Help, Fish Dying

[azureoval]

Hey Guys , I was wondering if you can help me diagnose my problem. I have had a 58 gallon setup for 4 months now. I started with 10 2.5in discus, 20 cardinals and 5 corys. Eveything has gone very smooth considering this is my first tank. I lost only 2 cards and one cory due to crushing on a tank transfer. I fed the fish 5 small meals a day consisting of CBW,FBW,TB's and NLS. Except for the first 2 weeks the water has been very clear. I have a 20 gallon wet/dry with 3 gallons of bio balls and 1 liter of bio rings. I have kept my water parameters at 0 ammo, 0 nitri
10 nitra with water changes of 50% every other day. 5 days ago my water started to get cloudy (milky). My fish stopped eating and they got antisocial. yesterday one of the discus started slashing around the tank and swam sideway , that night he died . Right now I have another fish doing the same thing. I noticed today very small white disc's on the tank floor.
any advise would be appreciated . Thanks Josh

[azureoval]

Sump

[BIGFOOT]

I'll take a stab at this hope I am wright. You should have 1 Discus per 10 gallons or get ready to bigger water changes. (I started with 10 2.5in discus, 20 cardinals and 5 corys) This is too much fish for your system. Or like I said more water changes and cleaning the filters more often.


Did you qt the other fish to make sure they were not sick?
When you water got cloudy did you retest the tank if so what were the results?
What other syptoms are you see?

[Alight]

Have you checked your ammonia levels recently. I know you indicate they are zero, but the fastest way to get cloudy water and dead fish is with ammonia rising. I've done it myself (the cloudy water part, no dead fish recently, thank goodness) recently simply by leaving my filter unplugged after a water change. Cloudy water overnight every time I do it. Ammonia readings every time, as well.

[azureoval]

Hey, My fish have been all together for 3 months, the corys and cardinals were QT'ed separately for 1 month before added the the main tank . The Discus were all bought at the same time from the same breeder. No fish has shown signs of anything before now , the were all very happy social fish.
I know it is a lot of fish for the tank but the water param's were fine and I was going to transfer some when they grow up. I wanted a large school so they would get along better as the grew. They were happy fish till now.
also , my ammonia was 0 the last two times I checked which was yesterday.

[AmberC]

I noticed today very small white disc's on the tank floor.
any advise would be appreciated . Thanks Josh

.. Can you elaborate? Does it look like scales?

Amber

[marilyn1998]

Cloudy water is a biological problem. How do you do a water change? Do you add a conditioner? WHen was the last time you cleaned the filters? The tank looks good in that pic. But cloudy water is usually a biological filter problem. I would start asking quesitons regarding anything new, different about your WC routine.
Have you recently had a power outage? Opened a new bottle of chemicals? Changes your bio media??

[azureoval]

The white disc's are about the diameter of a toothpick and are slightly opaque. they get sucked up during water changes. The only appeared the last two days . There is alot less now. I have been doing massive water changes.

My water change system is a rubbermaid brute with a pump that pushes the water through a hose to the top where it goes around about 5 times then the hose goes back into the can and splashes back in. I use prime and let run for 24 hours.

A week ago I cleaned my tank. Wiped the walls, cleaned the overflow , and cleaned the sump. I cleaned all the mechanical sponges (3) in the sump but didn't touch the balls or rings. They stayed wet .
I also added a little anti-algae liquid to the tank after. I followed instructions on how much to add and probably went a little light.

[marilyn1998]

Ahhh, anti algae liquid! Discus HATE that stuff. I used it once a few months ago and had some problems. I may even have had cloudy water. I used the jungle product. My discus got extra slime and had some breathing problems. I would do a few small WC's. Then see if that helps.

Did you add it to a glass of tank water, then dose?? Or just add it straight to the tank? Maybe the one that died swam into a stream of it. Just guessing.


These white discs... are they poop? worms? food? Can you put up a pic???

[azureoval]

Marilyn, I don't have the foggiest idea what they are ,I guess they could be scales. When my first fish went into his death spiral he whacked everything in the tank pretty good.
My algae stuff was "algaefix' from AP.
I just did a 90% water change a while ago and my water so far is still clear, plus the fish look a little livelier. hopefully the losses stop here.

[BIGFOOT]

What testing the tank for ammonia and nitrite for the next week or two?


If there something wrong with the good bacteria in the tank it will show up on one or the other test. Just an idea.

[marilyn1998]

I had one die, and he did a number on everything in the tank as he darted back and forth just before he went.
Lets hope it was the algae fix and things are gonna be ok. I wouldnt use it again. I would find a better way to get rid of algae.

Good Luck and let us know if things stay better! AMazing what a good water change will do!!!

[azureoval]

I should have left well enough alone. The algae wasn't that bad and should have been scraped off only. I will continue to due large water changes and test the water.Some of my fish ate some FBW I just gave them which is good. Some still ate then spit out though. I hope they go back to there old piggy selfs. water still looks OK.
Josh

[AmberC]

I have seen those little white circles you are talking about too. I saw them when I got some wilds from an lfs. After netting.. I actually saw them falling off the discus. Those two ended up with a bacterial infection. Keep a close eye on the sides of your fish.. just to be sure. It may be just from the one that died tho.

Amber

[keith_cny]

Josh
What do you mean by you cleaned the sump? I have goofed and cleaned my HOB filters too well and experienced similar conditions to what you describe. I did lots of WC's, raised temp a little and added salt. Everything was fine in a couple days.

Keith