OK Guys I need your help!!!

[snoopy65]

My husband's cousin has just called me with an aquarium emergency!! I do not know what to tell them to do.

They keep aquariums, but do not do regular water changes, only top offs....you guys know they type. I have tried to tell them, but to no avail. Anyway, they have had 1 death and 1 dieing, and 2 more in the tank. The one that died is an 8" Oscar, the one dieing is a 9" oscar, the other 2 are 7 and 9 inch red devils....in a 55 gal tank. I can not change what they have them in so don't preach. This is what happened.

At least 6 months of no water changes. Last week, they removed all 4 fish to 5 gal buckets, broke down the tank and "cleaned everything". Again I know!!!!! 2 days ago first oscar's left eye turned gray and lost scales, yesterday it was dead. Today, 2nd oscar is starting the same thing. Left eye gray and is losing scales. Other two fish seem not to be affected yet.

Now, I do not know their water params...they don't test. I KNOW!!!!NOTHING I CAN DO!!!! I HAVE TRIED!!!

I know the fish have to be being affected by old tank syndrome. I know they may have bacterial infections or fungal. I know they should have started with small water changes. But, I do not know what to tell them to do for the fish to save them now.

I am hoping to help them save these fish and then hopefully they will listen when it comes to tank maintenance and stocking levels.

What do we do for the fish????

I have available: Parasite meds, fungal meds, Kanacyn...(antibiotics), malachite green, meth...blue.

Come on guys, help me help these fish and maybe convert some aquarium keepers to true fish keepers!!!

[platytudes]

Well, since the tank is nuked anyway, maybe try the Kanacyn - or any other broad spectrum antibiotic you may have. Something like Furan 2 would be ideal, or Maracyn and Maracyn 2.

Then, give them your old filter media to try and reseed their filter.

Something like ammo chips in the filter's flow path or Ammo Lock is going to be necessary to neutralize the ammonia that is surely present. Make sure they don't feed anything!

Maybe now is the time to tell them to upgrade their filtration. In my tank full of tetras and kribensis, I run two AquaTech 30-60s...and when I shut one off, the tank doesn't look as clear. Imagine having only one filter (I'm sure they have only one) with that kind of insane stocking load!

See if you can get them to put another AT 30-60 or comparable on the tank, so they are running two beefy power filters. And for now instead of using the cartridges, probably should be running a pantyhose full of ammo chips instead.

That's all I can suggest. If you can neutralize the ammonia that's the first thing to do. Oh! And add some salt...kosher, sea salt, aquarium salt, whatever. 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons for now. (Dissolve in warm water first.)

Water changes are going to be complicated if medicating...if you/they can get the ammonia neutralized and the filter reseeded with your used media ASAP...maybe there is a fighting chance...!

I sure hope this teaches them something. With people like this, I usually look forward to when they finally put their tank on Craigslist...but who knows? Maybe you can break through if they manage somehow to make it through this.

[snoopy65]

I already pulled one of my canisters and took it over to put on the tank. I figured, it is seeded, it is for 100 gal tank, and it was one of the back ups I had on one of my 125 gal. I am in the process of setting up another to put on as back up on my tank. I do have a box of ammo carb. It came with the last tanks I got, so I can give them that to put in their Whisper 60. I have Kanacyn, but that is the only antibiotic I have on hand. Would it be better to start it and then switch or should they wait until morning and get the Maracyn and II?

[platytudes]

If you have enough Kanacyn to do a full treatment, go ahead with it. It's as good as anything, considering that their diseases are all environmental. Like Furan 2, it treats both gram postive and gram negative bacteria...but if you don't have enough to treat their whole tank for the whole duration then I would wait.

I know this site looks cheesy but it has some good info about aquarium meds: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumMedication2.html

Do you know what they're feeding these fish, btw? I bet they are using the same big ol' can of flake from a year ago...cichlids are sensitive to poor nutrition. Getting them some New Life Spectrum would go a long way towards helping them heal. The key is optimizing water quality and nutrition so that they can focus their energy on getting better and not having to deal with everyday stress.

Boy, these people are sure lucky to have you around :) Not to mention their fish! Pat yourself on the back.

[BondDouble08]

The extreme change in water perimeters is probably what initially shocked the fish (they probably had a huge drop in nitrate levels during the change) followed by the "new tank syndrome" surge of ammonia and nitrites.

When cycling a new tank I use Nitra-Zorb with very good results, it'll keep the ammonia and nitrite levels at a relative low while the tank cycles. It's effects slowly where off over the course of two weeks and it can be recharged with a salt solution as needed.
Anyways I used it with my quarantine tank whenever I have to treat the tank because of the medication also affecting the beneficial bacteria.

And I would test the water before the dosing of medication, cloudy eye, loss of slime coat/scales, all sounds like poor water quality so maybe a combination of the nitra-zorb, ammo-lock with water change, and melafix (the tea-tree oil will help the heal the fish's scales and a good preventive medication for the potential outbreak of bacterial/parasite infections.)

All I'm saying is before you dose a bunch of medications realize that they might do more harm then good, when the problem could be fixed with a few days-a week of good water.

(But by all means use an anti-biotic if more general symptoms of bacterial/protozoan infections arise.)