Silver Dollar with Fin Rot

[Snowbrumby]

Hi All

I have a happy 2 ft tank and a very unhappy 3 ft tank. Everything which goes into the 3ft tank dies - either for no reason, white spot or fin rot I have now boiled, sun bleached, thrown out and repurchased everything in the tank. Two questions.
1. I still have a Silver Dollar, the last surviour of the tank, which is in an ice-cream container and I have been changing his water twice a day - I don't have any other tank I can use. He doesn't have much left of his tail but he is trying so hard to stay alive - I'm putting this green stuff in his water to try to get rid of the finrot. Does anyone have any other suggestions - I am new to fish keeping.
2. I came to the conclusion that the filter the LFS guy said would be fine for the tank is in fact too small and not up to the job which is why I might be having so much trouble with this tank. Could this be right?? Just don't know what else it could be. I have bought a second little filter which I'm hoping will help. I don't have a test kit - except for PH - as they don't sell them in my little town and have to wait until I can go up to the city again to get one.
Thank you in advance for your advice

 

[Snowbrumby]

I think I'm the only one in here I forgot to ask, are Danios hardy enough to be the first fish when I finally put fish in the 3ft tank again or should I have a different type of fish?? Any suggestions appreciated thank you

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Hi there, firstly how long did you cycle the tank and how did you go about it? If you didn't cycle the tank longer enough before adding the fish then this would probably explain the deaths; if there are water quality problems these will make the fish stressed which will bring about desease/sickness in them. Also fish can often be bought suffering from whitespot/finrot with very little noticable signs but as the desease progresses they will become more apparent.
I would get a water testing kit ASAP, preferably one that tests for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates minimum.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Also, you shouldn't be changing the water so regualy in the container especially while treating the fish with medicine; not only will this stress the fish out but you will also be making the medication less effective.
Are you using water conditioner/dechlorifiner in the water that goes into the container?

 

[Snowbrumby]

Thank you for the reply.
I am using water from my happy 2ft tank to replace the water for the sick fish. Is this okay or should I use fresh water for him? Yes, I do decholrinate the water now - we have rainwater tanks (no town water where we live) and I was using that until recently, it hasn't rained for a while and we have to buy in water for now
I have been setting the tank up and leaving it for a week before getting a couple of fish, after a few days, they get sick and die. I then clean everything, leave for a week or so, get a couple of fish, they get sick and die. I then clean......... etc, etc, etc. Though this last lot, I had a Silver Dollar and a Silver Shark in there and unknown to me Hubby surprised me with a 4 Neon Tetra (I do like them ) but from the moment I put them in the tank I was a bit suss about them. The next morning one was dead and the other couple had some white fuzzies on their fins and tails and so it went
Won't be able to get a test kit until after Easter at the earliest

 

[Snowbrumby]

Also, how often should I change sick fish's water? Because there's no pump or anything in the container I was worried that he would run out of oxygen which is why I was changing the water so much

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Its difficult to say when you are medicating the water at the same time; i would leave the medication for the mean time(as it will not work properly in these conditions) and just change the water in the container once a day unless you see him gasping at the surface.
Even if you have water from an established tank in the 3ft tank, one week is far too little time to cycle the tank, also all the cleaning and scrubbing will only be prolonging the process.
Basically when you cycle a tank, you do it so good bacteria can build up in the tanks filter system. This bacteria can break down organic waste in the tank like fish poo, uneaten food, dead plant matter etc; without it or too little of it the waste in the tank doesn't break down and starts producing harmful toxins which will stress the fish out and even kill them.
All this can also bring on desease in the fish. There are diffent ways of cycling a tank i think on here listed somwhere.

What i have said about cyling is very basic and i believe there are some threads on TFF that go into it in further detail and suggest you look at them as they will help you understand the situation easier. Overall though it could take one or two months to cycle the 3ft tank so it may be best you find a temporary home for your fish if my diagnosis is correct.
Sorry about the news...

 

[Snowbrumby]

Thank you for the replies I have read most of the cycling pages on here and even reread some of them and am doing what I can with what is available to me in my area. I must find a good Internet Aquarium Shop in Aust sooner rather than later I'm thinking.
A small update though - I got a second filter for my 3ft tank as I suspect the one sold with it is nowhere near big enough for the job, despite what I was told. Anyway, only day 2 of cycling and the water is crystal clear, something that was never achieved with just the one filter, so I'm quite happy with that small step forward