Another One Gone...

I don't know what's happening...I am down to three fish in my tank. I wish I had a way to quarantine...I got two platies from the fish store and put them in my tank...about two weeks ago...since then everything has died. :( All I have left is a gourami and two corys. I had 4 platies in there, two dwarf gouramis, and the corys...so 5 of them have died. One of the gouramis I have had for about a year now, I found him this morning. I just got home from work and the last platy, one of the ones I recently got, just passed away. I'm very distraught over this. Nothing seems apparantly wrong with them, either, everyone was eating just fine and looked healthy. No fin nipping, nothing. I've tested the tank a few times and everything is normal. I used Maracyn I think it was after the first few died, per a different store, and I guess it didn't help. :( Any ideas? I really would like to keep my last gourami alive-I like him a lot. The corys don't seem to be affected.

Wel, next time you could quarintine (sp?) by buying a cheap smaller tank for a week or two... And on keeping the current one alive, you should just chean out the tank REALLY well and call and ask a pet store/vet if it would be ok to use a 10% bleach solution. If iut is, clean the tank with the 10% bleach solution and leave it in the sun for a while before rinsing it VERY well.

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Originally Posted by areias

I don't know what's happening...I am down to three fish in my tank. I wish I had a way to quarantine...I got two platies from the fish store and put them in my tank...about two weeks ago...since then everything has died. :( All I have left is a gourami and two corys. I had 4 platies in there, two dwarf gouramis, and the corys...so 5 of them have died. One of the gouramis I have had for about a year now, I found him this morning. I just got home from work and the last platy, one of the ones I recently got, just passed away. I'm very distraught over this. Nothing seems apparantly wrong with them, either, everyone was eating just fine and looked healthy. No fin nipping, nothing. I've tested the tank a few times and everything is normal. I used Maracyn I think it was after the first few died, per a different store, and I guess it didn't help. :( Any ideas? I really would like to keep my last gourami alive-I like him a lot. The corys don't seem to be affected.

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Whats your ph levels? And do you use Ammo lock to neutralize the ammonia? And Stress coat to assist in the slim coat on the fish? Also- when you buy new fish- let the bag float to adjust temperature- but then DO NOT PUT the water the fish came INTO your tank. First by them its very high in ammonia, second if there is an illness you just dumped it into your tank. Do not do any water changes in the first 24 hours with a new fish. They are already a little stressed, so no reason to raise the bar..
Tetracycline is a more broad spectrum antibiotic. Unless you see visible signs of a disease, using antibiotics doesnt do much. It doesnt sound like to me it was a disease.

pH is 6.8...Ammonia at .25 ppm. I use stress coat, and do weekly water changes (Usually no more than 20% at a time) and gravel vaccumm every week or two. When I put the water back in, it's been sitting out over night and I do add a little stress coat. :confused: I do let the bag float...I use my fish net and scoop the fish out of the bag and put it in my tank. Gah, this sucks. :(

Your tank isn't cycled? Do you change the filters too much? Ammonia should always be at 0, and maintained at 0 before adding any fish. Some just don't tolerate any ammonia at all, and others tolerate levels for a little bit before taking the plunge. Assuming internal infections are ruled out, I'd say the gourami died as a result of a year's worth of low levels of ammonia toxicity.

I wouldn't bother with stress coat, it takes up oxygen in the water. Dechlor is all you should need since the fish are showing disease. I quarentine for 8 weeks. One thing to watch is fish poop. If the fish are pooping white, then they for sure has an internal infection or parasite. When picking out fish in a store you can watch for this before choosing the fish. Poop patrol may sound funny, but its an efficient way to pick out healthy fish.

I always treat for ich when I add new fish. I find I have few to no deaths...