Fin Rot and cloudy water

A

ambli

AC Members
May 25, 2012
15
0
0
Philadelphia
Hello guys, first post here but having an issue with my tank :(

History:
I have a 35 gallon tank with 4 ryukins/fantails (2 are 3", 1 is 4-5" and 1 is 5" long). I do 10% water changes weekly-biweekly and have 2 filters (95gph). I have had them in an established tank for over a year.

Last month my idiot brother decided the fish were hungry and dumped a bunch of old fish flakes in the tank (i've since switched them to a diet of algae wafers, sinking pellets and blood worms). I cleaned out the excess as soon as I saw and did a 25% water change but the water has been cloudy ever since. I just figured it was algae bloom from the food and would take time to settle down. Then a few days ago my dad decided to change all the carbon filters in the larger filter (it contains 2 carbon pads). I wasn't aware of this until he told me this morning.

Problem: this morning I awoke to 2 of my fish laying at the bottom of the tank un-moving! they all started having white outline around their fins and tail. I did a normally scheduled 10% water change and took a sample of the water to petco. They said my nitrates, nitrites and ph were off the charts! I came home and did a 50% water change and conditioned the water with stress coat. I changed one of the new filter pads back to the old one (my dad didnt throw it out, he just put it to the side)

Now all the fish are lying at the bottom of the tank un-moving. I bought pimafix, melafix and prime but havent added anything to the water. Should I add in the prime to bring down the nitrites/nitrates?
When should i treat the fin rot?
Should I feed them tomorrow (i didnt feed them today)
I will be doing a 50% water change daily

please help :(
 
do at least a 75% water change, and use 5 times the amount of Prime that would normally dechlorinate your size tank. this will detoxify any ammonia and nitrite for a 24 hour period.

don't medicate at all, this sounds like an ammonia spike, followed by a nitrite spike. the fin rot is from the excess ammonia in the water. a clean environment will help heal up the fin rot, if it is just starting (white edge to fins).

go get a testing kit for use at home. Petsmart carries the API Freshwater Master Kit. it is highly recommended by many members here. test every day for ammonia and nitrite. if either of those tests come back with anything but zero, do a large water change (at least 75%).

i would say don't feed your fish for at least a few days. they are stressed, not feeling well, and probably don't feel like eating. excess/uneaten food in the tank will compound the ammonia/nitrite issues.

if the filter inserts were out of the water long enough to dry out, then they have no beneficial bacteria in them any more at all. putting the old one back in didn't help matters any.

your tank is going through a cycle, establishing the beneficial bacteria again. lots of water changes and monitoring the ammonia and nitrite daily is your best course of action.

IMO your tank is too small for all those goldfish. i would look at removing some or getting a much larger tank. i personally would have at least 100 gallons for all those fish. goldies are messy, and the larger the tank, the more dilution of wastes in between water changes.

once everything is back on track, your ammonia and nitrite are back to zero, and you've either upgraded your tank size or rehomed some of your fish, i would be doing minimum 50% weekly water changes. 10% every week or two is simply not enough.
 
What a disaster. It is clear that you are recycling your tank. Tell your father it is a no, no to change the filter pads as all the beneficial bacteria that keeps the tanks system in balance are in those pads. You should be doing a 75% water change followed by another one. Until your tank is recycled you will be doing water changes everyday. After that, you should do at least 2 50% water changes a weeks.
 
Putting the old filters back in actually won't hurt. Beneficial bacteria can easily still be there, most of it possibly went dormant, and will come back. The term "die" or "killed" is really inappropriate. You definitely need your own liquid test kit. Water changes are your best course of action along with the Prime.
 
Whose tank is it?
 
I added prime to the tank last night (3 capfuls = enough for 150 gallons = almost 5x the size of the tank for a treatment dose to lower the levels)

i just tested the water this morning and it reads as follows:

nitrate = 80
nitrite = 0 - 0.5
ph = 7.5
kh = 40
general hardness = 180
ammonia = 0.25

(the store said the ammonia wasnt high yesterday either but the nitrates and nitrites were 200 and 10)

I am about to do a 50% water change, when should i test the water again (my 1st test kit)
yeah, it's my tank. i need to establish a look but dont touch rule with the family​
 
there is a 2nd filter in the tank, my dad didnt change the filter pads on that one so i was surprised when that pushed the tank over the edge!
the tank is usually filled to the top, minimal decorations (2 small plastic plants), 10% water change weekly. the fish arent huge, mostly tails and the tanks is well filtered so I never considered them overstocked. the water was crsytal clear till my brother decided the fish were hungry.

my dad n brother were used to just filling our old 30gallons with common goldfish, most would die in about a week and we would have a few that lived months - 1 year. they would feed them a couple times a day and they grew large. Im trying to specialize the diet of my fishies cuz the 1 is constantly bloated. I dont feed them a lot (once a day) and they never get flakes! but they dont grow as fast as the common goldies so they think im underfeeding them. my family thinks they r just goldfish and that im crazy for putting in effort >_< but when they get sick everyone gets sad and tells me to fix it!
 
did the tap water sample sit out overnight in a shallow dish to gas off before sampling?
 
you are using the dip strip tests? (by what you said for test results - gh, kh, etc - it sounds like you are using an 'all in one' test strip). dip strip tests are not accurate at all, and your results will be incorrect. get that API test kit i mentioned.

water can be crystal clear and still have ammonia and nitrites in it.
 
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