Tanks up for 1yr. all of a sudden

[rabbitlady]

Hello,
first of all i have this at work , and have had it up and running for a year now.
some how about 2 weeks ago my fish started to die. they are rotting away.. i am attached to my friends and want to save what i can please help..
there tail fins are rotting off and there mouth's too..
we have treated with almost everything we can and all my deliever guy says is to add salt and change the charcol filter everyday for the next week..
everything is going except the top tanks with the oscars and pocus and ciclids. they are fine so far.these tanks are 180gal. and 80 gal. systems... ph and all water conditions are fine they are the same as they have been all this time. and i don't remember doing anything different to them .. also can you over due the stress coat?
please help me save the fish no new ones till this is fixed.. thank you

 

[cutechic]

First of all, you should only treat your fish if you're pretty sure they have the illness that the medication is intended for. Treating for other illnesses will cause unnecessary stress on your fish.

It sounds like your fish have fin rot or fungus- what have you been treating with?

Having charcoal in your filter while treating with medication removes the medication from the water, so it is not having any affect on the fish. You should only use it to remove medications from the water after your fish have been treating.

What kind of fish do you have? I don't see the tanks listed (180G and 80G) in your signature. You may know this already, but you should not add salt if you've got scaleless fish (eg. catfish).

Stress Coat is good for adding when you do water changes, to replace the slime coat lost when fish are stressed, but it is not a medication. The bottle should have instructions on how much you should add- don't exceed this amount by too much.

Oh, and just as a reminder, here are some things that'll make it easier for us to help you.

1. What fish do you have in the tank?
2. Have you added any new fish recently?
3. What have you been treating with (please list all meds)?
4. How often do you do water changes?
5. Do you know the exact value of your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

I know you said your water conditions were "fine", but each fish has different requirements; what is "fine" for one species may not be for another.

HTH.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi walmartfish

These are the tanks at Walmart you are talking about right? Let me just ask a few more questions in addition to the ones cutechic has already asked.

Are your tanks connected or are they all independent of each other for filtration, etc.? What temperature do you keep the water at? When you list the meds you have used, please try to remember if you have been able to complete the entire course of treatment as directed on the packages. It's very important that we know this.

I suspect that you are looking at a bacterial infection which is often the result of overcrowding, sudden increases in temperature, high nitrites, low oxygen content in the water, infrequent water changes, uneaten food left in the water, and other conditions that could stress fish. These are things that will weaken a fish and leave it susceptible to disease. Unfortunately, these are conditions often encountered during shipping and while in stores.

As a first course of action, I suggest you do some extensive water changes, whether or not your parameters are normal. Keep the temperature no higher than 75 degrees and add airstones if the water surface is not moving much. These steps will inhibit the growth and reproduction of bacteria that could well be causing the problem. Also, try to keep anything from the tanks with the sick fish from contaminating the ones that are still well. For these fish, prevention should be the first thing on your mind.

 

[rabbitlady]

ok , like i said these are the tanks at my work..
that is why they are not listed. i work for walmart.. these are my systems that i have there one side is tropical 180 gal. system the other is 90 gal. goldfish these are all attached to two sump systems so the water is filtered and goes into each other.. ok, we have every kind of fish i can get my hands on in these tanks and all were doing fine till about two weeks ago.. then this rot stuff started to happen..
we add new fish on thur. of everyweek... but not this week..
i have used
melafix
salt
aquesafe
ph decreaser
none of which has helped.
also as for the
ph-8
nitrites-0 or what is the lowest on the tester stick
nitrates- same lowest
acid.... is a little high
but these all have been this way for the year i have had this system up and this has only started the last two weeks.
hope this helps

 

[rabbitlady]

ok , yes these are at walmart the water is change almost on a daily basis with all the fish i sell,, this is a normal and has been done for the year they have been running.. as for the charcol filter this was something my dealer told me to leave them in.. not what i thought was right.. i have removed all infected fish and go back like 4 hours later and there are more with this same thing it is happening so fast we can't keep up...

 

[rabbitlady]

all tanks are on two sumps.. temp is 78 in tropical and 68 in the cold goldfish tanks

 

[ste2k3]

With the tanks being on sump, then the infection can spread to any of the tanks. you say the oscars, pacos and cichlids have not been affected? I would say that is because they may have a higher immune system. if there are no signs of disease, in that tank, you could (if possable) isolate this tank by just turning off the water supply and let it drain to the overflow pipe. now you have no water flow through it, you will need to add a filter such as an external or internal powerfilter. The problem now is that you will need cycled media to put in it. You could use some out of the sumps and then just treat the tank with melafix. that should save thosefish. also, remove carbon/charcoal filters, these will only remove the medication. I also work in a shop and know how fast infection can spread. not you will just have to treat the tanks with the fungal/finrot medication. It is best to remove any that are affected either into a quarantine tank or knock them on the head. Things may start to look better, but don't do water changes unless the medication says so as this will just dilute it. and may stress the fish more and like you said, don't add/sell any fish.

good luck

ste

 

[rabbitlady]

ok , thanks for all your help will let you know what happens.. this is something i bought awhile back just to see what it was for so i will try it starting today.. thanks everyone..
jungle labs
Fungus Eliminator (Crystal)
Clears Serious Fungus & Bacteria

 

[cutechic]

Good luck walmartfish Keep us updated

 

[Inchworm]

Hi walmartfish

Any news? I really do hope the medicine was able to help.

 

[rabbitlady]

Well, I am hopeing this is good news... I went into work today and only had 4 fish that should signs of the sickness.. unfortunelly the ciclids now have it too. someone fished in that tank before we stopped selling and they have it too so i lost 3 of them this morning but all the other fish in all the other tanks seem to be stablizing and doing quite well.. i do another dose tomorrow morning and then wed night late i put the filters back and see thur. what happens so far so good though.. thanks for all the help and we will stay as members...

 

[Inchworm]

Hi walmartfish

That is good news. I'll remember the name of that medicine. Please err on the side of caution, and if there is any sign of the illness left when this course of treatment is over, hold off until you can repeat it.

This very virulent strain is best wiped out of your tanks completely so that it does not recur. The new fish that will come into your store have had their immune systems compromised by the very nature of the shipping and handling process and could very easily become infected. Ordinarily, clean fresh water goes a long way toward renewing their health, but until then they are at risk of catching anything they are exposed to.

We are going into a seasonal time when bacterial infections can run rampart. One of the things that makes fish susceptible to it is a sudden increase in temperature, which can easily happen when they are in transit. If they are shipped by truck, you know how quickly the temperature can rise inside of them. You will want, I am sure, to be especially aware of any that come in showing signs of illness, and isolate them immediately to avoid a repeat of this disaster.

Your customers are very lucky to have such a conscientious person in charge of the pet department in that Walmart. Why don't you take the opportunity to tell our members which store it is? I'm sure that any of them who live in your area will go out of their way to shop there!

 

[rabbitlady]

Sure thing inchworm we are in the Georgetown, tx walmart and we try our best if we don't know the answer we try to find out.. we are doing a second dose tomorrow and then late wed night we will replace the charcol filters for a hopefully delivery on thur.. have to get some fish to test first before we except and full shippment in again .. our fish guy will give me some testor fish to see how they are doing before we reorder.. also if anyone out there is near my store come by i would love to meet you.