Please need help!

[sharky&george]

I changed the tank water and gravel and now my fish are dying one by one. Mainly the guppies yesterday one loooked like it had white patches along one side and its fins seemed as though they we're shredding away they wernt red but had like white gunky stuff hanging off it I got a diagnosis of velvet from my local pet retailer, so I treated the tank with velvet treatment, it is still alive today barely, its fins are red at the base but the white patches and gunk are not there. Do you think this could be that it was velvet and the treatment destroyed the disease. Also a couple of the tetras look a bit ragged and the clown loaches lok today as though they have a fine grey coat over them!! Any help please i have done a 30% water change and tested for ph and nitrates(for the 1st time) seems to be ok. I used an easy test all in 1 thing. Thanks for help

 

[Wyld-Fyre]

Hi,

Sorry to hear of your losses, I know it isn't nice.

Your fishes sound like they're really stressed, be it from poor water quality, overcrowding, improper tank-mates, overfeeding, and/or constant water changes.

You can see fish stress when they are aggressive towards each other, when the fins are shredded/or clamped, when they lose their colour, or when you see a fish "hiding" itself away.

These are the cause and symptoms you'd find. So, keeping stress levels down is very important.

Since you've changed the water and cleaned out the gravel, can I suggest not doing it again? As a person who believes in dealing with things naturally, can I also suggest turning up the heating to about 30c or above, leaving the fishes alone for a day, and if you're using medication, keep to the guidelines. Add a little food, and turn the lights off.

There's no quick way to cure them, so you'll need to have patience. I suggest minimising contact for at least a few days to a week. Sure, some will pass away during this time, but hopefully we can reverse the trend and save some.

I hope some of this helps, and good luck.

 

[sharky&george]

Thanks for some friendly advice I will do as you have said. Some times you can get some quite harsh comments on here, so it is real nice to hear someone being sympathetic, we are not all pros and have to start somewhere. Thank you

 

[GSD]

25% water changes every day,reduce feeding

 

[Polardbear]

When you changed the water did you remember to use dechlorinator? Also, how long had it been since your last water change and gravel clean? Did you clean the old gravel or did you completely replace it?

Velvet usually appears as a gold dusting, what you described sounds more like an internal bacteria infection such as columnaris/flexibactor. What was the name of the medication they gave you or at least the active ingredients. Were the white patches kind of fluffy or fuzzy looking?

 

[sharky&george]

Hi I completly put new gravel in this time, and the lfs said velvet so thats the treatment I gave the fish looked as though its fins we're shrediing off, had like white patches around them and down 1 side of the fish there was sort of a light pale cloudy area! That 1 died the others are showing not much signs of anything I have turned the temp up to 30, but im not sure if it is velvet there was no flicking or rubbing going on Its so hard to diagnos i'd hate to wake 2morrow and there all like it. And yep I did use dechlorinator