
i put one in some water in a glass and microwave it for a few seconds so it's cooked, take off the shell, and chop up the pea inside. my fish love it!

isolate your platy in a hospital tank if you can and watch her closely. not sure on treatment, maybe someone else can help here?

 

[Nemo8269]

i tried puttinghtet platy in a breeding tank as she was getting aharrased by amale guppy but she jumped out through night!!!

 

[catxx]

make sure it's covered then! hehe.

 

[Nemo8269]

Mmm i know but i didn't know what was being more stressfull to her the guppy or the breeding tank under the lights. I don't ahve any floating plants to hide the lights either.

 

[Nemo8269]

the red eye tetra is still alive four days after i first spotted it swimming summersaults. Should i leave it or remove it?