Help with identifying problem

JoJo77

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 4, 2015
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Hi all, I recently bought 20 aulonocara and 4 clown loach. I bought 9 from one guy who delivered them personally and the rest I bought 2 weeks later online. I split the fish between two tanks. Ones 700 litres the other 270 litres. The 700L has been running for 8mths n I kept it running empty for a couple of weeks dosing with ammonia. The other had a clown loach, 20 neon tetras, 10 guppies & a juvie calico peacock. I moved all the guppies & neons to another tank before introducing the new baby clowns and 5 aulonocara to the tank which has been running 6yrs. This last week I noticed the sulphur head in the 700L was breathing hard and all the fish are very nervous n hide away if I approach them. I couldn't see anything else wrong with him but noticed the lighter coloured fish had tiny black spots. I Checked the water, readings were ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrates 20 ph 8.2 temp 26 so all good and lots of surface agitation from fx6 n ehiem 2250. I lost the sulphur head plus 2 others n more fish are breathing heavy but still no signs of anything else. I tested water for ammonia n nitrite daily for any spikes n it was always 0. I use the api liquid test kit. I noticed some fish were flashing n also shaking their heads so I've treated with fluke solve but I'm not sure that is wat is wrong and 2 of the fish in the 270litre are now breathing hard n refusing to eat. I feed nls pellets once a day. I inspected the gills of one of the dead fish n i think the gill may have been eaten away slightly, wish I'd taken a pic now! Any ideas wats going on?? I'm thinking it's either flukes or bacterial gill diease or both. Also today i noticed two small white dots (raised) on the eureka (270litre tank) it doesn't seem to be ich as none of these fish are flashing and the others have no spots (but they do have the small black spots) so maybe fungus & flukes. Also I wud of thought the clown loach wud be showing signs if it was ich. I've done 50% wc on tanks today and added salt at half dose, will add the other half tomorrow. Any advice wud be much appreciated. Hopefully I've covered everything. Sorry it's a bit of an essay!
 

deeda

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Mar 26, 2008
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Your water parameters seem to be just fine so I don't think that is a concern.

New fish often take a while to settle in and it is always possible to lose a fish. Are you seeing any signs of aggression such as constant chasing or fish being cornered at the top of the tank?

Are there any caves or spots that the fish can hide in?

Is this an all male tank or are there females present? What are these adult fish or juveniles?

Can you post a clear photo or two of the fish you are concerned about?
 

JoJo77

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 4, 2015
7
0
1
46
Your water parameters seem to be just fine so I don't think that is a concern.

New fish often take a while to settle in and it is always possible to lose a fish. Are you seeing any signs of aggression such as constant chasing or fish being cornered at the top of the tank?

Are there any caves or spots that the fish can hide in?

Is this an all male tank or are there females present? What are these adult fish or juveniles?

Can you post a clear photo or two of the fish you are concerned about?
Thanks for your reply I have both adults and juveniles and both have been affected with heavy breathing. I lost an adult and juvie today they seem to pass away within few days of breathing heavy. My fire fish was a little aggressive at 1st but he's settled down now and he was only aggressive to the other fire fish which are female. There are lots of caves and hiding places. No signs of bullying or aggression at all. I'm doing wcs everyday just incase some thing has contaminated the tanks. One of the peacocks is showing signs of fin rot today. So ive started treating that with waterlife myaxin. I will try to get pic/video of the fish this evening. Thanks.
 

deeda

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Mar 26, 2008
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Medina, Ohio
Have you added any products besides the Fluke Solve and salt?

Is the pH of your tap water the same as the tank water?

You did mention the filters are agitating the water surface so I don't think the problem is related to that.

I see holey rock and what looks like a large piece of driftwood, are these new or old additions to the tank? What other decor is in the tank? BTW, what is that long brown thing setting on top of the driftwood?

Your fish pictures don't show anything wrong, as least to me.
 

JoJo77

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 4, 2015
7
0
1
46
No not used anything else, starting using myaxin which was 4 days n 3 x 50% wcs after i dosed with fluke solve. Two of the pieces of wood are newish, I soaked them til most of the tanning was out n scrubbed them over. They been in the tank for a few mths with other tropical fish n not had no problems with them. That wud be a flat pebble that i attached moss to which is the only thing I have added lately. Thats in both tanks so wonder if something was introduced on the moss. I rinsed it under the tap. Today most of the fish are out and acting normal! yay! Its such a relief to see some improvement . No they look fine except for the heavy breathing. I'm thinking maybe I've had some small spikes that the filter has taken care of b4 I've tested. As even a small amount at high ph cud be lethal. I'll keep up with daily wcs for a week or so see how it goes. The ph from tap is 7.8 but aerated for 24hrs raises to 8. One tank has a ph of 8 the other with holey rock is 8.2 and there both stable. I been checking ph b4 and then an hour after to see if it fluctuates which it doesn't so we can rule that out.
 

deeda

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Mar 26, 2008
4,019
2,915
1,279
Medina, Ohio
I'm glad the fish are doing better, I would just keep up with the water changes if you are finding they are helping. Keep us updated on how things are progressing with the new fish.
 
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