Too Many Problems

[ParadiseGuerrero]

Some times a wonder if this hobby is worth while because I seem to be having no end of problems-

Problem 1) 120L tank, 10x black ruby barbs, 8x bronze cories, 3x platies. Water 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 40-80 nitrate (a bit high I know but comes out the tap at 50ish)

did have another platy in there but she got really skinny (despite eating) then pineconed slightly and died (took about 2 days) Before that she had stopped getting pregant for a month or two- I posted a thread but never got a conclusive answer as to what to do/if she was okay. Then my betta swelled up, pine coned and went pale, he was dead with in a couple hours. I went to the Lfs when the platy died and they sugested internal bacteria so I'm dosing some meds for that. Does this sound about right? No other fish are acting funny or seem off colour now but I really don't want to loose any more fish. I've done a 50% water change when each died, I normally do 30-40% each week. And how long should I wait to be sure that there is nothing in my tank to harm any new fish? (I was thinking about getting a new center piece at some point but don't want to if it'll just get sick)

Problem 2) 90L tank, 13x neons (12 was suggested but I think the Lfs miss-counted 'cause I have 13) 8x white cloud mountain minnows, 1x Paradise fish, 6x Amano shrimp

The paradise fish seems to be having some problems- he looks rather fat (like he just ate too much) and sits in the top corner as if he can't sink him self, he occasionally rolls onto his side, he looks like he's dead because he doesn't move, you can't even see his gills move (but you never could before either). Then he'll start swimming around the tank for a bit quite normmaly but slightly twitchy (it looks simmilar to when you just scare a fish and it suddenly takes off, generally knocking into a few things on the way)Could it be he just swallowed some air or something? I've fed him some peas because at first I thought it was constipation but then he started doing his floaty thing. He does still eat and turns to look at me when I come over. He has already been through a bad fish-in cycle when I first started the tank and I know this can cause long-term damage. Any idea what this could be?

Problem 3) My neon still has a white hole/lump on it's side but it's not getting any bigger or smaller and he seems fine otherwise, should I jsut keep an eye on it?


Thankyou in advance for any help you can give.

 

[ParadiseGuerrero]

No ideas?

 

[mhancock]

Sorry no idea, other than suggesting that you medicate sick fish in a hospital tank rather than effect all of them with the meds. The smaller volume tank will also mean that you need less.

 

[ParadiseGuerrero]

ok thanks I'll use a hospital tank next time. But would that leave the potential for others to catch what ever it is because it'll still be in the water?

 

[mhancock]

With some large water changes you should be able to sort that

 

[ParadiseGuerrero]

how long would you suggest waiting before I can besure no other fish are infected?

 

[onidrase]

Anti bacterial medications can be very harmful to fish if the fish are not sick. If you're treating for internal bacteria with no fish having it, you may just be killing your fish by dosing the tank.

Many things cause bloating/dropsy. Internal parasites, too much water in the blood stream, too much food, too much air from eating the food... Its hard to come to a conclusion on what it could be with the provided information. But to be blunt, if a fish has so much bacteria built up inside of it that its bloated, it should have been looooong gone. I have my doubts that that is the issue at hand.

 

[ParadiseGuerrero]

So what do I do about any of the problems?