Aquarium Question

Off Topic
1

I just got an aquarium from a friend. It was sitting the garage for a while.
I spent some time setting it up. Got some new fish. And it was working nicely for about 3 weeks. Then some fish started to die. I figured oh walmart fish …figures.

Now the fish have spots on them and most have died. And the one is left use to have beautiful fins. But now it had stumps and some white spots.

These were my 4 year olds fish. She has had them for 2 years almost. Now the tank dead cept for the algae eater which for some reason is alright, the one one I mentioned before.

What should I do? Or should I say what would you do?

2

You should take your fish to a reputable “fish man” and get their opinion.

That said, where are the spots located? Without a pic, it is hard to tell, but I am guessing that your fish may have “fin rot” or possibly “Ich”. If the spots are all over, it is probably Ich. If the fins are gone and the white is near the base, it may be fin rot. Both are realtively easy to treat. Consult your local fish man and they should be able to help.

The “Aquatic Information” tab on this link has some good disease info that you might find useful.

3

I think it is Ich.

I don’t even know if the last 2 survivors will make it. I don’t know if I should just let nature take its course or try to save it.

Its just a gold fish but it use to have really long fins that were nice to watch swim.

If I fine the fish dead. What should I do to start over?

Should I find some way to sterilize the take before re-population?

4

You should talk to someone local who can give you an accurate diagnosis and the proper treatment. If it is ich, here is a good start:

5

ich is usually over-diagnosed. What size is the aquarium? What filters are on it? The tank may of had an infection present when you got it. If you added any new fish they may of had diseases too. However I really only keep native fish(mostly sunfish species, eventually dareters), so if you got a tropical fish with a disease I may or may not know about it.

If the tank was over crowded, fishget stressed and they becuase MUCH more succeptable to disease.

edit: If none of the fish are species that will react to it. Add 1 tbsp/5 gallons of water of aquarium salt.

6

Tank was used but sat in a garage(empty) for a couple years.

There was a black mollie and 6 other gold fish.
And the one we called the garbage fish(the algae eater).

3 were from a smaller tank that lasted a couple years.

All gravel and fake plants bought new. All fake tree stumps and fake pottery new. Filter system is new. With fresh filter only 3 weeks in use. Today is replacement day.

Tank size 50 gal(US)

Filter is normal for that size.

All fish are 70 degree range fish.

7

I went through a similar situation a long long time ago.

Turns out the rocks were causing the problem for some reason.

It’s always some little thing that introduces a toxin or disease into the environment that the fish can’t handle.

8

Did you fill the tank with water before you put the fish in? Cuz they will die without water. And maybe sunlight…that could be just with plants, but you most def need the water.

9

sorry i cant help, i worked at petsmart but not the fish department.

10

[quote]dk44 wrote:
Did you fill the tank with water before you put the fish in? Cuz they will die without water. And maybe sunlight…that could be just with plants, but you most def need the water. [/quote]

heheheh :slight_smile:

11

My daughter took the news very well about a disease killing her fish. She said we better get some new ones. Or else we will not be able to use all the fish food we have.

Kids huh?

12

Could be a number of things - one of my friends had his fish die because of the type of silicon used to seal the tank.

I know pretty much nothing about fish, but it may be an idea to empty the tank and clean it out again.

13

Overstocked too soon after filling a brand new tank.

Do a large water change, do not mess with the filter, as it need to develop beneficial bacteria.

Add the mollies maybe 2 or 3 tops let that run for a month or so, and then slowly repopulate the tank.

Goldfish are dirty fish and maybe look real hard if you want them back. or keep it a nice tropical tank.

14

Last year My Environmental science teacher had a talk with all different things taken from ponds ect… like 25 catfish, newts,sunfish,tadpoles… none of them died unless they were killed lol…

15

[quote]Mr.Bill wrote:
Overstocked too soon after filling a brand new tank.

Do a large water change, do not mess with the filter, as it need to develop beneficial bacteria.

Add the mollies maybe 2 or 3 tops let that run for a month or so, and then slowly repopulate the tank.

Goldfish are dirty fish and maybe look real hard if you want them back. or keep it a nice tropical tank.

[/quote]

That seems like a sensible idea right there. Its my kids tank and well I don’t want costly fish. Just something for her to take care of when she is at my place.

16

[quote]Mr.Bill wrote:
Overstocked too soon after filling a brand new tank.

