Sick Dojo?

[mhoward1999]

Size of aquarium/pond - 55 gal
Number of fish and sizes - plec: 5", dojos: 6" each, 1 goldie is 7" nose to tp of tail- that's the veiltail, all the other goldies are 3-4" long.
Types of fish - 5 goldfish, 2 dojos, and 1 common plec. Also two snails.
Filtration used and how do you clean it and how often - Emperor 400, ugf. Partial water changes using vaccuum once a month.
How much in the way of water changes and how often -- 30% /see above.
Do you dechlorinate - of course!!!!!
Symptoms of sick fish ie, spots, behaviour, etc - one of my black moors has a red spot under one of his eyes that clears up and comes back. I assume it's due to sparring. My veiltail (biggest goldie) has spells where it will lazily flip upside down and drift and then go back to normal. I assume that's a swim bladder issue and so I make sure to ALWAYS soak the food. Now the dojo will lay upside down in the bottom of the tank for several minutes. Then he swims off as if nothing is wrong. The first time I noticed this was after giving blanched spinich for the goldies swimbladder issue. I thought, great, spinach fixes the goldies but makes the dojos sick. However he has done it off and on ever since, with no correlation to type of food given.
How long has the fish been sick and which medications are your currently using or recently used - This has been going on for almost two months. Not currently doing any meds except salt dosing. Have tried melafix and also Mardel Marycin.
Test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph both from the tap and tank - Tap: Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: 0, pH: 12. Tank: Ammonia: has had a tiny green tinge, but not even enough for the .25 reading on my Master test kit.(always do immediate water change if this happens), Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: 0, pH: 13
Anything else you need us to know - foods: Nutrafin Max Sinking Goldfish Pellets, Tetra blood worms, Wardley shrimp pellets, banannas, blanched spinach or green peas.

 

[black angel]

Your ph is way too high. Im surprised you havent seen any symptoms of Alkalosis in your fish. Ph for goldies shouldnt be any higher than 9 at the most. Alkalosis gives fish a milky appearance and ragged fins.
As for the loach turning turtle, it may well be the water ph thats doing it or he just sleeps funny, some loaches do.
How much salt are you using and why?
Also you are overstocked for a 55 gallon. The plec alone will need at least 20 gallons and more as it gets bigger.

How long has your tank been running as a fully cycled tank should be showing nitrate levels. How long have you had your test kits for?

 

[mhoward1999]

My pH is what is normal for this area. I have talked at length with my lfs guy about it. I wanted to use products to regulate the pH of the water. He told me that I would be playing with fire. He said that if I buy locally raised fish, they were born in this water and are used to it and will do fine. ...for what that's worth... How would you address it?

Salt is an electrolyte and is good for all types of tropical fish and goldfish. Here:http/www.aquariumfish.net/information/aquarium_salt.htm is a better explanation than I could give off the top of my head. I stubbornly did not use it for a long time and my fish never seemed to thrive. Now that I use salt, I hardly ever have problems.

My tank is not overstocked for the size that the fish are now. I have other tanks (29, 20, 2-10's) that are not in use for when size becomes an issue.

My tank has been running for about 5 years. My test kit is about 2 years old.