Help! A fish dies every night!
- Thread starter jwitty
- Start date
Are you sure what you are seeing is Ich? This may be a misdiagnosis if haven't added fish in last 6 weeks.
If didn't add fish within last 6 weeks- it sounds more like bacterial gill disease from columnaris. In this case, would want to discontinue Paraguard and treat with nitrofurazone and kanamycin
If did add fish within last 6 weeks ( or had it in another tank that allowed cross-contamination from nets, wet-sleeves, plants) and is Ich, I agree with not raising heat in tank as treatment. The higher the heat the quicker bacteria spreads in tissues where Ich parasite has been. It is not unusual to see very few Ich parasites on body as they prefer to congregate on and below the gill plate.
In this case, would want to continue treating with the Paraguard and kanamycin for secondary bacteria.
However, at temperatures above 78 degrees, the life-cycle of the Ich parasite completes its life-cycle within 72-96 hours. There is no need to treat for 2 full weeks after the parasite is gone. One week is adequate.
If didn't add fish within last 6 weeks- it sounds more like bacterial gill disease from columnaris. In this case, would want to discontinue Paraguard and treat with nitrofurazone and kanamycin
If did add fish within last 6 weeks ( or had it in another tank that allowed cross-contamination from nets, wet-sleeves, plants) and is Ich, I agree with not raising heat in tank as treatment. The higher the heat the quicker bacteria spreads in tissues where Ich parasite has been. It is not unusual to see very few Ich parasites on body as they prefer to congregate on and below the gill plate.
In this case, would want to continue treating with the Paraguard and kanamycin for secondary bacteria.
However, at temperatures above 78 degrees, the life-cycle of the Ich parasite completes its life-cycle within 72-96 hours. There is no need to treat for 2 full weeks after the parasite is gone. One week is adequate.
- Dec 2, 2018
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Check the conditions of your dead fish's fins and/or mouth. Fin rot complications can arise. My corydoras died this morning (he had been doing poorly for a while). He had fin rot and even though I fixed that there was some fungus on his fin (or what was left of it). Killed him in about 2 days. For the upside down cat, it could be a bacterial infection. I've noticed a lot of that in catfish, just finished treating my spotted raphael cat for it. As said above, pictures would be EXTREMELY helpful.
On another note, what kind of knifefish do you have? I don't know a lot that can live in a 120 or be compatible with mollies lol. What kind of loach? What kind of tetra? And that tank sounds just borderline for a 120, so do frequent large water changes.
On another note, what kind of knifefish do you have? I don't know a lot that can live in a 120 or be compatible with mollies lol. What kind of loach? What kind of tetra? And that tank sounds just borderline for a 120, so do frequent large water changes.
- Dec 2, 2018
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if you ever want to figure out what fish are compatible or whatnot, just plug tank size, fish, and filter into aqadvisor.com. It will help tremendously, comparing filtration for different fish's waste produced, stocking capacity, add up the bioload of your fish etc. I highly recommed it as it is basically a huge accessible library of information.
I wouldn't be recommending that site. Doesn't tell you anything about compatibility, and the bioload information is also flawed. For example, I just plugged in an apistogramma and a vieja maculicauda in a 75 gallon tank just to test it out- the site told me nothing about potential problems with the two species (apisto would be eaten/killed shortly) and it claimed I was at "49% stocking level" when in actuality, a single blackbelt in a 75 would be pushing it. It also listed Tilapia Buttikoferi as suitable for a 75 gallon tank. Basically, I wouldn't use that website for anything.
I agree with Gourami Swami, I find some of the advice on that site to verge on the ridiculous.
The Apistogramma Vieja combo says it all, and is ridiculous.
First off they come from totally different type water, Apistogramma South American soft often acidic, Vieja from the mineral rich hard waters of Central America.
A 75 gallon is a great tank for the Apistos, but seriously undersized for 1 adult (even semi adult maculacauda) which generally hyper aggressive in anything but the largest tanks.
And buttikoferi even more aggressive as a semi adult.
The Apistogramma Vieja combo says it all, and is ridiculous.
First off they come from totally different type water, Apistogramma South American soft often acidic, Vieja from the mineral rich hard waters of Central America.
A 75 gallon is a great tank for the Apistos, but seriously undersized for 1 adult (even semi adult maculacauda) which generally hyper aggressive in anything but the largest tanks.
And buttikoferi even more aggressive as a semi adult.
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To be a little less codgerish, and not such a negative Nancy I think if you have an average sized community tank, with bread and butter (normal pet store) species, that site will probably work for you. The problem comes in if you want fish that are out of the box, a generic approach (which a generic community site might take), just doesn't have the knowledge to know about large, specialized species.
If an aquarist is going to try to keep Vieja, or buttikoferi, or any of the large cichlids (or other large fish) even a 200 gallon sized community tank may not be adequate, especially if the aquarist doesn't have experience.
If an aquarist is going to try to keep Vieja, or buttikoferi, or any of the large cichlids (or other large fish) even a 200 gallon sized community tank may not be adequate, especially if the aquarist doesn't have experience.
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Hello; After being active in a few threads about fish health problems where the OP did not give enough initial information I thought about starting a thread describing how to make a good post. Turns out this has already been done. Here is a link to the thread which is a sticky. Give as much of this information as you can.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/fish-health-diagnostics-read-before-posting.210102/#post-4792901
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/fish-health-diagnostics-read-before-posting.210102/#post-4792901
