Dollar fish maybe ill, need advice

M

Mercy

Something Fishy....
Apr 23, 2009
8
0
0
India
hi,

i have had a fish tank for the past few months now & been doing great until the past few days;
i have a 50g tank with 2 goldfish, 2 angels & 2 dollars, all bought at the same time,

recently i noticed 1 of my dollar fish had stopped eating & had become increasingly erratic in behavior. since i have 2 dollars i can clearly see that one of them is much larger than the one i just mentioned,
a day ago i noticed that the dollar was lying at the bottom of the tank on his side, i quickly added a dissolved dose of rock salt to the water - this did help the dollar & he is no longer lying down, but now he is surfing the top as if gasping for air, but i already have an oxygen pump & it has been working perfectly fine.

here are some points which i have ruled out:

water hygiene : had done a 40% water change recently & does not seem to be the problem.

oxygen: have an oxygen pump installed which is working fine ( could it be that when fish get bigger they need a little more oxygen ? )

chlorine : had added a little of the water dechloriniser liquid when i did the water change

bullying : all my fish are approx the same size & i never had a prob. with bullying, besides i havent see any other fish chasing the dollars

hiding places ; have some hiding places, planing on putting in some more

food : been feeding regularly although the sick dollar has refused to eat since the past few days, have not changed the food or anything, both dollars used to eat the same food earlier.

other speices based prob. : since i have 2 dollars, i can clearly notice that only one is suffering this problem & he is visibly looking frail & thin, so i dont believe that it could be due to adaptiblity problems.


please advice

thanks in advance :)
 
petluvr said:
What are all your readings ammonia, nitrAte, nitrIte, etc. Also your stocking is quite unusual. The goldies definitely shouldn't be in the tank since they are a cold water species.
Click to expand...

hi,

i dont have a test kit yet, never actually needed it, but if the readings are really necessary in this case than i`ll buy a kit, maybe tomorrow.

but i could use a basic solution till then if possible, i was wondering if oxygen was the problem ? the dollar is staying right at the surface, which is pretty unusual
 
Did you read the sticky about cycling the tank? It is important to learn about the Nitrogen Cycle that all tanks go through: New Tank Syndrome.

Poor water quality will stress your fish, weaken their immune system, make them susceptible to infections, bacterial, and parasitic, and can slowy suffocate them, and can cause internal organ damage and failure.

As petluvr stated, goldies like water that is colder than the other fish you have, and you can't keep them all happy since their needs are different. Also, knowing your water parameters is vital to their health.

Here are some suggestions I hope will be helpful.

You need to get a liquid test kit right away. API Master is good. Avoid at all costs the strip testing method. Strips are unreliable and will give false readings most of the time.

Water quality for your fish is of utmost importance. There's no way around it. You must insure that your fish are living in water that is clean and free from toxic byproducts.

The main reason for illness in aquarium fish is poor water quality. This lowers their immune system and makes them more succeptable to all kinds of illnesses. Good, clean, in fact, pristine water can help them have healthy immune systems and, therefore, help them fight off many diseases and illnesses.

In the wild the fish live in bodies of water that have a constant inflow and exchange of fresh water, keeping harmful toxic byproducts from accumulating. There are also plants in the wild as well that help to remove toxins.

In a fish tank, the fish are basically in a glass or acrylic box. Their water has to be managed by their fishkeeper because they poo and pee, they eat food and leave some that falls to the bottom and decays, and these things cause dangerous toxic byproducts, namely ammonia, and then nitrites, and then nitrates. The ph can progressively become more acidic as well due to the ammonia buildup.

You can not know what the condition of their water is without good testing equipment. A liquid test kit, NOT STRIPS, is absolutely a must. Strips are unreliable, give false readings, are inaccurate. A total waste of money. Liquid test kits cost more up front but last for months and months and so are much more cost effective.

You must test regularly, and in the case of a new tank or new fishkeeper, daily for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, ph. GH and KH would be good to know as well, but you absolutely HAVE to know what the levels of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and ph is good to know, though fish tolerate a wide range of ph.

A filtration system is absolutely necessary, because it helps to remove harmful components of the fishtank's water, but it also, and most importantly, helps with the removal of ammonia and then nitrates by supporting a healthy colony of beneficial bacteria that will develop in the biofilter, as well as substrate, decor, etc.

Even with that, the fishkeeper must remove water regularly to remove harmful byproducts by having a regular schedule of water changes, adding back water that has been conditioned with a good conditioner that removes chlorine, chloramines, heavy metals, if present, and one that detoxifies ammonia and nitrites would be best, PRIME is a good one), and that is the same temperature as that in the tank.

It sounds like your fish may be suffering from the effects of the toxic byproducts that can accumulate in the tank.

I would do a fairly large water change right away. Get Prime water conditioner. It is less expensive than many of the conditioners, it removes chlorine and chloramines, and it detoxifies ammonia and nitrites for about 24 hours, giving you time to do the needed water change. You still have to do the water change to get the ammonia and nitrites out, but they have been detoxified for about 24 hours.

Prime is HUGE in my opinion, and in the opinion of most of the other fish gurus here on AC. (I'm not a guru yet, but I'm working on it)

With Prime, especially a new fishkeeper can breathe easier and not kill yourself with frantic, immediate, water changes when you find detectable ammonia and/or nitrites in the tank, because this is what you must do when you find ammonia or nitrites in your tank.

You must keep the ammonia and nitrites at 0, and the nitrates at 20ppm or so. You do this by doing water changes with temperature matched dechlorinated conditioned water.

When your tank has all the beneficial bacteria that is needed to break down the harmful byproducts, and this takes time for the bacteria to appear and flourish, then your tank will be cycled... and the ammonia and nitrites will be 0. Nitrates start to build up but are less harmful and if you have plants they soak it because it's fertilizer to them, essentially.

Even once you are cycled, you still have to check the parameters daily, (this is especially the case for the fairly new fish keeper, and believe me, I've been there), to make sure you don't have unexpected spikes of ammonia and/or nitrites, which can result from over feeding, or the decay of a fish or snail that dies without your knowledge.
 
thanks for the replys :)

i`ll get a kit right away & do a water change
 
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