Strange Illness

[kingfisher_84]

Gday guys, nice website, im new.

Recently got a 65g tank. Knew nothing about cycling etc. and proceded to place a banded grunter (australian fish, dont expect you to know it) in the tank. He was fine for about 5 days before he started to act really wierd and sit in the bottom of the tank, occasionally trying to swim around a bit but it was like he was blind. He would bump into things and be totally disorientated. He is barely feeding and does not react at all when i come close to the tank.

Ammonia - Less than 0.25ppm
Nitrite - Dont have kit
Nitrate - Nil.
Ph - 7.3

I have been doing 25% water changes every day just in case it is the new piece of driftwood i put in. I have no idea what is wrong with him and really eager to fix him up as it looks painfull when he runs into rocks etc.
The tank has been running for 8 days.

Alex.

 

[Holly9937]

Welcome!!!! You need to read the cycling posts (stickys) in the top of the newbie forum that should answer most of your questions, you will need to do water changes daily to keep the toxic levels down. Also a test kit for nitrite is vital, that can be as toxic as amonia. After you read all the stickys, you'll probably have more questions! Good luck

 

[Rosemary]

Also, test the new water you are adding--if it has ammonia or nitrite (like my tap water does) you may need to use a different water conditioner that neutralizes these (e.g. Amquel+, Prime), otherwise your daily water changes might not be bringing down the ammonia and nitrite levels in your tank.