gill irritation

D

dank104

AC Members
Nov 17, 2005
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i have a 46 gallon tank with a bunch of tetras and a few platties and guppies. a few of my platties and a guppy have recently died (1 every 2 weeks). these were the symptoms...inflamed gills with what looked like reddish irritation marks, fish breathing real heavy (like they are suffocating), random darting, most of the time they look like they are sinking and can't really control or don't have the strength to move, and then they die. can anyone tell me what is the cause of this? a parasite?
it's usually one fish at a time and the other fish are totally fine. my nitrate and nitrite levels are fine, although my ph has been high, close to 8.4, so i've been doing weekly water changes with spring water to gradually bring the ph down. my ph has gradually gone down to 7.4 during a span of about 2 months. it hasn't happened to much since i've been doing water changes with spring water. thanks!
 
some of your water levels sound a tad off, test the water
 
It's really hard to say with that little information...I know you offered what you could. It could be bacteria and/or parasites. Is it possible for you to take a fish that is going to die anyway and look at the gills by pulling the gill cover back? You may be able to see white spots, fuzzy-ness, or other things that might provide a better clue as to what it is.
 
a self necropsy would help, I would look at the gills and mouth area to see.
 
some questions...

1 how long has the tank been set up?

2 what is spring water?

3 how are the tetras doing?

it sounds like pH burn is a possibility... i happens when fish are subjected to pH outside of the range they can handle. it doesn't take very long.

sometimes it takes weeks for the victims to die. the damage is permanent. the tough ones will stick it out for a while, and even survive.

its just a guess, though

4 do you use a dechlorinator?

5 what kind of water does the fish store you purchased the fish from use?

i'm guessing that if your tap water is testing in the 8's, the store has an in-house RO (reverse ossmosis) system, which means all zeros (various watertests) and pH7 (neutral).

answer these questions and i think you will have your answer.

6
7 what is spring water?
 
you aksed what is spring water twice, spring water i belive to be from an artesian well that comes right from the aquafer, its very good water to get if you have it
 
ok...let me see if i can answer these questions.

the tank has been set up for about 3 months now.
i've been using bottled spring water that has a ph reading of 7 for changes. the water from my tap is real hard, and has a ph of 8.4. didn't bother testing the tap when i first set up the tank (which i should have done) so i when i first filled the tank it was with the tap. since then i've been doing spring water changes and the ph is down to about 7.4.
the tetras are doing fine. i had 2 neon tetras die, but i don't think it was b/c of the gill's symptom. the lfs says they keep their fish at a ph of 7.2.
i've used a dechlorinator when i set up the tank and a product called cycle to start bacteria growth.
 
Can you post exact numbers for your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
 
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