Help!!! My fish are dying.

M

mantis

Medium Fish
#1
Oct 22, 2002
97
0
0
NYC
#1
My local aquarium was closed, so I went to Petco and bought about 15 minnows to feed to my Arrowana, Shovelnose and Red tailed Cat. They ate them all rather quickly.
Day later, my shovelnose is swiming at the top sort of vertical as if he's trying to get air. So is the red tailed cat and my Ghost knife.
Day 2. My shovelnose is dead at the bottom. I've had him for about a year. His mouth was open, so I looked in and saw a pebble. But i've always known him to pick and spit out pebbles. I figured he chocked on it, until I came home from work to see my 'ghost knife' fish also dead at the bottom. Now I know he can't fit pebbles in his mouth. I've also noticed that their favorite non-live food is getting eaten. sitting at the bottom, which never happens.

ANy ideas...? I'm about to go get my water tested at the petshop and then come home and do a water change since my last one was about a month and a half ago.

Could it also be the 'grape vine' that was floating at the top of the tank? which I took out immediately after the shovelnose died? :mad: :(

55 gallon tank w/ a fluval 304.
 

M

mantis

Medium Fish
#3
Oct 22, 2002
97
0
0
NYC
#3
Just got back from the pet store...nitrates, nitrates, and ammonia levels were high. Just did a water change, popped in some stress coat, salt, and tap water neutralizer.
:( I'll miss the fish. Hopefully the rest will make it through the night.
 

shooter

shooter

Small Fish
#4
Dec 16, 2004
21
0
0
53
Ohio
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#4
What the !$#@ !!!!!!!!!!!!!

*SICK* Someone HELP! I have a very large hex tank 35-40gal (not sure) I found this site as I was setting up my tank a few months ago...JUST IN TIME, before I ran out and bought fish. I read about cycling. The first fish in the tank were 5 Tiger Barbs, tuff little buggars! they seem indestuctable and feed like parrannas after about a month I noticed a rust colored algae growing so I read about brown algae. I adjusted my light to 12 hours then 10 hours and added 2 plecos 1 died. I replaced him and the other 2 eventually died I really believe the barbs where killing them. They seem to be Little bullies! :mad: I scubbed the entire tank, plants and cleaned gravelbed. I then added 3 Bala sharks and 2 Chinese algae eaters cause I was told they would hold their own againts the little Barbs *crazysmil Tank looked great for a few weeks and all fish happy and healthy! 1 month later Brown algae came back almost over night :mad: I have been testing all along and I thought things were good. I took a water sample to Petco and the dude said try Tank Buddies (No more Algae tablets) and use pH up gradually to get my alkaline up. 2 days later 1 Bala dead and the others not looking too good the sharks have little white spots on them that look like tiny air bubbles. I did a 50% water change right away thinking that the chemicals must have thown things out of wack but I'm worried about my fish please help!
 

Last edited:
foty89

foty89

Medium Fish
#6
Mar 1, 2005
55
0
0
Binghamton, New York
#6
It certainly could be Ick, but it is possible it could be something else as well. In any case, you do need to treat it immediately. My recommendation is to use Malachite Green or something that contains it in combination. I have found it to be very effective.

Also, your tiger barbs are going to be nippy as they are in two small a tank. The gallonage is big enough, but since it is a hex tank, they don't have enough room to swim horizontally. So even if you added a few more to get an acceptable size school, they would still be nippy.

You reoccurrence of algae is a result of you cleaning the tank. You effectively killed off all or nearly all of the beneficial bacteria when you cleaned. So you started cycling the tank a new, which is why you got another algae bloom.

The chemicals and water changes weakened you fish and caused the Ick outbreak. Treat according to instructions on medication bottle and you should be able to save most of them.

Do you vacuum the gavel on a regular basis? Do you have the tank where it gets direct or indirect sunlight? Do you overfeed the fish, is there good still in the tank after two minutes? If the answer is yes to any of these, this is also part of the algae cause.
 

revfred

revfred

Superstar Fish
#7
Jun 21, 2003
1,414
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0
St. Paul, MN
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#7
Best product I've found for ich is Kordon's Rid-Ich+. Contains malachite green, does not harm plants, scaleless fish, or your bacterial colonies. No temperature adjustment required. Just follow the directions to the letter.
 

shooter

shooter

Small Fish
#8
Dec 16, 2004
21
0
0
53
Ohio
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#8
I hope it's not too late!

:eek: Thanks for all your help friends I posted my questions last night and we all have to work *crazysmil so I didn't get your sugestions til this afternoon when I got home you all seem to agree that Ick is is my problem and all said treat right away! It's been about 24 hours since I posted my question and I did treat as soon as I read your replys. I ran out and got Ick Away with 0.075% Malachite green but one of my Bala sharks is looking pretty bad, kinda floating straight upwards and sometimes upside down Oh no...alot upside down and of course the Tiger Barbs won't leave him alone so all I can do is wait 24 hours and treat again right? I doubt he'll make it through the night :( I do thank you all for your help and wanted to answer some of the questions one person asked >>>>>>>> Do you vacuum the gavel on a regular basis? Do you have the tank where it gets direct or indirect sunlight? Do you overfeed the fish, is there good still in the tank after two minutes? If the answer is yes to any of these, this is also part of the algae cause. I vacuume the gravel every thirty days as my Aqua Alert digital timer suggested, No my tank gets no direct or indirect sunlight It can if you think its better!(it is in front of a window but I keep the shades drawn all day) I might be over feeding to be sure the Balas get some b-4 the barbs eat it all. and I don't understand the last question??? :confused:
 

Last edited:
foty89

foty89

Medium Fish
#11
Mar 1, 2005
55
0
0
Binghamton, New York
#11
As one of your fish is that sick already, they all have been exposed at this point for a good amount of time. Isolating the sickest would not accomplish much at this point. Just continue to treat as directed by the medication and hope.

As for your answers, I vacuum more often than that, but I incorporate it into my water change schedule. I think that 30 days might be a bit too long.

Do not put the tank in sunlight, it causes a lot of problems with heat variations and algae build-up.

As for feeding you balas, they will eat anything, so try feeding both floating and sinking food at the same time, they should be able to get some then. You tank is way too small for them though, they will grow to be around a foot long.

I hope that your treatment goes well and you don't loose any fish. The rest of the issues can be dealt with over time.
 

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