 |
|
| Home | Marine Aquariums |
Freshwater Aquariums |
Planted Aquariums |
Brackish Systems |
Ponds,
lakes & fountains |
Turtles & Amphibians |
Aquatic Business |
Aquatic Science |
Ask the WWM Crew a Question |
| Please visit our Sponsors | ||||
sick x-ray tetra, env. 12/6/11
Help with Rosy Tetras, sys.... env. hlth.
11/20/09 Neotrop community tank; sickness, death, but no useful
data - 10/24/09
Mysterious repeated hatchet fish death 10/18/07 Hi, I hope you can have an answer. <We'll try.> We have a 10 gallon tank with live plants, 3 platys and 3 hatchet fish. two day after we introduced the hatchets, we found one of them dead. Went to the store bought another one, next day dead. <Hatchets aren't the easiest of fish. Which species are we talking about here? There are two common types, Marble hatchets and Silver hatchets. The Marble hatchet is Carnegiella strigata and it is small, mottled brown, and quite delicate. It needs to be in groups of 6 or more to have any chance of surviving. In ones and twos they just die. Not recommended for your tank simply because they will feel trapped and get stressed. When stressed, they jump at the glass lid or lamps, and damage themselves. The Silver hatchet is Gasteropelecus sternicula. It is larger, silver, with a blue horizontal band on the flanks. It is basically hardy once settled in, but mortality during the first few weeks can be very high. Given its adult size and high activity level, not really an option for a 10 gallon tank.> The water is fine, Ph between 7 and 7.2 temperature around 76-78. The community is fine and the plant are thriving. We are feeding them with Spectrum the small fish formula. We thought they might be jumping and hurting themselves on the hood. <Happens.> The deaths happened during the day. Thanks a lot Emanuela <Give up with Hatchets. Your tank is not really suited to hatchets. While lovely fish (I keep Silver hatchets) they are far from easy fish and best suited to expert fishkeepers or aquarists prepared to set aside a large, quiet, thickly planted tank where they can be kept in large numbers. If you want a surface dweller of some type, look at something like Sparkling gouramis (Trichopsis pumila) which are hardy, colourful, and do well in small tanks. Cheers, Neale.> Mouth disease on tetras
6/4/07 > Hi Guys, <Hello.> > I have a 80lt f/w tank
with a few tetras, a bristle nose sucker fish, two clown loaches, some
dwarf Gourami's and a couple of mollies. <All sounds fine except
the mollies probably want brackish water, not freshwater, and the clown
loaches grow very big (admittedly slowly) and even a tank twice the
size of yours will be too small for them in the long run.> >
Recently the tank started smelling like dirt and one of the tetras died
with a white growth that looked like it had grown over its mouth.
<The white growth was almost certainly "mouth fungus",
which is a bacterial infection almost always brought on by poor water
quality.> > We cleaned out the canister filter as it had started
to become noisy due to a build up of gunk. <OK. But cleaning a
filter should not mean wiping out the bacteria in the filter media --
so only ever clean the media in buckets of aquarium water.> > A
week later another tetra was found with this growth. <So, the
problem wasn't fixed.> > I removed the fish, did a 40% water
change and started using a Aquarium Pharmaceuticals 'Melafix'
of 10ml per day with a 30% water change every 7 days as directed.
<Melafix will have no effect at all on mouth fungus. Melafix is the
aquarium equivalent of antiseptic cream -- it helps keep cuts and
wounds from being infected, but don't expect too much from it. Your
need anti-mouth fungus (a.k.a. anti-Columnaris) medication.> >
This was about 2 weeks ago. <Mollies are nitrate intolerant when
kept in freshwater aquaria. If I had a penny for every molly that died
from being kept in a freshwater rather than brackish water tank I'd
be richer than Bill Gates. Needless to say, none of your other fish are
salt-tolerant. Yet again, an example of choosing fish before
researching them.> > Since then two mollies have died, with no
signs of disease and last week I noticed one of the Gourami's
turned from a red color to black. We did a water change and soon after
this it returned to its normal red color. <Fish sometimes change
colour when stressed, including by deteriorating conditions. It sounds
as if you have water quality/chemistry issues.> > Ph is about 7,
at the start of the issues it was around 6. <Mollies need a pH of AT
LEAST 7.5. All your other fish want a pH around 6.5 to 7.0. Any time
the pH of an aquarium drops from 7 to 6 quickly, it means you have
major problems with the aquarium. We need more data here: what is the
hardness? What is the pH/hardness of the water straight from the tap
(faucet)? What are the nitrite or ammonia levels?> > Do you have
any ideas?? <Sounds to me as if your tank is inherently unstable.
