I need help

[Andrew225]

First and foremost, let me say this; I messed up. Not a little bit, either...I messed up bad.

I know how to maintain a fish tank ,both freshwater and saltwater. However, I started college five weeks ago. Since then, it's been feed the fish and call it done. Mind you, I still love my fish to death, but I was so dang distracted...

But, we don't want a sob story now do we?

A few days back, I noticed a wound on my German Blue Ram's head. I thought little of it; probably a wound from another fish, from bumping a rock. It can't be that bad, right?

Today, I go to feed and throw in a new piece of decor. I notice then something that floors me.
One of my angel's is suffering from fin rot. All around the edges, white and deteriorating. What's worse is that one of his eyes is white and clouded, puffy even.

I begin investigating deeper. Sure enough, I find two of my Rainbow Cichlids sporting similar issues. I instantly do a 20 gallon water change (It's a 55 gallon). In the process, I unearth my eel...Huge patches of white, both eyes are white.

I've since added some ammonia neutralizer, changed the filter pads, and fed once. Fish ate, which is the only solace I now have.

PH just got done testing. It's a low, low, low number. Like, 4.5 at best. Going to do another water change before i go to bed.

Any suggestions, naturally, are more than helpful. Criticism is not; I know i messed up, and I feel so incredibly terrible about it. I shouldn't have gotten bogged down.

Anyone with any advice at all, I could really use it. I don't want my mistakes to end lives.

 

[The Zigman]

Whenever you see something likr that it is important to do extra water changes.

There is a possible bacterial infection... Maybe some fungus..
Do you have any pictures?

Do lots ofd water changes, and let see what you are looking at.

 

[shadow999991]

umm i've got nothing other than keep up the water changes and up the temp a bit

 

[Andrew225]

I'm afraid I don't have a Digital Camera. Still, everything I've read indicates a fungal infection. I'm going to swing to a fish store tomorrow, buy something that can help. Do another water change, probably twenty gallons or so.

 

[bitbot]

Not to confuse the issue, but I believe white patches are also symptomatic of some bacterial infections.

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/fish_palace/tropicalfish_disease_identification.html

I'm not claiming to know one way or the other, but I wouldn't assume it's fungal based on the info you've given.

 

[oscartank]

Adding medicine to the tank and doing large water changes can destroy yr biological filter. Don't forget to add filter aid to the tank after the 7 day medicine period, also id suggest uping the temp and doing 10% daily water changes as this helps yr filter. Don't panic as this clouds yr judgment they will be fine as long as u care for them.

 

[justahannah]

I'm with bitbot...columnaris often looks like a fungus, so I wouldn't medicate or change anything (other than lots and lots of water..that always helps) until you get a clear diagnosis. Upping the temp will cause that bacteria to flourish and spread faster, so I definitely wouldn't do that unless you can rule it out completely.

 

[Kashta]

Agree with the others. These cases almost always turn out to be bacterial instead of fungus. And adding fungus meds instead of treating appropriately for bacterial infection will only make a bad situation worse. Make sure you know what you're dealing with before you medicate.

 

[KarlTh]

Columnaris does not look like fungus, but it does look how a lot of people wrongly think fungus looks.

This is fungus:

This is what people think fungus looks like but is actually columnaris:

(thanks to Kashta for the pics)



However, with a pH of 4.5 we're into acidosis territory. Before doing anything check ammonia. If total ammonia is zero, then use a series of water changes to get the pH back up to 6+. Then measure KH - we need to know whether this is very low or whether the pH crash has happened because of insufficient water changes in the past. Measure KH of tank and tap water.

Keep temperature in the low twenties C to slow any columnaris, but I think this might just be acidosis.

 

[shawnhu]

Looks like a PH crash that caused your bio-filter to fail. I'd start with diagnosing it as ammonia burn, and change out the water until your PH is back to normal. This will mean many 50-60% water cahnges over the next few days.

If you have a water conditioner such as Prime, double dose it to keep ammonia at a safe level.

If it is indeed just ammonia causing this, make sure to add some baking soda to the tank if you are anticipating not doing water changes for extended periods to prevent another PH crash.

Shawn