Do a large water change, do not mess with the filter, as it need to develop beneficial bacteria.

Add the mollies maybe 2 or 3 tops let that run for a month or so, and then slowly repopulate the tank.

Goldfish are dirty fish and maybe look real hard if you want them back. or keep it a nice tropical tank.

[/quote]

Good post.

Cycling your tank before adding fish is very important. It should be run for at least a month with no fish in it. This gives bacteria time to build up in the filter - these are what keep the water safe. The rest of the filter is just there to get rid of shit and bits.

What temperature is the water at? I’ve seen all sorts of infections caused by too high a water temp.

Without pictures it’s difficult to say but fin rot or ich sounds likely.

You can do a few things…

1 - Lower the tank temperature if it’s too high.

2 - Purchase a broad spectrum antibiotic and use as directed. Remember though that if you have a carbon filter, remove the carbon for the duration of the course.

3 - Add marine salt. Not so much as to turn your tank into a marine tank! 1/2 tbsp per gallon IIRC but check first.

4 - Get your water tested (The TANK water - not your urine) for ph levels, nitrate and nitrite levels and adjust accordingly - various things in your tank can affect these levels. The test kits are cheap but (in the UK at least) a good aquarium stockist will do this for you for free.

5 - Purchase some “Stresscoat” - This is just added to the water and forms a protective barrier on the skin of the fish while you sort out your water parameters.

6 - Cut right down on food - you may be overfeeding them. This will cause water imbalances. Only feed them what they can eat in a two minute session. Scoop the rest out. Floating fish food is great for this. Don’t rely on your filter to do this for you. If you are scooping food out each day you are giving them too much.

Probably other stuff but I’ll post it when I think of it.

Renton. Owner of the biggest damn Oscar you’ve ever seen. It’s mental too.

17

[quote]Renton wrote:
Mr.Bill wrote:
Overstocked too soon after filling a brand new tank.

Do a large water change, do not mess with the filter, as it need to develop beneficial bacteria.

Add the mollies maybe 2 or 3 tops let that run for a month or so, and then slowly repopulate the tank.

Goldfish are dirty fish and maybe look real hard if you want them back. or keep it a nice tropical tank.

Good post.

Cycling your tank before adding fish is very important. It should be run for at least a month with no fish in it. This gives bacteria time to build up in the filter - these are what keep the water safe. The rest of the filter is just there to get rid of shit and bits.

What temperature is the water at? I’ve seen all sorts of infections caused by too high a water temp.

Without pictures it’s difficult to say but fin rot or ich sounds likely.

You can do a few things…

1 - Lower the tank temperature if it’s too high.

[/quote]

75 degree tank

[/quote]

2 - Purchase a broad spectrum antibiotic and use as directed. Remember though that if you have a carbon filter, remove the carbon for the duration of the course.

3 - Add marine salt. Not so much as to turn your tank into a marine tank! 1/2 tbsp per gallon IIRC but check first.

4 - Get your water tested (The TANK water - not your urine) for ph levels, nitrate and nitrite levels and adjust accordingly - various things in your tank can affect these levels. The test kits are cheap but (in the UK at least) a good aquarium stockist will do this for you for free.

5 - Purchase some “Stresscoat” - This is just added to the water and forms a protective barrier on the skin of the fish while you sort out your water parameters.

[/quote]
Just added some as directed

All food is gone in seconds. That I know I am not doing.

[quote]

Probably other stuff but I’ll post it when I think of it.

Renton. Owner of the biggest damn Oscar you’ve ever seen. It’s mental too.[/quote]

Post a pic of your Oscar!

18

[quote]dirtbag wrote:
Post a pic of your Oscar![/quote]

Will dig one out!

19

[quote]Renton wrote:
dirtbag wrote:
Post a pic of your Oscar!

Will dig one out![/quote]

Ha awesome.

My one friend used to have 2 Oscars and I we used to feed them crickets and parktown prawns. Those things were awesome.

20

Taken about 3 years ago. The one in the background is the sole survivor. She won’t let anything else live in her tank now.

The tank is 140 Gallons - In the picture she is about 12" long although it’s impossible to tell. She’s now about 15" long and very powerful.

I’ll see if I can get a shot of her with my hand in the tank for scale. She’s very territorial though and at her current size is capable of doing some big damage to fingers if she’s not in the mood to be messed with.