Likely a combination of acidification through decaying organic matter
in the tank (overfeeding, under cleaning) and not enough buffering
capacity in the water. Various solutions depending on the specific
problems. But we need more data to pin down precisely the causes. In
the meantime, reflect on the stocking density, your maintenance regime,
what (if any) buffering exists in the aquarium.> > Cheers and
hello from Oz, <Cheers, Neale> I am obsessed with keeping freshwater cardinals! I just can't keep them alive! 5/13/07 Hi! <Hello!> Hope all is well with you. I have a question I hope you can help me with. I have had reef and saltwater tanks for a couple of decades, and I do pretty well. I even have a 600 gallon one in my kitchen wall! <Sounds nice. Though if you prepare sushi in the kitchen, I imagine the fish get rather nervous wondering if they're next...> But I am obsessed with keeping freshwater cardinals! I just can't keep them alive! <I we talking those neon tetra look-alikes, Cheirodon axelrodi, or the freshwater examples of the marine cardinals such as Glossamia aprion, the "mouth almighty"? I assume the tetras.> I have a 45 gallon tank with a sump. (an old reef tank). I had it setup with a BioWheel, and gravel on the bottom. I suctioned the gravel monthly, did a 33% water change monthly, and no luck with the cardinals. <Cardinal tetras can be tricky for a variety of reasons, but once settled in they're basically tough little fish. The main problem in my experience is Neon Tetra Disease (NTD), which works its way through cardinal tetras at about 50% mortality, i.e., if you buy 20 cardinals, and you get the dreaded NTD, you can lose up to half of them. Better than Neons, where you lose all of them, but still annoying. Another issue with cardinals is they are all wild-caught. <<Mmm; no; bred in vast numbers in the orient for the ornamental trade. RMF>> In fact, they're the most numerous exported tropical fish from South America. Anyway, by the time they reach the market countries around the world, they might not have eaten for weeks. My guess is that healthy, well-fed cardinals are more or less NTD resistant, but when weakened and cooped up in a retailer's aquarium, they are far more susceptible to this disease. So as with any wild-caught fish, buying when a new batch arrives can make sense, and then quarantining and feeding on a variety of live/frozen foods makes all the difference.> I then added an undergravel filter (I know....dumb idea, but I was desperate!) <There's nothing intrinsically wrong with UG filters. They do a good job of maintaining water quality. The problem with UG filters is their incompatibility with aquascaping and rooted species of plants more than anything else.> No luck. Nitrates off the chart. Dead cardinals. <Odd, given how small cardinals are. They don't eat much (and don't need to eat much, either). They're classic "pinch of flake a day" fish in my book. When you say "off the scale" you mean above 100 mg/l? What is the nitrate level of the water out the tap/faucet? I have to confess to keeping mine in rainwater with a bit of tapwater added. Seems to work well.> Someone suggested bioballs. Would not that make the nitrates even higher? <Worth trying I suppose but I don't find nitrate removal systems in freshwater tanks to be of much value. Freshwater fish don't care that much provided the rise in nitrates is slow, and even between 50-100 mg/l you shouldn't get mass die-offs of fish except with certain species (Tanganyikans for example). Simple water changes are, IMO, a better approach to nitrate management, and the filter is best devoted to biological filtration, i.e., ammonia/nitrite management rather than nitrate.> I have used Amazon rain additive (is that stuff any good?) <Not really. Looks nice, but doesn't really do anything if you have hard, alkaline water. In softer water, may help acidify the water a little, but approach the concept of acidifying water with caution, as it's easy to mess up.> No luck. PLEASE do you have an ideas? Thanks! <Have a read of this: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i3/cardinal_tetras/Cardinal_Tetras.htm for some more ideas.> <Cheers, Neale> Molly and Neon Tetra Health Questions, env. 3/16/2007 Dear WWM crew, <Ching> I love your website and learn a lot from here. Thank you. <Welcome> I have a 15 gallon tank with 2 Cory catfish, 3 black mollies and 7 neon tetras. <Mmm... the Cats and Neons like very different water conditions than the mollies... soft, acidic, much warmer... no salt...