Poorly Fish :(

[TC7]

Hi, I am unable to to post on the 'fish emergency post' so thought I'd post here instead.
I am fairly new to all this as I only got a fish tank about 3 months ago.

I have a 54ltr tank, I have started doing a 20% water change every 1-2weeks.
In my tank I now have - 8 neon tetras, 6 mollies, 4 guppies, 3 harlequin rasboas, 2 coral platies & 1 pleco.

Last week I noticed that the two white mollies had what looked like white spot on their tails, but I wasn't 100% sure.
Three days ago one of the harlequins died, but it didnt show any signs of being poorly.
The past few days quite alot of the fish have been lying on the gravel & hiding at the back of the tank and only coming up for food or being more lively when I put the fish tank light on
One of the coral platies now look like it has white spot on the top of its head.

Can anyone give me any advice please as I really dont want to lose anymore fish

 

[Staxx]

what are you water stats?

 

[TC7]

Do you mean the ph & nitrate levels etc etc? I really dont know I;ve just seen these being mentioned on other posts but have never got mine checked, do I need to buy a kit or what?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

If you have no idea of the water stats, you should do an emergency ~95% water change, leaving just enough water to cover the fish on the tank floor. replace with similar temp, dechlorinated water.

You have an awful lot of fish in that 54l, I would consider that a reasonable stocking for 3-foot 125-150l. In claustrophobic conditions, even if ammonia and nitrite always come back as zero, the fish are likely to get stressed and be more prone to illness (such as Ich).

Are you pretty sure of the issue (Ich), as in fish are covered in white spots that look like salt grains? If so, you need to get some medication for them, Protozin by Waterlife is my weapon of choice for Ich (but there are plenty of others). Buy the meds ASAP , then do another >50% water change before dosing, cut right back on feeding [size of 1 eye per fish per day] until treatment is over (to reduce the chance of ammonia/nitrite spikes which would need another rmergency water change and then compensating for removed medication). Gradually raise the temp of the tank ~1C per hour until you reach 30C and increase the water rippling (warm water holds less oxygen), this will speed up the life cycle of the Ich and make it reach the medication sensitive stage quicker. Follow the meds directions and change water 7 days after you see the last spot on any fish, then let the water cool down gradually over serveral hours to ~23C.

 

[TC7]

Thanks for your reply, I will purchase Protozin tomorrow and get it started.
I was advised & I also googled it, that 30 fish is sufficicent for my size of tank. I only have 24, and they aren't large fish.

I will try and take a picture of my platy as she has really visable white spots on her head. How do I upload it though for you to see??

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

54l can make a suitable home for ~25cm of adult fish that are not active swimmers, just your 6 Mollies alone is ~72cm of adult fish that by nature are active and fiesty livebearers. Just your 8 Neon Tetras would nicely stock this tank.

Photos can be uploaded to sites like Imageshack and the code then used to embed photos in threads.

 

[TC7]

Pets@Home sell an Anti White Spot & Parasite treament, do you think this would be ok to use??
I had bought three mollies from this store (when advised not too, as they apparently carry white spot) should have listened

 

[Aqua Tom]

Pets@Home sell an Anti White Spot & Parasite treament, do you think this would be ok to use??
I had bought three mollies from this store (when advised not too, as they apparently carry white spot) should have listened

The medication will be fine from that store. The Ich could of come from anywhere so be aware of accusations.

Tom

 

[TC7]

Ok thanks, just heard alot of bad reports regarding this particular store from family & friends

Purchased the White Spot treatment today and put first dose in earlier, will do another dose on Wed & see how things are.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Raise the temperature to 28c to speed up the parasites life cycle.

Tom

 

[TC7]

I have done this Tom, thanks. Found another dead harlequin today

 

[4seasons]

You need a liquid test kit. Anytime you think something is wrong in your tank you need to check your water stats. Test strips are useless and it takes too long to run to the store and have them check your water. With that many fish in that tiny tank my bet is ammonia and nitrite are killing your fish. Most of us use the API Master Freshwater kit. If you get a reading of anything other than 0 on ammonia and nitrite then you need a large water change.

 

[ZoddyZod]

no idea why you couldn't post this in the emergency section - but I've moved it there now.

 

[TC7]

no idea why you couldn't post this in the emergency section - but I've moved it there now.

Thanks, just needed to go into my emails a validate the registration - thats why it wasn't letting me post in certain topics.
All sorted now

 

[TC7]

So, the whitespot treatment seems to have done the trick so far but I still need to add the 2nd dose tomorrow to make sure its completely gone (fingers crossed).

All fish effected seem alot more lively & happier, no more lying about on the gravel and no more visible white spots

Although, I looked at one of my female pregnant platies earlier today and one of her eyes is all swollen - It looks like a blister on her eye, so I'm guessing its Popeye?

I couldnt get out today to buy the Master Test Kit, but my cousin lent me a Nitrite Test Tablet - So I done test and it came back that the filter bacteria was not yet established and to keep adding Filter Start... (sorry i'm not great with wording things, just going by what the wee leaflet says).
So i'm guessing that this is causing the illness in my tank?