Emergency Concerned about my black skirt tetras fins and one white spot on My green glofish tetra

[kittenlover9876]

Shorter Version of Diagnostics Form:
1. Size of tank? 20 gallon

2. a. Ammonia? 0
b. Nitrite? 0
c. Nitrate? 40
d. pH, KH and GH? ph 7.2 kh 120 gh 75

3. Temperature? 76f

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? fw

5. How long the aquarium has been set up? since december

6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them? 4 glofish tetra fully grown, a black skirt tetra also fully grown, white skirt tetra fully grown, a panda molly who is about the same size as the tetra so small for a molly, and a rabbit snail, who is pretty big. I've got one of the glofish (not the one im worried about) near the beginning of January, The white skirt, black skirt, and snail a week ago, and i got the three glofish and molly yesterday.

7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? no I dont have the required equipment

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? 2 moss balls and 3 fake glofish plants.
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom? gravel
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? a crock skull that is hallow, a little cave with several openings, and some aquarium gems

9. a. Filtration? A aquatech filter that I took the carbon out
b. Heater? A preset 100wat tetra heater

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? I turn them on when I wake up around 10 and when there is sunlight in my room and turn them off when i go to bed between 10 and 12
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? not direct sunlight but they get as much sun as there is that day

11. a. Water change schedule? every two weeks
b. Volume of water changed? 5 gallons
c. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? I vaccum the gravel everytime I change my water

12. Foods? tetracolor tropical flakes
How often are they fed? twice a day

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms?
b. Appearance of poop? no
c. Appearance of gills? no

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis? no
b. What meds were used?

Extra info I added from another forum.
Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? the green skirt i got yesterday and the black skirt i got a week before that
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? today
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? a single white spot on the green tetra and what appears to be white fuzz on my black skirts fins
Have you started any treatment for the illness? no
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? the black skirts fins were a little ripped, but he has a little longer fins so i assumed his tank mates at the store did it, or he did it on accident, and it would heal
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? behavior hasn't but appearance has as stated above

Explain your emergency situation in detail. (Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now) I've had ich in this tank before, and it wiped out my entire tank except one glofish tetra. It appeared the day after buying them in pictures but i didn't notice until a couple of days later. It was way over two weeks since i last spotted any signs of ich before I put the new fish in the tank. so because I am paranoid I decided to check on my fish I bought yesterday. I noticed one single white spot on the green tetra on her bottom fin and towards the front and what looks like white fuzz on the black tetras fins. I'm a little worried because when I went to the locally owned fish shop I got him from the tank he was in was quarantined because several of the black skirts had died of unknown causes. I provided pictures below. sorry about the black skirt being blurry he kept moving before my camera could focus.

15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.

 

[Sprinkle]

I cant see the issue there but i would keep nitrate 20ppm or less so do a 50% water change

 

[kittenlover9876]

I cant see the issue there but i would keep nitrate 20ppm or less so do a 50% water change

Where did you get this information from?

 

[FJB]

Where did you get this information from?

Probably from the info you provided in 1c.
Exchanging 5 gal every 2 weeks in a 20gal (~20-25% every 2 weeks) is almost certainly not sufficient. Suggest changing 30-50% weekly, using dechlorinated water, and making sure parameters (pH, temperature) are kept about the same.
Aquarium was setup in December and ick took some fish. Having already added new fish seems way too soon, particularly without a quarantine period. Hopefully things will improve, but anytime fish are added to a tank is a big new risk of introducing unwanted problems. And then, there is the health status of the original tank to begin with.
If it were me, I would add salt (some may disagree), and keep excellent water quality via water changes. Good luck!

 

[Wyomingite]

Where did you get this information from?

20 ppm is the concentration of nitrates at which fish will start developing chronic health effects. Some fish can even have immediate adverse effects at 20 ppm. It's highly variable between species and even size. Black skirt tetras (all of your fish belong to the same species) are pretty hardy as far as tetras go and 20 ppm probably isn't an issue for them short term, but you'll want to keep it lower in the future.

I don't see any fuzz on the black one's tail, which may be due to the blurry picture. The spot appears to be ich based in the picture. I'd raise the temp to 82 degrees and watch for more spots. If more spots appear, remove the snail from the tank and put it in another container for a while, and treat the tank with an copper-based medication. After the fish are cured you'll need to remove the copper in the water via water changes and carbon back in the filter After a week of daily 50% and running carbon in the filter, it should be okay to add the snail again.

WYite

 

[kittenlover9876]

20 ppm is the concentration of nitrates at which fish will start developing chronic health effects. Some fish can even have immediate adverse effects at 20 ppm. It's highly variable between species and even size. Black skirt tetras (all of your fish belong to the same species) are pretty hardy as far as tetras go and 20 ppm probably isn't an issue for them short term, but you'll want to keep it lower in the future.

I don't see any fuzz on the black one's tail, which may be due to the blurry picture. The spot appears to be ich based in the picture. I'd raise the temp to 82 degrees and watch for more spots. If more spots appear, remove the snail from the tank and put it in another container for a while, and treat the tank with an copper-based medication. After the fish are cured you'll need to remove the copper in the water via water changes and carbon back in the filter After a week of daily 50% and running carbon in the filter, it should be okay to add the snail again.

WYite

I just wanted to make sure sorry ill check today because i did do a water change. The “white fuzz” was me not knowing fins grow back clear. The ich looking spots disappeared yesterday after there only being two so idk but ill keep an eye on it.

 

[kittenlover9876]

Probably from the info you provided in 1c.
Exchanging 5 gal every 2 weeks in a 20gal (~20-25% every 2 weeks) is almost certainly not sufficient. Suggest changing 30-50% weekly, using dechlorinated water, and making sure parameters (pH, temperature) are kept about the same.
Aquarium was setup in December and ick took some fish. Having already added new fish seems way too soon, particularly without a quarantine period. Hopefully things will improve, but anytime fish are added to a tank is a big new risk of introducing unwanted problems. And then, there is the health status of the original tank to begin with.
If it were me, I would add salt (some may disagree), and keep excellent water quality via water changes. Good luck!

I kinda had to add more fish my left over fish was soo stressed he was pacing everyday. I was recommended 25% water change but ill see about 50.

 

[FJB]

Ick spots 'fall off' the fish and go into the substratum, and some days later may appear on fish again. So falling off does not mean cured at all. That is because the life cycle is complex, including stages that parasitize hosts (spots), benthic (substratum) stage, and free swimming stages (seeking new hosts). For the above reasons, all suggested treatment must be applied well beyond the time of visible ick spots on the fish.
Also, the white spots on the body are just an indication of possible infestation in non-visible parts of the fish, such as the gill rakes and lamellae. Often, by the time they are visible on the fish body, the gills are full of the parasite, causing difficulty in gas exchange.
Good luck!
Finally, the fishies would be much less stressed even if alone for a little while, than with parasites harming them.

 

[Sprinkle]

I kinda had to add more fish my left over fish was soo stressed he was pacing everyday. I was recommended 25% water change but ill see about 50.

50% WCs will b much betters and ya will see best results
Raise tank temp to break its cycle, since it fallen off into the substrate do an immediate larger water change say 75-80% including thorough deep clean of yor substrate with gravel vac and wash tank walls to and clean your filter if something nasty hide there.