> Environment: Water PH: 8.0 (Our tap water is pretty hard.) <I'll say! About the same here in San Diego> Temperature: 25~26 C Nitrate: 20~40 ppm <Way too high... a source of stress...> Nitrite: 0 ppm Ammonia: 0 ppm One male molly has "obvious" mouth fungus and noticeable grey spots on his body. As I heard Cory catfish and neon tetra do not like salt, I did not add aquarium salt to the tank. <Good> I used Melafix and Pimafix together to treat the black molly. The second day and third day I could see the improvements and thought the medicine worked great. <Mmmm> As the medicine indicated we can use it when intruding new fish to the tank, so while during the course of Molly's medication (on the fourth day, I think) I added 4 neon tetras to the tank. The 7 neon tetra were doing fine and schooling around together. The black molly seemed to be getting better too. However, yesterday (the 8th day of the medication) black molly's mouth started to show the fungus again and I saw a couple of grey spots on his body. Should I use other medicine, stronger one? Or I should continue the ones I am using? <I would separate the molly/mollies, treat it/them with salt... Keep it in another setting> Today (the 9th day) I saw a red spot on one neon tetra's body, which is near the tail. I am not sure what it is an have no idea what I should do. It looks like human's bruise just the color is red not purple. Anything you could suggest? <Yes... to modify their water chemistry (w/o the Mollies present)... to be softer/more acidic (pH below 7.0)...> I have had this tank just for two months and enjoyed it a lot. But, there's still so much to learn to keep my fish healthy. <Lots of valuable lessons about life...> Thank you again for all the information you provide on the site. It is really helpful! Yours truly, Ching <A pleasure to help you, Bob Fenner> Blue Neon Tetras : Old or ill? -
05/09/06 Hi, <<Hello, Francesca. Tom with you.>> I am a
first time poster on this site - you seem a lot less smug than other
sites and I would appreciate help rather than finger
pointing! <<I lost whatever "smugness" I
may have had years ago. :) As for "finger pointing",
let's see what you have to tell us.>> I have a 95 litre tank
which happily (usually) houses 8 blue Neons and cardinals, 3 black
tetras, 3 glass catfish, 3 swordtails, 2 small albino Corys, 1 golden
sucking loach (who knows his place and is not a bully), 1 upside down
catfish, 1 fat apple snail and two small but adult silver sharks who we
inherited with the tank. Some were residents of the tank
when we took it on (the bigger ones) and others have been added over
the course of about a year. We are expecting a new tank,
about double the capacity, very soon, since we are aware that the
silvers require more space really. <<Excellent. If you could
"lock down" the specific species of "shark" that
your "Silvers" are, we could add a little more detail. For
example, what are known as Silver-tip Sharks (among other names)
require vastly different water conditions than the other fish in your
current tank need. Might be a problem down the road...>> They
have all been cohabiting merrily for a number of months
now. They get about 15 to 20 per cent of their water changed
on a weekly basis, are regularly dosed with salts and their new water
is dechlorinated at every change. The PH remains at roughly
7, the ammonia level as of last night was 0.25ppm, the nitrite level
was negligible and the nitrate level (whilst higher than I would like
it) was at an apparently safe 35ppm. <<Okay. Ammonia levels and
nitrite levels above "0" are not good. (I'll get to this
later since it has a direct bearing on your question.) Nitrate levels
are "safe" up to 40 ppm for "some" fish. Others
can't tolerate these levels over a sustained period. Cichlids, for
instance, require low levels of nitrates as some diseases attributable
to nitrates are known.>> The problem is this. Three of
the blue tetras seem to be unwell. They are showing
black discolouration on random areas of their bodies, although this
does not appear to be fungus or algae, but rather a genuine change in
colour. They do not seem to be wasting away or becoming
thinner, but instead seem to be kind of lumpy, again in random areas.
