Really need your help...

AquaDummy

AquaDummy

AC Members
Sep 26, 2004
151
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Kamloops, BC
I know... "not another one from this guy"... I am sorry but I just can't do this alone...

My fish are dying and I don't know what to do. My parameters are
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate marginal (<5)
Ph 7.2

First all my platies died - almost 1 a day. Now my harlequins are dying. I've had all my fish for a couple of months now. I see no spots like ich. I have a few baby platies in there which I assume would be dead with bad water?

The only thing I am noticing is on the bottom fin of a couple of my harlequins they seem to have a white streak. I always thought this was the lights shining on them a certain way. My cory looks a bit pale today too.

I'm just at a total loss at what to do. Each day I seem to lose a fish. It's been going on for a couple of weeks and I see no sign of anything - but of course I don't even know what to look for? My poor daughter wants me to rip down the tank she is so distraught - me too as this has been a very stressful hobby to-date
 
I haven't been keeping up with your posts, so some additional info would be useful... tank size, water temp, tank residents, etc.

Patience is the number 1 virtue in this hobby.
 
77g (46x16x24) with plastic/silk plants, AC500 and AC300 with 2 sponges in each plus floss in the AC300. Driftwood, rocks. 1 300W heater on the side and temp is usually around 76. I turned the heat up yesterday to 79 expecting that maybe I had ich or something and was getting ready - but I see no signs of it.

2 platies + 3 babies
17 Harlequins
6 pepper cories
2 blue rams
1 bushynose cat
 
Is it possible a poison or toxin is getting into the tank?
 
If you're positive that theres no harmful chemicals that could be in there...
it may be something internal. possibly a parasite, because bacterium normally need terrible water conditions to become threatening.
I'm not really sure what a "white streak" could be, and I'm sorry that no one really knows how to help you.
posting pictures if you can would be a TERRIFIC help, because if you cant see something, or dont know what to look for, perhaps we can.
 
Slappy*McFish said:
Is it possible a poison or toxin is getting into the tank?
Click to expand...
My only guess too..
Could someone have "fed" the fish something "wrong"?
Very strange that this is going on... Hope to hear what has happened.. :confused:
 
AD, no one here will think 'oh no, another one from this guy' - it's what we're all here for. Some day you'll have a wealth of knowledge, and someone brand new will show up asking questions you know the answer to. That's what it's all about :D
I'm so sorry about your fish! Something's going wrong, and we'll help you find it.
Ripping the tank apart won't help, so try to avoid the impulse. It sounds like your tank is understocked, and I know you're doing plenty of water changes. It doesn't sound to me like it's related to waste buildup in any way, and your biological filter is functioning.
My next thought, if you see no signs of disease, is the same as everyone else's - is it possible that there are chemicals getting into the tank? This can mean anything from hairspray to soaps to metals, it's very easy for something poisonous to make its way into the tank.
What happens when they die? Do they just weaken and then die, do they stop eating, bloat up, or do they exhibit strange behaviour? Poisoned fish often spin or 'whorl' in a corkscrew pattern just before they die.
If it's not poisoning, is there anything that's stressing the fish out to a great degree? Temperature swings, pH swings, constant disturbance (netting, cleaning, moving decor around, etc.), agression - all these types of things and many more can stress fish out to the point where illness takes over. You mentioned the cory is pale - that's a sign of stress, but it doesn't help you to isolate the cause - illness or any of the above things could be responsible.

What kind of rocks are in the tank? Some rocks have metals in them, and can poison the fish. Also sometimes the screws used to hold driftwood to a slate base can rust and that could cause a problem. I doubt it, but I'm grabbing for everything I can get.

I'm tapped out for now - any more info you can post will help, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you. We'll help you get to the bottom of it.
 
Some internal bacterial infections can go unseen to the untrained eye. If you see signs like loss of appetite, hiding, laying around on the bottom and listlessness then you need to look in to treating the tank right away.
 
Slappy*McFish said:
Is it possible a poison or toxin is getting into the tank?
Click to expand...
I suppose so but not sure from what?
the_dougie said:
posting pictures if you can would be a TERRIFIC help, because if you cant see something, or dont know what to look for, perhaps we can.
Click to expand...
I just finished doing a water change so I'll try and get some pictures in the morning. I've tried before and they haven't turned out well so I'll try and read some articles on how to do it.
Blinky said:
What happens when they die? Do they just weaken and then die, do they stop eating, bloat up, or do they exhibit strange behaviour? Poisoned fish often spin or 'whorl' in a corkscrew pattern just before they die.
Click to expand...
It usually happens when I'm at work. Everything looks fine the night before and in the morning. Then when I get home I find dead ones. One of my harlequins did start to 'flip' a few days ago. I assumed swim bladder. These other 2 harlequins were a surprise. These last 2 were stuck to my intake of my filter (I have pre-filter sponges on them). I was/am thinking poisoning too but then wonder why my baby platies are surviving? I've got purchased driftwood with no screws and my rocks are flat rainbow rocks and a couple of others but they are the same that are in my LFS tanks.

I had a cave at one time that was not made for the aquarium. It was one of those granite reptile caves but I took that out. I was thinking that may be it but I've done so many water changes since that time. Plus my bushynose would always lounge on it and if anyone would have been poison I would think it would be him. But maybe it's affecting the smaller fish?

Anyway, I want to thank you all for you concern and I will post again tomorrow with more news and hopefully some pictures.
 
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