At the moment my Ruby Clown (Bolivian Ram) is about to croak. I am not sure what to do to prevent this or is it inevitable at this point. My fish has red gills, is breathing hard, is having difficult staying upright, is having difficulty swimming and it is just a matter of time. I just bought an airstone, but up to this point (10 months) have not needed one. Also water params are good and just did a water change (50%) about 2 hours ago. Also about a week ago one of my gouramis suddenly died. Should I quarantine this fish?
Dying fish needs help!
- Thread starter edwardmean
- Start date
what exactly are the readings for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate? the symptoms you describe really really sound like ammonia or nitrite poisoning.
Well my fish is still alive, but doing poorly the fins are starting to look like they are dying, they are drooping and changing color. As for the readings the Ammonia is between 0-1.2 mg/L but I believe it is 1.2. I find it difficult to determine the results using the Hagen tests that I have. The ones where you match the color to a chart by pressing the test tube against the paper. I find the colors never really match up. Also the Nitrite test came up as 0-0.1 mg/L. There have been no new fish, plants or decorations introduced lately. The only strange occurance was the random death of a gourami a week or so ago. Thanks for the help.
If your ammonia is 1.2 ppm that is more than enough to cause fish death. Nitrite of higher than .25 likewise although this seems not to be the problem here.
If your tank was cycled, for some reason you have an ammonia spike. Generally with very sick fish you would prefer not to do large water changes if at all possible, however in your case you simply must.
Change out 50% of that water as soon as possible. If you can get some Seachem Prime add this as per directons on bottle for your tank size - it detoxifies ammonia. Carefully monitor parameters (you may now get a nitrite spike, which is a very quick killer) over the next few days/week until everything settles back down.
If your tank was not cycled read the sticky on cycling and you will understand the process. Basically you will need to test water at least daily, better twice daily and change out 50% or so whenever ammonia/nitrite hits .25 ppm. Eventually you will have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and slowly increasing nitrate. This is considered a stable cycled tank which can be maintained with weekly water changes of 20% or so.
If your tank was cycled, for some reason you have an ammonia spike. Generally with very sick fish you would prefer not to do large water changes if at all possible, however in your case you simply must.
Change out 50% of that water as soon as possible. If you can get some Seachem Prime add this as per directons on bottle for your tank size - it detoxifies ammonia. Carefully monitor parameters (you may now get a nitrite spike, which is a very quick killer) over the next few days/week until everything settles back down.
If your tank was not cycled read the sticky on cycling and you will understand the process. Basically you will need to test water at least daily, better twice daily and change out 50% or so whenever ammonia/nitrite hits .25 ppm. Eventually you will have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and slowly increasing nitrate. This is considered a stable cycled tank which can be maintained with weekly water changes of 20% or so.
i agree that water changes are necessary, but if you aren't very regular about doing them (be honest!) it may be better to do several small ones the first day so that clean water is still introduced to the tank but the fish don't get shocked. 10% change at breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime, then start on 50% changes the next day.
Well, my fish is now gone...literally. Woke up this morning and he has disappeared. Not sure where he went but there is absolutely no sign of him.
As for the ammonia spike it may have something to do with the fact that I changed the filter (but this was after the fish started acting sick). I have heard it said that you should just clean the filters and not change them but I have no idea how to properly do this. The Tetra filters that I have for my Whisper HOB, tend to fall apart easily and all I do is lightly rub them in order to clean them. I clean the filter every time I do a water change (and I do admit to sometimes waiting two weeks, but I work out of town so I have an excuse...right?).
The strange thing is that I do not overfeed my fish, if anything I underfeed them, however I do have snails and see a lot of empty shells so maybe I should take into account that food supply.
Thanks for the help. I think my fist order of business will be to get a better testing kit and look at different filters, hopefully then the unexplained deaths will stop.
As for the ammonia spike it may have something to do with the fact that I changed the filter (but this was after the fish started acting sick). I have heard it said that you should just clean the filters and not change them but I have no idea how to properly do this. The Tetra filters that I have for my Whisper HOB, tend to fall apart easily and all I do is lightly rub them in order to clean them. I clean the filter every time I do a water change (and I do admit to sometimes waiting two weeks, but I work out of town so I have an excuse...right?).
The strange thing is that I do not overfeed my fish, if anything I underfeed them, however I do have snails and see a lot of empty shells so maybe I should take into account that food supply.
Thanks for the help. I think my fist order of business will be to get a better testing kit and look at different filters, hopefully then the unexplained deaths will stop.
sorry to hear that 
to clean the filter take out the media/sponges and swish em'/squeeze 'em out in a bucket of tank water - not tap water the chlorine will kill the bacteria.
If you change all the media in one go you are losing an awful lot of bacteria and this is probably your problem. Change no more than half at any one time and only when the sponge is literally coming apart. Squeeze out the old sponges into the new to give the bacteria a kick start.
to clean the filter take out the media/sponges and swish em'/squeeze 'em out in a bucket of tank water - not tap water the chlorine will kill the bacteria.
If you change all the media in one go you are losing an awful lot of bacteria and this is probably your problem. Change no more than half at any one time and only when the sponge is literally coming apart. Squeeze out the old sponges into the new to give the bacteria a kick start.
once the old cartridge is falling apart, put a new one in and take the old one apart. toss the frame and the carbon, and cut it up, saving at least half of the filter material/fabric, and put it into the filter. after a week or so the bacteria have migrated onto the new filter cartridge, and you can toss the old bit.
or stop using the pre-made inserts. keep a frame from an old one for support, and buy a package of foam chair seat filler from the fabric dept. of walmart or a craft/fabric store. the foam has no chemicals and can easily be cut to size to fit into the filter. then you just squeeze it out in a bucket of old tank water. it will probably clog a little faster than a pre-made cartridge, but they are really cheap to buy and you can make multiple inserts from one package. they will last for months too.
or stop using the pre-made inserts. keep a frame from an old one for support, and buy a package of foam chair seat filler from the fabric dept. of walmart or a craft/fabric store. the foam has no chemicals and can easily be cut to size to fit into the filter. then you just squeeze it out in a bucket of old tank water. it will probably clog a little faster than a pre-made cartridge, but they are really cheap to buy and you can make multiple inserts from one package. they will last for months too.
it does sound like you either had a serious spike or the cycle was messed up. changing filter media can cause sudden changes in water parameters ..as suggested try using other materials in the filter.
I use sponges in whisper-like filters.
in those cases. water changes are your friend.
in a case where there is a high spike in ammonia..you should do large water changes to get the ammonia dilluted to .25ppm< it is not a bad idea to do a large change then check and possibly do another large change.
if the nitrates are high (over 100) you do small daily water changes to slowly reduce the nitrates.
I use sponges in whisper-like filters.
in those cases. water changes are your friend.
in a case where there is a high spike in ammonia..you should do large water changes to get the ammonia dilluted to .25ppm< it is not a bad idea to do a large change then check and possibly do another large change.
if the nitrates are high (over 100) you do small daily water changes to slowly reduce the nitrates.