Unknown fish iIlness in cycled tank, fish turn cloudy and die?

Question

Recently I added some fish to a tank I had had cycling with a pair of mosquito fish (local minnows) Ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate were all good (amm. and nitrite non detectable, nitrate the lowest reading on the color chart) at least untill the fish started dying anyway. Temp. was at 76 degrees and pH around 7.4. I added three cory's and 10 glowlight tetras to the tank (its a 30gal so plenty of room) one cory on arriving home I noticed had a red area on a fin... looked like maybe damage from transport. Fish were floated and properly aclimated. Later that night he stiffened, floated. The next day the other two corys' followed. Then about one week later the others began to die. They show no symptoms untill their bodies turn milky ( but not on the skin like a fungus) Most died within 24 hours of onset. Some of the ones who lasted longer developed lesions. Resistant to melafix as well as anti fungal tablets. Assuming bacterial... any ideas?

Answer 1

First thing that comes to my mind is ammonia and nitrite poisoning. Why did you add so many fish at one time? If your tank is cycling, it needs to cycle with no fish. Adding even one fish knocks the biofilter out of whack. But to add 14 fish, yikes! Your ammonia had to have been going thru the roof for the first few days. You should only add 1-2 fish at a time and a week - two weeks apart allowing your biofilter to recover inbetween additions.

Melafix and other antibiotics aren't going to help with stocking issues. The fish that were left more than likely got ammonia burns (lesions)

Water change is your best friend when this happens. Remember do not add that many fish at one time. That would be equal to having 14 friends stay over with only one bathroom.

Answer 2

It's hard to say exactly what this might be without being able to see the fish. I can give you some ideas, though.

Is the cloudiness you're describing more like a thickening of the slime coat? That could be related to pH change (double-check your results: clean the testing tube well before adding tank water, check to see if your chemicals have expired, or have a pet/fish store test a sample for you). Be certain there's nothing in the tank (rocks, driftwood) that could change the pH if the pH of your tank and tap (or other water source) are different. Excess slime cot production can also be caused by a parasite.

Another possibility would be Columnaris. This is a bacterial infection, but can mimic a "fungal" problem initially. This can start as a circular "whitish" area that develops into a red lesion with with the white area surrounding it - see photo: http://www.fishjunkies.com/images/Columnaris2.jpg

A final possibility would be Epistylis. This looks much like columnaris, but the treatment would be different, using either salt, or malachite green (Quick Cure). Both your corys and tetras would be sensitive to either treatment, so you would need to proceed with caution when medicating for this. If you would opt for the salt treatment, add 1 tablespoon/10 gallons of tank water added slowly and stopped if the fish show any distress. If you opt for the Quick Cure, use 1 drop for every 2-3 gallons, and stop as above.

I'll provide a link below so that you can get more information about symptoms and treatments below. See Columnaris, Acidosis, Alkalosis, Epistylis.

Answer 3

The biggest mystery here to me is your description of the milky appearance. If it was due to a really thick slime coat, that's one thing, of not then it's another altogether. A heavy slime coat with lesions certainly sounds bacterial in nature especially considering it only took a day from the time you could see symptoms until the fish died. For that I would suggest tetracycline or Maracyn as it is an external infection. If you see no indications of thickened slime coat, only a loss of color and generally translucent skin, then I think you are dealing with a Sporozoan problem, possibly with a secondary bacterial infection. There is no effective cure for a Sporozoan problem in the tank.

The lesions are of some concern because they can be an indicator of Tuberculosis. No other symptom indicated that's what you have in your tank, but you should still take precautions as this can spread to humans. Don't expose open or healing wounds to the tank water and wash very well with soap and water if you have any skin contact with the tank water at all. Better safe than sorry.

I would suggest you treat the tank with one of the above antibiotics and hope it's bacterial instead of Sporozoan.
If I can help any further feel free to email me.

MM

Answer 4

i desire to advise you do an entire tank replace. determine you utilize the pills or formulation to do away with the chlorine and different chemical ingredients contained in the water. there is possibly an imbalance contained in the chemical ingredients, and that i'd hassle that the different fish would die. i do no longer understand approximately how sierra mist would influence something, yet once you think of the fish dying is suitable, ultimate to be on the secure edge. what style of fish are they? some fish are so plenty greater fragile than others.

Answer 5

Sounds like a case of pandemic swim bladder disease.

The disease destroys the fish's swimming ability and causes it to swim sideways or headwards or whatever (as long as it is different from normal swimming)until it finally wears out and stops eating...causing death.

Swim bladder disease can be caused by certain bacterial infections in water or physical damage.The former is probably your situation.

To cure this, you got to reduce the water level of your tank to half its original level to force the fish to swim using their swimbaldders appropriately instead of being guided around by the water flow.

feed them beefheart mixed with epsom salt at 3/5 tablespoon of salt to 0.4 oz of beefheart.Keep this diet till about a week.

If there is no progress, consider euthanization for the fish..sadly, it would seem that the bacterial would permanantly destroy their bladder in that time and they would suffer more if left alive..but the choice would be up to you...Good luck though.

Oh yes, also, to prevent future bladder problem offset, hold regular water changes for your tank( twice a week) for a period of a month or so and clean it regularly subsequently.

SBP is a disease that shows no external damage, so do take proper measures to prevent this deadly virus.

Answer 6

Try tetracycline. It sounds like fin and tail rot.