My tank is melting

[TaratronVaeVictus]

Stats:

90 gallon freshwater
80* F
Sand substrate
Filtered with three large sponge filters and tons of duckweed
Fed once every few days, NLS pellets and wafers, sometimes live bloodworms
Water change of 30-40% twice a week
Tank has not had any new inhabitants for 2 months.
Tank set up over a year ago.

Fish: hoplo littorale, spotted and striped raphaels, bristlenose plecos, banjo cats, 1 oto, and a few bamboo shrimp. Added 6 albino pristella tetras--they all disappeared within a few days. Perhaps were too small not to escape the raphaels...

A few days ago I saw one of my spotted raphs out in the open. Very odd, during the day. I saw he had some ich spots and seemed listless. Well, crap, looks like the house temperature dropped too low. Added heaters the next day, set to 80*.

The next day another spotted was out, swollen with red under his stomach area. He was found dead a day later.

Well double crap. I did a 50% water change (I usually do a 30-40% once or twice a week) and dosed with Melafix. No deaths for a day. And then two hoplos were found dead on the sand, pale. A striped raphael was found breathing hard, then floating dead at the surface the next day.

Okay....

Another water change with Prime. No feeding at all during this time either. Melafix and Pimafix added since the red streaks are now found on the hoplos. Banjo cats no longer in the sand and sitting on a sponge filter. Bristlenose plecos found breathing hard and clinging to a fry-net/catchall in the back of the tank. Another water change and the fish seem a bit better.

Cue to this morning. Planning a water change tonight when I get off work. Another hoplo dead this morning. The survivors are breathing hard still (what gives!!!) but no one has ich spots anymore. Red streaks in another striped raphael.

So, MFK....what is my next move?

 

[Bderick67]

What about water parameters, do you test?

 

[TaratronVaeVictus]

I do, but unfortunately I need to buy a new one. The one I had/have is very out of date!

 

[Bderick67]

I do, but unfortunately I need to buy a new one. The one I had/have is very out of date!

Well then you don't test

Good luck with your tank.

 

[Crazyfish88]

Well then you don't test

Good luck with your tank.

Brian wtf kind of comment is that? You can be such a A-hole at times. This guy needs help and this is what u call helping others? Ppl would expect some help and expert advice especially from a member like you with nearly 10k posts instead of leaving dumb comments like this...U must really get a kick out of it picking on noobs don't ya? IMO that's pretty sad from a 42 year old...

Anyways back on topic and to the OP. I'm no expert at healing fish but my only advice to u would be get your testing kits and test your water parameters asap then come back and post them and maybe a real expert can tell u what's wrong.

 

[kzimmerman]

I do beleive that I would lower the temp to about 75 or so. The breathing hard thing is usually a sign of a low dissolved oxygen content or ammonia toxicity. Lowering the temp would allow more dissolved gasses to stay in the water.
Did you clean the filters out real well? I'm wondering if something started a minicycle. The raphael cats seem to be pretty susceptible to ich, so they may have reacted to the stress of the minicycle by getting sick.
I wish I could be more helpful, but I'm a little stumped. Maybe some tank water parameters could be helpful.
Good luck.

 

[Bderick67]

Brian wtf kind of comment is that? You can be such a A-hole at times. This guy needs help and this is what u call helping others? Ppl would expect some help and expert advice especially from a member like you with nearly 10k posts instead of leaving dumb comments like this...U must really get a kick out of it picking on noobs don't ya? IMO that's pretty sad from a 42 year old...

Anyways back on topic and to the OP. I'm no expert at healing fish but my only advice to u would be get your testing kits and test your water parameters asap then come back and post them and maybe a real expert can tell u what's wrong.

And in all your crying, b****ing and whining you've given exactly no more advise then I did. Though you have now turned this into a war zone haven't you? Not to mention your use of the term "noob" is rather degrading especially considering to OP has been a member here 4 years longer then you

Without knowing water params it don't look like either of us will be helping, right? Of course you'll resond trying to save face and will only continue to derail this thread won't you

 

[Crazyfish88]

And in all your crying, b****ing and whining you've given exactly no more advise then I did. Though you have now turned this into a war zone haven't you? Not to mention your use of the term "noob" is rather degrading especially considering to OP has been a member here 4 years longer then you

Without knowing water params it don't look like either of us will be helping, right?

It's not all about how long anyone has been on this forum. It also has to do with alot of personal experience IMO...Also ya I admit I ain't no expert and I am a noob learning new things everyday instead of listening to your BS waste of time posts.

At least in my reply I said it in a nicer way. Most of your posts are ***hole comments and you know it yourself.

 

[Matt724]

Okay. first of all, i apologize on behalf of MFK for the little war going on above.

Secondly, I think the first place to start is water parameters. Get those checked asap. Then, if you haven't already flushed the dead fish down, take those to your LFS and ask them to perform an autopsy to figure out what was wrong with each of them. Next, take their advice and do what they tell you. Make sure you go to a good and trustworthy LFS, though; not just an everyday Petco with midnight staff.

I'm going to have to disagree with kzimmerman and suggest raising the temperature to 86F slowly and start adding salt slowly, making sure to keep it under typical salt water tank salinity, i think 1.003 specific gravity (not a big SW person). Also, you may want to stop using melafix and pimafix because I have had some bad experiences with that and they both contain clove oil, which is used to euthanize fish and animals. Also, maybe some chemicals got into the water that you didn't know about (i.e. wife/maid spraying windex on or around the tank would raise the ammonia levels off the charts; kids dropped a bar of soap in the tank trying to "clean the fish" idk) so you might want to ask around.

I hope this helps and i'm sorry about the losses you have suffered so far with your tank.

 

[jclyde13]

Okay. first of all, i apologize on behalf of MFK for the little war going on above.

Secondly, I think the first place to start is water parameters. Get those checked asap. Then, if you haven't already flushed the dead fish down, take those to your LFS and ask them to perform an autopsy to figure out what was wrong with each of them. Next, take their advice and do what they tell you. Make sure you go to a good and trustworthy LFS, though; not just an everyday Petco with midnight staff.

I'm going to have to disagree with kzimmerman and suggest raising the temperature to 86F slowly and start adding salt slowly, making sure to keep it under typical salt water tank salinity, i think 1.003 specific gravity (not a big SW person). Also, you may want to stop using melafix and pimafix because I have had some bad experiences with that and they both contain clove oil, which is used to euthanize fish and animals. Also, maybe some chemicals got into the water that you didn't know about (i.e. wife/maid spraying windex on or around the tank would raise the ammonia levels off the charts; kids dropped a bar of soap in the tank trying to "clean the fish" idk) so you might want to ask around.

I hope this helps and i'm sorry about the losses you have suffered so far with your tank.

But for the part about adding salt, I just use FW aquarium salt as directed on the box, that way I don't have to worry about figuring out the SG.