<<Black discoloration can be a sign of chemical burning, i.e.
from ammonia/nitrite exposure, that is actually in the process of
healing. Usually, this will occur around the gill plates. The change in
normal coloration can be expected when a fish is stressed.>> With
the exception of one they are schooling, swimming and feeding as
normal, but one is showing possible swim bladder issues. He
is twirling and swimming on his side, and avoiding the company of the
others. <<Again, this can be due to stress and toxic
poisoning. Some fish are more "susceptible" than
others.>> I have looked at a number of sites with partial
descriptions of these symptoms, but nothing complete. They
are showing some symptoms of Neon Tetra Disease, but lack the
significant seeming white discolouration. <<I would
discount this. From personal experience, your fish would be dying/dead
right now. Trust me.>> I do not know how old they were when we
bought them, but they were fully grown. They were brought
from an aquarist shop specifically chosen because they seemed to care
about the welfare of their livestock over that of their profit, but I
did not ask their age at the time of purchase. <<No worries.
I'm glad you found someone to trust.>> Are my fish ill?
<<In part, I would say that they are.>> If so, is there
anything I can do to help them? <<Easiest treatment in the world.
Water changes. Get the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels down. Start with
a 50% water change (40 litres). Also, check your filtration. Don't
believe that a filter rated for 90-100 litres will actually do the job.
Oversize it, as you should with your new tank.>> Are they just
old? <<Perhaps, but there are still things you can/must
do.>> They are small, so I suppose they have a limited number of
heartbeats like the rest of us! <<That's why I don't
exercise, Francesca. I don't want to use up the heartbeats I have
left! :)>> Please help me as I really do not like seeing my boys
ill, Francesca <<Hopefully, I have helped. Best of luck.
Tom>> Fading Serpae Tetra - 2/15/2006 I recently bought 2 Serpae Tetras about a week ago. They are in a 10 gallon tank with 2 fancy tail guppies. <Like different water...> All are doing fine, but noticed this morning one of the Tetras looks like it's fading. He's not the bright orange and black he was before. What do you think could be the problem? Thanking you in advance..... Jenny~ <The Tetras "like" soft, acidic, warm water (80's F.), the guppies, hard, alkaline, cooler water... Bob Fenner> Dying neon tetras 02-05-06 Help! two weeks ago I did a complete change out of my 10 gallon tank, saving off half the water and rinsing the new gravel and furnishings well and added a bubbler. <Better to limit such changes to one quarter if at all possible> The tank is inhabited by 5 neon tetras, 5 harlequins and 1 Pleco. <Too small a tank for the last> the water I added was conditioned by Aquafresh (or something like that) <At least they'll have minty breath> and the original water was replaced as well. for two weeks everything was fine, <Only apparently> but yesterday one of the Neons became bloated and started swimming sideways. I removed it from the tank and put it in another container and it was dead by morning. Today, I've noticed another neon started to exhibit the same symptoms. The harlequins seem to be just fine. I noticed a rust colored deposit building up on the new furnishings. what is this deposit and what is happening to my Neons? any advice you can give would be splendid! thanks, Chris <The Neons don't "like" your water... or this much change this fast... Perhaps your system is "re-cycling"... also much harder on small characins than minnows... See WWM, fishbase.org re their water preferences. Bob Fenner> Tetras lost to a new tank Gwen, Thanks for your fast reply - I appreciate your advice. Unfortunately, I think I will stay away from tetras because (maybe the water is too alkaline for them) I lost 3 different kinds of tetras when I started the tank 6 months ago. Another option might be some colorful guppies but I am concerned that they would need more salt in the water than I think some of the other fish would tolerate. Thanks again. Beth >>Hey Beth :D Don't be so hard on the tetras :) You may have lost them simply because it was a new tank set-up. Tetras are normally more resilient than most other species of fish, and are quite easy to keep. By the way, guppies do not need salt in the water. Most people think that salt prevents Ich, or fungus, or does some other magic thing, but the fact is that most freshwater fish do not need salt added on a regular basis. It CAN be used medicinally, to cure such diseases, but salt should only be added when you are treating something specific. My advice to you would be to re-think the tetras, like Pristellas, etc, and guppies :) Have fun! -Gwen Dying neon tetras Hi
