One dead, one ill

[Scrumpy]

Yesterday we got home to find one of my long finned zebra danios gasping desperately at the surface. If you touched him he made no attempt to swim away. When nudged he sank to the bottom and then slowly made his way up to the surface hanging sort of sideways apparently only able to move one side fin. The rainbow fish were starting to nip at him, and then he got stuck to the filter so we thought it kindest to kill him quickly. I examined him carefully and he looked perfect....uttely healthy. :'( Glossy and irredescent and positively fat.
Now one of my rainbows (Bosemani) is looking ill. She's smaller than the others and slimmer (which is why I think she's a female...that and the other three flirt heavily with her) and today she's swimming in one fixed place in the tank. I can't see anything at all wrong with her except she looks a fraction duller perhaps, and she's swimming in a rather wooden laboured way. Breathing quite fast. I'm very worried
My Amm, and nitrite are 0. My nitrates about 50ppm. I work hard at keeping the tank clean and the filter is working and clean. The temp has been going up and down a bit in the heat.
The only "new" think I can think of is I got a clown plec to eat algae. I only have one tank so I couldn't quarenteen him. He looks fine. He's a bit grumpy but I've only seen him chase my cats.
My Cardinal tetras have been looking slightly unhappy (sometimes very pale, a couple of hours later looking just fine again) and all the fish seem off their food a bit. I'm rotating between 3 different flake foods.
I've scrutinised them for signs of parasites or ulcers or fin rot or anything but they all look really healthy.
Any ideas please? I'd really appreciate some advice.
I'm a relative newbie so I'm a bit scared of using treatments and killing my filter bacteria. I don't have a hospital tank, but I wouldn't know what to treat for anyway
Thanks....

 

[Matt Nace]

Sometimes it is hard to avoid temperature swings in the summer, if you don't use A/C.

Temp swings of too much can effect fish.If it is not by much, then this most likely isn't problem.If it is a lot from mid day to night, you should either keep the temp up high with a heater, or find ways to cool it down.

Rising temps also lead to less oxygen dissolved in the aquarium. Not sure what filter you run, but make sure if you don't keep a lot of plants to have it agitating the water. If it is a HOB, you are probebly fine.An airstone also works well.

Maybe a anti-biotic would help you, but I can't really reccomend anything, cause I would try to stabalize the water temp first..if possable.

HTH

 

[colesea]

Dude, your nitrates are at 50ppm? That could cause problems. While nitrates around 10-20ppm about average, but 50? Ouch.

Getting your temps stable is the first order of business. Temps between 74oF and 78oF are about right for tropical freshwaters like you have, and most people will just average 76oF. If your tank get's too hot, take the hood off and allow for evaporation. A fan blowing over the top of your tank would help, and take the heater out.  My tank temps have topped 84oF this summer with no heater in them, and the fish have been fine.

Next order of business. When was your last water change? I would probably say do one. What gallon tank do you have? If it is more than 10 gallons, definatly change out about six gallons of it, and on a 10 gallon tank, change 2 gallons. You'll be amazed how fish perk up after getting fresh water. To help cool your tank down, you might want to do daily 1-2 gallon water changes.

Oh, and clown plecos are not really algae eaters. They're one of the more woodsy-meaty type plecos. I have two of them and have never seen them eat algae, but have seen them rasp at the driftwood in my tank, and they are positively possessive over the Hikari bottom feeder waffers I put in for them.
~~Colesea

 

[Scrumpy]

Many thanks for the advice. The temperatue has been gradually going up and down for a few weeks but has been more stable fluctuating between 74 and 78 this week.
I have a 33 gallon tropiquarium 88 with a biolife filter and I change 50-70 litres at least once a week...often twice to keep the nitrates down. They come out of the tap at 25-30 ppm and I've measured as high as 40ppm from the tap. I'm trying to grow lots of plants to eat the nitrates but can't seem to keep up. I bought a nitrazorb.
I'm keeping the filter on full blast to aggitate the water.
We can't really afford to use bottled water (as someone suggested once for my nitrate problem) but maybe need to think about collecting rain water. I can't imagine how we'd get enough though :-(
My Rainbow fish is looking the same this morning. Still alive anyway
As for my clown plec, I have three lazy ottos who won't eat even brown algae, and the plec was great when he first arrived cleaning up my huge furry piece of bogwood in a week...but now he seems to prefer fallen flakes...and I have the same Hikari waffers and you're right....he'd kill over them!
When I turned on the lights this morning the Cardinals are all pale again. Last night they were deep red and very healthy looking. I wonder if they'll colour up again during the day  ???
This is all very worrying. I really appreciate your help

 

[Scrumpy]

Rainbow fish looking even less happy. :-(
I've been reading up on medications but don't know where to start. How about if I treat the whole tank for parasites and bacterial infections?
What would you recommend?
Will I hurt the fish or damage the filter bacteria?
Help!

 

[Backdraft Bagel]

I agree with colsea - those nitrates could be the problem - although if the fish existed like that without trouble before, then maybe not.


ps - your pleco was probably hungry for cellulose (in the wood), they are typically starved for it due to the hatchery then shipping conditions.

 

[Scrumpy]

Thanks for the reply. I've been working hard at keeping the nitrates down, but the rest of my fish and this one have been happy in higher nitrate levels for months so I don't think it's that myself :-(
Any ideas for general treatments? I'm wondering about salt....I have some aquarium salt for charging my nitrazorb. It's 130litre tank....how much would you add just as a general tonic. Would a salt bath be worth a try and if so what concentration do you think......or is that only for external parasites?
Many thanks

 

[Scrumpy]

Now I can see two separate small red patches...one on her abdomen....one nearer her head.They're flat, and don't look like ulcers.
If you look at her body frm the front, apart from very thin she looks short of bent side to side.
Does that help?
Please would someone suggest something? Should I euthanise her. Are all my fish going to die?

 

[colesea]

I don't know if medications are going to help or hurt the process unless the nitrates are lowered. If your tap water nitrates are that high, then perhaps you should think of a filter for your tap, such as a brita filter or something.

Hmm, try Maracyn I and II tabs, they can be used together and usually can cure most diseases.  But unless the water chemistry is fixed, the fish will just continue to get sick.
~~Colesea