Help! Please! Cloudy water, fish not eating!!?

Question

My fish (who has never refused to eat or shown any sign of illness in its entire 5 1/2 year life) was absolutesly fine yesterday but this morning she would not eat her food and lay on the bottom with her fins clamped, although she has been swimming around ever since. In about the past 1/2 hour the water's gone from clear to cloudy white and if you look closely there are little white fibres floating in it but they are not sticking to her and they are not moving of their own accord (the filter was off for over six hours but its on now and I'd say its getting worse if anthing). The only other things that I can thin of are that she lay eggs on sunday and later that afternoon we cleaned her out. I'm really really worried, particually as my other fish Silver died of dropsy six months ago. Please please help me if you can!!!!!!!

Sorry about my spellling and bad grammer I was too worried to notice.

I'm sorry but I can't take her anywhere now because my Dad's still at work and my Mum doesnt know the first thing about fish so she's staying put for another 2 1/2 hours atleast

Answer 1

Since your filter was off for 6 hours your tanks nitrifying bacterial colonies may have dies off.
Have you checked your ammonia/nitrites?
These should be 0, if not I would carefully perform incremental water changes and add a product called "Prime" or similar ( http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Seachem.html ).

You’re nitrifying bacteria should bounce back assuming this is the problem, however in the meantime please cut back on feedings, and gently rinse filter media in de-chlorinated tap water.
For more on this subject, please read this article: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Nitrogen_Cycle.html

The fibers MAY possibly be detritus from an over abundance of organics in the water column (which again the lack of filtration may have played a role in, but did not likely cause only exasperated the problem). A water change using a gravel vacuum may help here as well.
Please see this article about cleaning: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_cleaning.html

Other water parameters to check:
*pH- stable
*GH- 100+ (important for osmoregulation/ Redox Potential)
*KH- 50+ (important for a stable pH/ prevention of osmotic shock due to pH swings)
*Nitrates- under 50 ppm

Finally this may be caused by a bacterial pathogen (and possibly a combination of many of these factors)
Can you describe any other symptoms?
I really do not like to "prescribe" treatments without more information, although relatively inert treatments such as Pimafix may be safe to add. Medicated Wonder Shells which will also address some water quality issues such as electrolytes and Redox Potential may also be worth mentioning.
The addition of salt at the dose of 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons may also be helpful
For further information, this site has a lot of links/resources: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquarium_Information.html

:~) C

Answer 2

The cloudiness of the water is a micro organism bloom brought about by using the ammonia on your tank. on your tank to be healthful, and the inhabitants to proceed to exist, you -could- cycle the tank thoroughly in the past you upload any fish. This takes, on an many times taking place, 4 to six weeks to end. you're able to try this with a pair of small fish, or fish-much less by using merely contributing the ammonia needed. for extra suggestions, please google "fishtank cycle". stable good fortune.

Answer 3

Is there an pet shop near you who sell fish?
If so, take your pet to the shop and have some of the water in the tank so that the owner can see what the symptoms are.
There may be a very simple answer to the problem.
Cheers.

Answer 4

Your fish is sick. Take it to a vet!

Answer 5

ake her to the vet if you really like her

Answer 6

Just wait. She is pretty old