there, <Hi there...this is Jorie, and I'll try to help...>
Have just come across your site and trawled it for any similar problems
to mine, but couldn't spot anything, so I hope I'm not going to
waste your time, but here goes! <You certainly are not wasting
anyone's time - we are here to help you!> My fiancé
and I purchased a 13 gallon tank about 3 weeks ago and set it up as
follows: washed gravel in water till it ran clear, washed resin tank
ornaments in the same way. A couple of plastic plants, but mostly real
plants (some sword grass and sword plants, at least that's what
they said they were in the shop). We added the tap water and
treated it with AquaSafe to dechlorinate, etc. following the
instructions on the bottle. We added some AquaPlus water conditioner
and we also added a little plant food that said it was safe for other
tank inhabitants and followed the instructions in both cases
carefully. We have a mechanical, biological and chemical filter
that we checked was the right size for the tank, and a heater that
keeps the water at a constant 78 degrees Fahrenheit. The filter
also has an attachment that can further oxygenate the water (little
pipe attachment to pump out more bubbles). Also have a hood and
light for the tank. We cycled the tank for these weeks, and before we
put any fish in we checked the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH levels:
ammonia, nitrate, nitrate were 0 and pH at 7.5. We live in Glasgow in
Scotland and our water is quite soft. We also added some AquaPlus water
conditioner the morning before the fish went in, because it recommended
doing so for new fish. We bought six jumbo neon tetras yesterday
afternoon - floated the bag for half an hour to get the temperature
even for them, added some tank water gradually over another half an
hour and then released them. They looked pretty happy, we left the
light off to let them settle down and didn't feed them straight
away for the same reason, feeding them a tiny amount about 2 hours
later. Just before we went to bed we checked on them, and two seemed
listless and gasping a little, but still able to swim, not just
floating. This morning 2 were dead upside down on the tank bottom, and
this afternoon two more. We did another water check and the levels were
still fine. The poor guys looked physically ok when they died, apart
from being a little pale - you could still make out the bright colours
on their bodies. They didn't appear bloated with no cuts or gashes
and seemingly normal gills. No signs of fungus or spotting either. When
I was keeping an eye on the second two that died later, they seemed to
get listless and were floating about the main body of the tank rather
than swimming in the plants like the others. They also looked to be
gasping a little. I really don't want to be doing
something wrong and be unknowingly hurting the wee fellas. The last two
seem ok at the moment, although one swims about more than the
other. Do you think it could be something they had already from
the shop, or am I doing something terribly wrong? Do you think I need
to get them some medication, only I am reluctant to do so when they
don't look hurt or diseased and I might do more harm than good? Any
advise greatly appreciated, Charlotte <Charlotte, I'll be
honest, I'm a bit mystified myself as to what's going on! I
read your thorough narrative above, and very honestly, you did
absolutely everything I typically suggest to newcomers, from rinsing
the gravel, cycling the water, keeping the temp. constant, etc. The one
thing that I'd suggest you measure is the water's oxygen level;
you mention that you do have an air filter in the tank, but the gasping
behavior you've noticed makes me think perhaps they fish aren't
getting enough O2. Most major test kit brands have a conversion chart
to measure oxygen levels - I personally use the Tetra brand kit, but I
don't think it matters too much. Just stay away from the "dip
stick" type test kits, as they are pretty unreliable. Aside from
that, I'm thinking perhaps a toxin other than ammonia, nitrite or
