Please I need Help!

[goldentiff]

I have two tanks and two problems...

1st) 29 gallon w/3 danios (which I have had for 2yrs), 9 small tetras, 1 tiger barb, 1 crab, 1 pleco. The fish have all been together for about 3 months. They were doing great until they got ICK. I cured the Ick about 3 wks ago. But now they all have, to varying degrees, some weird silverish coating specially around the eyes. Have no idea what it is or how to help them.

2) 55 gallon which originally had 6 African Cihlids, 2 male convicts, 4 blue gourami, 4 black snails, 1 apple snail, and a common pleco. All was great until...a had some sort of bacterial infestation that made the water cloudy. I made a BIG mistake and changed too much water. Basicly I ended up killing all the "good" bacteria and ended up with too much, off the scale, nitrite problem. I have tried everything I could think off...using Cycle, Biospire, and changing 10% of water every 2 days. Nothing has helped. 2 of the cihlids have died, one is really struggling. Now I can't seem to find one of the convicts. What can I do?

Would appreciate any help.

 

[kayla]

Do you have water parameters for both tanks?
Ammonia
Nitrate
Nitrite
Temp, ect.

29 gal:
It could be a secodary from the Ich. Are you positively sure that all the ich was cured? Just because the fish show no signs of ich doesn't mean that it's completely gone. I would raise the temp up a bit and add salt (dissolved)1tbs/5gal slowly. BTW, a 29gal is too small for a common pleco.

55:
Sounds like you had a bacterial bloom. How long has the tank been running? Kinda sounds like your tank wasn't cycled or something.

More information would be helpful. Especially water parameters! If you don't have a test kit, I would recommend liquid test kits over the strips.

 

[goldentiff]

I did the Quick Cure for the ick for 14 days then waited 2 weeks and did a 25% change of water. I am due for another change now. The pleco is only 4-5 inches and is full grown. I have had the pleco for almost 3 yrs.


55 gallon - temp 74, Amonia .25, PH (soft) 7.2, Nitrite 5.0 (very high), I dont have the numbers on nitrate. P.S. the other cichlid that was struggling died. I had removed him last night and put him in a 10 gallon hospital tank (I keep that going all the time w/ a small platty) but he died during the night.

What else can I do? Thank you for your response.

 

[Star_Rider]

sounds like you may have some sort of secondary infection..not sure which but water changes will likely help.
on the 55 it sounds as if the tank is still cycling..water changes should not typically cause problems unless you haven't done a wc for awhile then did a big one..changing the tank conditions too abruptly.
I have seen nearly 100% wc's done on discus...the water level was so low the fish laid on their sides. :dive2:

I would continue with daily wc and monitor the ammonia,nitrites and nitrates.

 

[goldentiff]

I will continue to do wc, I think I might be better off doing larger changes. Maybe 25-30% and hope the fish that are left will not die. I am down to two tiger cichlids, 4 blue gourami, 2 convicts, the common pleco and the snails.

But how about the 29 gallon, can anyone figure out what kind of fungus is silverish?

 

[Star_Rider]

there are a lot of fungus out there..it may or may not be a fungus.

if you had pictures to post maybe someone could help.

good idea on the water changes tho.

 

[kayla]

Your ammonia should be at 0 at all times. If not, water changes, water changes, water changes. Was the tank cycled in the first place? If so for how long and what cause the bacterial bloom? Your tank is going through a cycle it sounds to me and the only way to keep your fishies alive is to spend a lot of time with it. Checking your water parameters and doing water changes based on your results. When your tank is cycled you should have 0-Ammonia 0-Nitrites and 20 or less Nitrates. You've got quite the mix of fish in that tank. African and convicts shouldnt be kept together because of the different water chemisty. Your PH is a bit low for africans at 7.2, I suggest at least 8. However, your gourami and convicts will more than likely not appreciate that. If you could get a picture of your fish with the silver coating on them so we can see what it could possibly that will also help.