# All my fish are sick!!!



## TexasTornado (Sep 10, 2006)

My aquarium recently went crazy and i'm losing all my fish...5 tetras with fin rot, banana barb with mouth rot, albino tiger barb with fungus growing around his right lung...I tried and tried to treat them but did't know what to treat first!!! I got a lot of good advice...but a little too late i'm afraid. Should I just restart over again???


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Hi Sarah,
The lung is a "gill".
Sorry to hear your fish's health condition.
Finrot can be a sign of poor water quality. What are your water stats?

Hope your fish will recover soon. Don't hesitate to ask many questions. We'll gladly help you.


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## Nick (Aug 2, 2006)

Blue...I think he's indicating he has no more fish left.

And texas...if they have all died I would strip it down and restart it just to be safe for the next fish that come along


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Oh. Sorry for the misunderstanding.


flattrack23 said:


> Blue...I think *he*'s indicating he has no more fish left.


And Nick, Texas is a "she".:tongue:


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## Oceane (Aug 4, 2006)

Sorry to hear about your fish, unfortunately this happens at times. You should start again, but check your water conditions fungus is often a sign of poor water quality, unless you recently added fish that were infected.


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## TexasTornado (Sep 10, 2006)

NONO they are not all dead...YET!!! I still have 5 tetras, 3banana barbs that seem to be maybe ok (can't tell) and 1 banana barb with half a mouth!!!, and 2 albino tiger barbs, 1 with balance probs. and 1 that's breathing heavily and rapidly! I took out my Dwarf Blue Guarami and Dwarf Chocolate Guarami...they are in a bowl!!! :shock: (I think between this and nursing school i'm stressed to the max!!!)

yes i'm a she...(Sarah)...hehe 

LOL I know that it's a gill!!! :roll:


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## TexasTornado (Sep 10, 2006)

OHOHOH, I found somebody to come out and look at my aquarium, but they can't come till monday...What i'm going to do (i think) is wait till the last minute then take out the fish and then disinfect my tank (that's what the man said to do) and then when he comes over he can look at my fish and then maybe i'll know something. I know a week is a long time, but they have been doing semi-ok for 3 weeks so far...I hate to euthanize my fish if they are not too sick...HEY they still swim to the top whenever I come in the room to eat and they eat!!!!! Except the one with half a mouth...I wanna cry!!!!!!

water stats:
ph 6.6
ammonia .5-1
nitrites .25

been doing water changes but stats not improving!


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Hi Sarah,
Have you checked your tapwater for its stats? Might contain nitrites I think.
The meds may also have harmed your beneficial bacteria to an extent that your tank may have gotten mini cycles.


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## TexasTornado (Sep 10, 2006)

I checked my water and there are no nitrites at all. perfect 0! I also tested the Ph out of curiosity and it was sky high at 7.8 (as high as my tester can go)...So it makes no sence that my tank ph is at 6.6 still...the water changes should have made it go up...is there a reason for this???


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Hi Sarah,

I wouldn't worry much on pH. pH swings will happen anyway. I'd worry more on ammonia and nitrites as they are toxic.


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## Tracy (Aug 4, 2006)

Hmm, how about raising the temperature and adding some aquarium salt? And, any idea how they got sick, like did you add some new fish recently?


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## Oceane (Aug 4, 2006)

Hi there nice to hear that you have some fish left. Your tap water ph may be high if it contains a lot of chlorine. You need to do smallwater changes and keep on adding anti fungal treatment. How big is your tank? You seem to have quite a lot of fish in there and quite a mix...what's your water temp like?


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## TexasTornado (Sep 10, 2006)

My temp is about 80...and yes my tap water ph is SOO high!!!


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## TexasTornado (Sep 10, 2006)

*I THINK I FOUND MY SOURCE!!!!!*

OK, I just read something about dead plants causing the nitrites and ammonia levels to go up. This made me think about some sword grass that i bought about a month ago, that desintigrated within one week. I took out the dead yucky leaves withing a couple days, but was slow to do it. When they were all dead i didnt think about taking out the root system, which stayed in there under the gravel and rotted and decayed!!! Isn't it possible that if the rotting root system made my nitrites and ammonia go up that that could have been enough to cause my fish to stress out making them susceptible to all diseases, fungi, and whatever else there is?????????????????????????????


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Sarah, your tank may not have cycled as there is not probably enough bacteria to convert the ammonia immediately into nitrites and finally into the harmless nitrates.


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## TexasTornado (Sep 10, 2006)

*cycling...*

Well, I have thoroughly disinfected my tank and have set it back up. I put my Guaramis back in yesterday and they seem to be fine...the Blue Guarami seems a bit curious about the 3 new tiny Tiger Barbs I added today to help the tank cycle...I hope that is a good sign! :lol: Anyways, everybody in my tank seems happy....for now...Thanks for the help y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

You're welcome.:thumbsup:
Glad to hear your fish are fine now.


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## TexasTornado (Sep 10, 2006)

*Cycling tank...*

Now that I'v my tank has been running almost a week now my 2 Guaramis seem to be doing much better!!!!! I guess this means they will live!!! Anyways, how long does my tank need to cycle before I start doing water changes??? And then how aften do I need to do the water changes???


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## Nick (Aug 2, 2006)

Since you have fish in there if there is any trace of ammonia that do a water change ASAP everytime there is a trace of ammonia, dont want to hurt the fish! AFter the tank is cycled weekly water changes should be fine depending on how many fish you have. I have lots of fish so i do water change like every 2-4 days depending on time, and im still planning on more fish  Hope this answers your question.

Nick


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## TexasTornado (Sep 10, 2006)

*Nitrites!*

yes, thanks!

I just tested my water and curentely there is NO ammonia! However, the nitrites are at 0.25 (about) and my ph is high. I have added some some stuff to lower the ph. Is it natural for ammonia and nitrite levels to spike when cycling a new aquarium???...then go back down???


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

In cycling, ammonia will go down once the bacteria converts it to nitrites which you should see spiking up. Then in a few days, nitrites should go down and you should be able to detect nitrates.


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## TexasTornado (Sep 10, 2006)

*Nitrites*

My nitrites have gone up the past couple days and are extremely high! It's been cycling for about 2 weeks now and i never detected ANY ammonia! My ph is also super high. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong???


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

*Re: Nitrites*



TexasTornado said:


> My nitrites have gone up the past couple days and are extremely high! It's been cycling for about 2 weeks now and i never detected ANY ammonia! My ph is also super high. Is this normal or am I doing something wrong???


Hi Sarah,
Have you detected any nitrates?
Pls do more water changes to dilute the nitrites if you have fish in the tank.

If you are doing fishless cycling, leave it until you detect nitrates.


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## TexasTornado (Sep 10, 2006)

*perfect!*

I was doing the cycling with 3 tigar barbs and my blue bwarf guarami...everyone survived and the tank is normal!!!!! My fish are fine and my new plants are rapidly growing so i don't need to update anymore i guess...anyways thanks for all the help y'all!


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

That's amazing, Sarah.
Glad your problems with cycling are now over.

Relax and enjoy your fishkeeping.:thumbsup:


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