nitrite has found its way into the water - I say this because of the
suddenness of the fishes' death. Can you think of *anything* (from
cleaning supplies to air fresheners, for example), that could possibly
be contaminating the water? I don't know if it will help, but you
could try additional water changes and perhaps looking into a
PolyFilter - filter media that removes lots of unwanted toxins, from
phosphates to ammonia. (That's a shot in the dark, though -
it's all I can think of!) You may be correct in thinking your fish
weren't altogether healthy when you purchased them. Any idea how
long they were living at the fish store? That's good question to
ask - the longer the better, but you won't always get that lucky. I
have never personally kept neon tetras, but from what I understand,
they can be fragile. You did well to slowly acclimate them when you
brought 'em home, and as I said above, did everything else
according to the "rules". With regards to medicating, I
don't think I'd go there, especially since you don't see
any observable signs of illness or lacerations. You may indeed do more
harm than good - I never recommend using meds just for the sake of it,
and it's always best to narrow down what's going on before
taking a "shot in the dark" approach to medicating fish. Do
check on the oxygen levels, and think about possible water
contaminants. In the meantime, keep those water levels pristine, and
hopefully the two survivors will be OK. I'll cross my fingers for
you! Good luck, Jorie> Pop Eye on a Silver Dollar 8/3/05 Hi, I am Janet. I have a 55 gal fresh with 10 white clouds, 4 black tetra, 2 spotted Cory cats, 2 dwarf gouramis, 1 blue magic dwarf Gourami (the other died in this heyday I have been having) , one goldfish, one black moor, 2 scissortail Rasbora and 2 six or seven year old Silver Dollars that were given to me by a friend when his wife died. They were her babies. Hi Oh Silver came down with Popeye then a god awful case of dropsy. I put in Melafix for the seven day prescribed and Hi Oh didn't really improve much. I changed out 25% of the tank, put in Stress Coat and Stress Zyme and some Methylene Blue. Hi Oh looked bad yet. I went searching on the internet and found your site with salt treatments for these diseases. I didn't have Aquarium Salts but another site said Kosher Salt would do too. So I mixed up the salt (one gal to 4 teasp Kosher salt) popped Hi in and watched him for distress. After 3 min.s (of the 5, unless distressed) I thought he looked like he wanted out. So I put him in the tank. Next morning HE LOST ALL THE POPEYE AND MOST OF THE SWELLING!! I did a test and found my nitrates were 160 so I did another water change out of nearly 50%. Put in Stress Coat and Stress Zyme and Meth blue. My test today shows PH 6.0, Ammonia 0ppm, Nitrite 0ppm and finally, Nitrate 0ppm. It seems Hi Oh is getting Popeye again and I think his pal, Long John Silver is too. Oh, I put in new carbon filters in case of something in the water affected the old new filters I had in. Hi looks great other then that. A very small swelling on his cap (above his eyes/face), looks somewhat silver in most places, eating, swimming all about and with his buddy. My question is should I start over and put the two in a hospital tank and treat with Melafix again or just do salt dips again? How many times can I salt dip a fish and at what frequency.... daily, every other day, ???? Salt seems to best work to bring down swelling. I have been fighting this for 3 weeks now and Hi is still here. He does sit stationary a bit crooked but he swims great. I think he can see yet out of his eyes. So far Long John is puffy in one eye. This whole mess started with fish from PetSmart and putting their water in my tank. I didn't know not too since I read to do it in a dumb book, only to find out NEVER put water in another tank. I have NEVER tested water before so that is all new to me too but I desperately want to save the boys. Please help me : ( < The high nitrates are stressing your silver dollars. Keeping them down to under 25 ppm will be very beneficial. I have found that salt dose reduce the swelling and some fish do recover enough to be cured from this internal bacterial infection but just don't seem to be cured. I would recommend Metronidazole to treat the infected fish in a hospital tank so it won't affect the good bacteria needed to break down the fish waste.-Chuck> |
|
|
Features: |
|
| Featured Sponsors: |
.JPG)
.JPG)
