Please Help!!!

[paradigmcubed]

My African Cichlid Alpha male Ngara Peacock has just died and I'm not really sure why. Two of my other male peacocks are also exhibiting the same symptoms as the Alpha male was. The Ngara Peacock had been swimming in the upper part of the tank and had been breathing hard for the past couple days. He also hadn't eaten at all. He has no visible injuries on his body, so I'm not sure what has killed him. I checked the ammonia levels and there weren't noticeable levels. Anyone have any ideas what happened and treatment for my other Peacocks??

Thanks

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[paradigmcubed]

I did notice some of my fish seem to have clear, round air bubbles on their bodies.

[valerie]

Could it be gas bubble disease? http://www.fish-disease.com/Diseases/GasBubbleDisease.htm

I have never seen it personally but ihave seen pics and it shows as clear bubbles on the fish.

edit: I found where i saw the pic before. If you have the Baensch atlas#1 turn to page 907 and 908

[paradigmcubed]

Do you have any Pics of this disease? I found some, but they weren't clear at all. I have another fish who has several visible bubbles on him and I want to move him to another tank or I'm afraid he won't make it. The hospital tank I have has a ph of 7.0, while my tank is at 7.6. Would this move kill the fish??

Thanks

[paradigmcubed]

Now that I've read a little more about the disease they were saying an indicator may be bubbles on the top of the water from gasses coming into the tank. My power head 402 has been causing large amounts of bubbles since I've head it set up in there. I just unplugged it and the bubbles on the top of the tank are disappearing. I also have been putting water in from the hose outside of the house, could that be a contributor?

Thanks

[paradigmcubed]

I was looking at this site: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/disease.html and their pics have huge gas bubbles on the fish. The bubbles on my fish are very, very small and now that I think about it, two of my fish have bubbles on their gills. The peacock that died didn't actually have bubbles on his gills.

Thanks

[paradigmcubed]

I just remembered, my temperatre has been hovering around 80-82 degress, whether that makes a difference. An OB fish is now on the bottom of the tank breathing hard and he's lopsided. I did a 50% water change today. Anyone think I should medicate the tank and if so, with what? I don't want to lose any more of my fish.

[valerie]

I"m sorry i can't be much help as I haven't a clue when it comes to fish diseases but i'll try.

When you say bubbles on the fish are they bubbles jsut stuck to the fish or are the bubbles forming under the fish's skin? What are you water test results? Have you done any water changes?

Are there bubbles anywhere on the walls or other stuff in the tank?I ask because i used to just add my water straight from teh tap into the tank by a hose and our water has a lot of disolved gas in it. I would also get a tank full of tiny bubbles taht would stick to everythgin in tha tank(walls, plants,) it would even stick to the fish.

[The Dude]

I am currently having a similar problem with my Oscars...the tiny bubbles on them are accompanied by a clear, stringy material that looks like wet spiderwebs...this web-like substance is also attached to some of the rocks and plastic plants in the tank...As a precautionary measure (supposing its some kind of fungus?), I've been treating them with Maricyn tablets...But it's been 4 days of treatments, and no progress on the gooey stuff and bubbles...

[paradigmcubed]

These were small clear bubbles just attached onto fish. Yeah, I add it straight from the tap too. I have no ammonia readings and will conduct nitrate/nitrite tests in a few hours.

Thanks

[paradigmcubed]

Sorry I took so long, here are the results.

Ph 7.8
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrites 0 ppm
Nitrate 80 ppm

Looks like my Nitrates are pretty high. Could this have killed my peacock and what should I do? My LFS is promoting Oxygen tablets, I'm not sure if those would work, I know they cost the most out of all the meds they have. I added Prevent Ich by AquaHerbals also made to prevent different fungus and protozoans. Can I safely add a full dose of salt without killing my Synodontis catfish? Can I put the aquarium salt in at full dosage without killing my Synodontis?? It would be great if you guys can give a quick response so I can act and get some meds and possibly save my last full grown peacock.


Thanks a lot for your help!!

[jimbo]

I'm not sure the nitrate has caused the death of your peacock.
I think it depends on whether it was a wild caught or not and for how long he was swimming around in your tank.

Although 80 is pretty high for nitrates, non wild caught should be able to withstand concentrations like that for a short period of time like 2 or 3 days safely.
The only remedy for nitrates is water changes, also plants use up a lot of this stuff.

Check your tab water on nitrates and see how much difference there is between your tank and your tab, and in how much time it raises to 80. This will give you an idea when and how much water you have to change.
Before it even reaches 80 you should have changed your water already.

Perhaps feeding your cichlids sparingly every other day for two weeks could help too.
It seems your denitrifying bacteria have lots of work changing nitrite into nitrate.
They use up lots of oxygen, and that’s why your LFS recommends you oxygen-tablets.
No problem using them, but it won’t help lowering the nitrates.

Jimmy

[paradigmcubed]

I had checked the water about two weeks ago, though I should have checked it in between then and now. It didn't have a high nitrate reading at the time. I haven't changed my methods of 30% weekly water changes since then, but I guess something happened. After my peacock died I did a 40% and today another 30% water change. The nitrates are still at 80ppm.

Thanks

[jimbo]

Did you check your tab water on nitrates?

[valerie]

Nitrates at 80 is a bit high but i don't think it is high enough to kill fish like africans, discus or other fagile fish yes but i don't think africans.

PLus high nitrates won't cause the bubbles on the fish

[paradigmcubed]

I noticed something about my sick fish today. At times they seem to be choking or coughing on something. Its like something is stuck in their throat and they are trying to regurgitate it. This doesn't happen too often, but often enough that I've noticed it. These moments where they seem to try to throw something up only last a few seconds. Does this give anyone an idea to what they have?? Nitrates are at 60 ppm and I have done daily water changes of 40%.

Thanks

[travelinman1969]

Sounds like a weird form of dropsy. Are they losing any of their scales? Do they have a white mucas on their body at all?

How big is the tank and how many filters. First things first, get the nitrate and nitrite levels down. Go get some zeolite granuales and use it with the carbon, You can also buy it in a mixture. The zeolite will decrease your nitrate to nothing. Let me know.

[paradigmcubed]

I have just ordered an Eheim 2217 and right now I am running a Penguin 330, Aqua Clear 500 and Power Filter. No loss of scales or white mucus. I have a 125 gallon tank. I have 0 ppm of Nitrites and Ammonia. 20 ppm of nitrates.

Thanks, Jacob

[travelinman1969]

Has a water change helped at all? What are you feeding them? Sounds like they ate something to cause their body to emit these bubbles. Is there an air bar in the tank?

[hgolden]

This sounds like velvet disease. I just had this happen not long ago!!! Your fish will drop like flies if this is what it is. Get coppersafe to treat tank. If you have any scaleless fish in your tank the coppersafe can be harmful and/or kill them! Goodluck I lost 14 very nice african cichlids over this!!! Plus add aquarium salt frequently until you get it under control. This helps them with their lungs and breathing. The fish do not always get sores etc. on them with this.


My African Cichlid Alpha male Ngara Peacock has just died and I'm not really sure why. Two of my other male peacocks are also exhibiting the same symptoms as the Alpha male was. The Ngara Peacock had been swimming in the upper part of the tank and had been breathing hard for the past couple days. He also hadn't eaten at all. He has no visible injuries on his body, so I'm not sure what has killed him. I checked the ammonia levels and there weren't noticeable levels. Anyone have any ideas what happened and treatment for my other Peacocks??

Thanks

Please Reply Soon