I NEED SERIOUS HELP with my fish tank!! Please help me!?

Question

Okay, well to start off... About 2 weeks ago i had 1Blue Gourami, 3 White Mollies, 2 Black Mollies, 2 Danios, 2 Tiger Barbs, 3 Neon Tetras and my Algae Eater. All those fish were in a 20 gallon tank and they did PERFECT together. Never had to worry about keeping the water stable or anything. I had a whisper filter and I did not have a heater. When i put my tank together i used regular tap water and then just treated the water. I have the cleanest water in my state (well thats what they say) but the fish seem to do fine with it even with water changes and everything. About a month ago i started to put small amounts of salt in my tank, as directed.

So i recently invested in a 55 gallon tank, hoping to later buy more fish but mainly to give my HUGE algae eater more room. He seemed too big for a 20 gallon. So I purchased a BioWheel filter, Heater, and New rocks. Now all my fish are dying!!!! They were so strong and healthy and now every fish is dying!! Please Help Me!!

The PH levels are fine adn so is everything else I had my water tested twice at the pet sore. It seems as if they have a parasite b/c it all started when my 2 sunburst platys (sorry i forgot to add them earlier) got sick. One just stopped eating and kept getting smaller and smaller. My rosey barb is dying at this very moment hes doing back flips adn cart wheels like hes in the darn circus! So the pet store gave me a medication to put in the water called General Cure.. it gives me a yellow tint to the water and appears to make Scum and bubbles on the top of the water... GROSS!! I take the carbon filter out as directed and use to appropriate amount of medication. It doesnt seem to be working.

I havent done anythign different since the new tank except for the heater.. and I bought 2 red tail sharks and they both died.... i bought them after i treated the water.... The rosey barb just died....

Oh yeah... Im pretty good with treating for Ich.. and i actually saved my 2 black mollies from it. The ich went away... about 7 days ago i noticed that the black mollie had white slime on him and it has started to go away, its still there but hardly... My fish dont seem as active as they used to be. The blue gourami just stays at the top of the water directly next to the heater in the corner. every now and then he will swim for a few mintues but then he goes right back to the corner. and the mollies just stay at the bottom of the tank on the rocks. but they swim around just fine and everything. Like i said before i just had my water tested twice. So it cant be that. Oh and my white mollie has a red eye and its popping out a little. Talk about serious problems lol.

Answer 1

Wow, that is serious problems. All of the symptoms your fish are showing can point to an internal bacterial infection. Listlessness, inability to swim properly, not eating, pop eye, redness in the eye, even the white slime could indicate an infection that is also external.

This general cure probably isn't going to help at all. The store gave you that because they didn't know what else to do and wanted to give you something. You need antibiotics. I'll suggest you use Furanace if you can find it or Maracyn 2 as the second choice. Just use as directed on the box or bottle but treat for a full 14 days.

If possible place any sick fish in your old 20 gallon and treat them there. If not, move your filter to the 20 gallon and keep it running while you treat the fish. Feed that filter with a pinch or two of fish food every day just like there were fish in the tank. That will produce the ammonia it needs to keep your bacteria alive in the filter while you treat your main tank, then you won't have to cycle it again after treatment.

If you have any questions or feel that I can help further just drop me an email

MM

Answer 2

Just a thought since you moved the fish to a new tank - have you tested the water for ammonia? Lethargy, hanging out at the top of the tank, gasping, loss of appetite are all symptoms of this. You may have added too many fish at once to the new tank without allowing time for beneficial bacteria to build up.

Even if they tested for this at your fish store, if they were using strips (which aren't the most reliable) or a liquid test kit, the chemicals in these have expiration dates - they will give bad results. You might want to double check for this and nitrite.

As MM said, you also have a bacterial infection that would account for the popeye.

Answer 3

I had the same thing happen to me. Lucky for me i rescued a few of my fish. My algae sucker was enormous so i bought i bigger tank. My algae sucker was fine but with the new heater my other fish started dying. some of them also died because the biowheel filter was to powerful. I kept my 10 gallon tank and put my fish in there but i left my algae sucker in the big tank and bought a few more big fish to keep it company :). My fish were fine in their tanks after that.

Answer 4

Well, I hope you waited for the 55 gallon tank to cycle before you tranferred all of your fish into it. Also, you definitely needed a heater. If your tank water goes below certain temperatures your fish will die quickly. They normally won't stress just if you rearrange the plants or rocks, but will stress if your water is bad. I strongly suggest taking your water to have it tested. You may have too much ammonia or your nitrates are too high.

Answer 5

search on the web for how your different types of fish react to different types of rocks. If it comes down to it I would suggest taking out all your fish and giving the tank a good scrub down. a chemical might have been in one of the new things that you got, maybe a cleaner or something. Good luck though. I'm having a very similar problem so I feel your pain. :(

Answer 6

So, you have simultaneous cases of Pop-eye, Ick, Body Fungus, and Swim-Bladder Disease, and you think any of this is related to a Ph issue?

What you have is a major case of "I never let my tank cycle before I added a hundred fish"...
Not a "the best tap water quality in my state" issue...
Not a "Ph" issue...
Not a "new rock decoration" issue...
(maybe a lack of a heater issue, unless you family keeps your home at a steady ambient temperature of almost 80 degrees...)

Google "nitrite cycle in aquariums"...

Answer 7

So, are you using your 55 gallon tank now? With the 20 gal, that sounded way over populated which can cause many problems. remember only 1 inch of fish per gallon or MORE of water.

Answer 8

It could be that the new inviroment has put a strain on all the fish. Also maybe you didn't put enough water comditioner . The fish could be sick is there anything growing on them of loss of apitite? It could be that they just got sike from the sudden use of salt in the water.

Answer 9

such sensitive little things, you say you didnt have a heater before but now you do, maybe the temperatue change has shocked them casuing to dye off.
even the larger area/ change of scenory could have stressed them out they are difficult pets to hold on too and you where doing so well its a shame. just try your best to match EXACTLY what you had before.
also dead/ dying fish can cause disease spread so quick possibly remove the ill ones to prevent it spreading to any more!

Answer 10

Nothing has cycled. Read some books. Go to the library on Monday. Fishkeeping is more than "just add water".

http://www.hagen.com/pdf/aquatic/bag.pdf
http://www2.tetra.de/tet_internet_import/import_data/The%20fascination%20of%20aquariums_GB_2006_T062048.pdf
Here two good free books.