Need advise ASAP with (freshwater) fish re: health problems, fish dying?

Question

We had a male betta for months so when we got a large aquarium I bought alot of new fish (guppies, a female betta, ghost shrimps, little frogs, & a sucker fish --- 28 total). Right away, after puting the fish together, some got body fungus and half died within 1 day. I treated the tank for 5 days for body fungus, gill disease, mouth & tail rot disease, and popeye disease... it was not the cheapest stuff. Within a day of body fungus clear-up my fish got gill disease. How? I have no idea since they showed no signs before and I used a combo treatment that covered it too. My tank has been continued on treatment now almost 10 days and still more fish dying (I have flushed 11 in days)! Right now it is still gill disease (red, swollen gills, listless fish, & trouble breathing). If I stop treatment just 1 day more die, if not then no change in health. What do I do? Water sample taken to petsmart said water o.k. & treatment should of worked. I have done as directed on treatment box.

As per directions on treatment I have changed water in tank every 4 days. Tank is very large, fish small size (average is 1" or less).

Tank and acessories was precleaned with tap water. Water used was bottled and tap (50/50 as directed by pet store) and treated with conditioner. The fish were added 48 hours after tank setup.

fish originally were put into two small tanks then problems started when put all together.

Seperate question now, just noticed babies tonite in tank... guppies. Do I tank them out with the mom (still looks fat --- maybe going to have more yet) or will she eat them? Or, do I remove them by themselves? Also, what do you feed babies?... special food or just crushed up regular fish food? I have had fish for years but never had babies (all my guppies have been girls, no boys).

Answer 1

The problem is that you added too many things to the tank at one time. They all produce ammonia which is toxic to them. In an older tank, there are bacteria to convert the ammonia into nitrite (also toxic) and another set of bacteria to convert it to nitrate, which is relatively nontoxic as long as you don't let the concentration get too high.

Your fish are showing all the classic signs of ammonia poisoning. A quick water change of 1/3 to 1/2 with water of a similar temperature will relieve most of the problems.

You'll really need to reduce the number of fish that you have in the tank to just a few until your tank has enough bacteria to support them all. It may take a while, depending on what you've been using to treat them. If it's an antibiotic, this will kill the good bacteria with the bad, so you may have very little to start. See thee info I've posted below for info on ammonia poisoning and the nitrigen cycle.


ADDITION: What's the water temperature? Most of the fish you have should have it around 76o-80oF. Most of the problems you name seem to have the common thread of poor water quality and poor immune response from too cool of a water temparature. See the disease you've listed plus the ammonia poisoning in this link. What have you been using to treat and how much of a water change are you doing?

The babies (probably the guppies) can eat crushed flakes or pellets. The guppies might let them alone with emough hiding places, but the betta and frogs will eat any they can. A net or breeding box will help keep them separated. If you don't have either of these, do you have a few plastic plants that you can let float on the surface - the babies can hide in this if they're large enough. Or an aquarium net you can hang on the tank rim and put the net part into the water with the babies in it? That'll keep some of them from being eaten until you can get a better arrangement.

Answer 2

You overstocked the tank during the cycling process. It takes 4 - 6 weeks to cycle a tank. Do not add any more fish. Do a large water change. Did you purchase a testing kit to make sure the levels didn't reach toxic?
The fish were stressed when you put them in the tank. They are very susceptible to illness, especially contagious ones, when stressed. The stress comes from being netted at the store, transported home, released into water that is not the same parameters as what they just came from. Also, never release the water from the pet store into your home tank.
The ammonia cycle started when you added the fish. The waste, uneaten fish food and even respiration added ammonia to the water. Ammonia will rise until it peaks (about 1 week..more and quicker with the amount of fish you put in) and it is toxic. It burns the fish and will burn gills. The next bacteria that forms is nitrite. It eats up the ammonia but is toxic in its own way. It inhibits the way the fish can absorb oxygen: in effect, they asphyxiate. After 3 - 4 weeks of nitrite rising, it will peak. Then nitrate forms..the GOOD bacteria. As long as your levels are 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and 20 ppm nitrate or lower, your tank is cycled and ready to accept new fish.
So as not to disturb the cycle, it's best to add only a few new fish at a time. Definitely not 28! I'm surprised the pet store didn't tell you this.
It seems to me they have been through a bout of disease, stress, ammonia poisoning AND damage to their breathing abilities through high nitrite. You've listed all the symptoms. Also, I'm hoping you had no carbon in your filter while you medicated the tank. The carbon would dilute the medication. Also, medications can harm certain aquatic creatures: your frogs and shrimp come to mind...and probably the suckerfish if it's a pleco. Scaleless fish don't tolerate medication well and sometimes the cure is what kills them.
Guppies do best if their in their own breeding tanks as the babies will be food for other fish. They can eat cooked egg yolk and food meant for baby livebearers you can buy at the pet store. However, the last thing I'd do at this point is have anything else in that tank adding to the chemical problems you have.
What size is this new tank?

Answer 3

You pretty much answered your own question here. Your tank was not cycled.

Here is a link to help you thru it.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/biologicalcycle/a/nitrogencycle.htm

Also as was mentioned you added too many fish at on etime. 1-2 fish a week apart. Since you had no biofilter built up the ammonia spikes more than likely took the first batch of fish. They became stressed which accounts for the fungus. The gill and rot came from the poor water with high amounts of ammonia then nitrites. Unfortunately dumping all sorts of chemicals to clear it wasn't the solution. you needed to do water changes to keep the ammonia down. Adding all the antibiotics more than likely as well stalled your biofilter attempting to make more bacteria.

Your water is more than likely cycled now which is why the tests showed ok. you need to get yourself a test kit and test for yourself.

Answer 4

You should not put more than 3-4 fish in the tank at a time and then wait 7-10 days before adding more because you will overload the biological filter and all kinds of problems can happen. Sorry to say it but just do the best you can do to save the fish you have but next time don't put so many fish in at a time

Answer 5

The number one thing that you did wrong was add to many fish at one time. You should have introduced the fish more slowly to allow the bio of the tank to adjust. I would suggest making frequent water changes at least once a week and make sure that the water tempt is atleast 78 degrees. As for the babies, make sure that you have plenty of plants to give them a place to hid. And most likely in about 28 days you will have another batch. The babies will eat powdered fish food which you can make at home.

Answer 6

I am NOT an expert about fish, but my mother had problems with her fish dying & the store kept giving her all kinds of chemicals to put in. The thing that helped her was just to change the water if you haven't done so recently! I guess using whatever chemicals to treat the diseases is ok too, but atleast change that water!!

And be sure to change the water often afterwards as well! (I don't remember how often tho. I'm sure other people on here will know!) Atleast every couple of weeks is my guess!