Help please i'm new and I think my fish are sick :(

[Diesel]

Problem

1. Please explain the problems with your fish. When did you notice the problems and did anything unusual happen that you think started them?

I bought my fish 4 days ago. 5 fish three large about 1yo and two small about 4months old. all from the same breeder. one of the small ones keeps turing blackish (it is being picked on a little bit by the other small one). the two small ones are eating ok but not as much as i would expect them to. one of the bigger ones is eating but not much and the other two large one are not eating at all :( i have tried feeding them tetra bits and bloodworms but still nothing (the breeder fed them tetra bits). i tested everything and the ammonia was at 1.5 but all other tests were fine so i did a 75% water change but now they seem worse!! i also have come back skirt tetra whose skirts have now gone pale so i know something is going on but im not sure what.


2. Symptoms (i.e. turning dark, excess slime, not eating, clamped fins, flashing, darting, clamped gills, white/yellow/green poop, hiding, headstanding or tailstanding, white on tips of fins, rotting or fungus, blisters/white zits on fish, bloated, cloudy eyes, wounds).

turning dark. not eating. not sure what clamped fins are but they have started only using one fin and the other one is stuck on their side?, poo seems normal in the ones that are eating, shy and staying near the back of the tank, seem like their tummys are sunken in? but then im nt sure f they are like that normally or not. they also seem to be trying to get something off their bodies by flicking them against things like the plants and filter pipes etc? they have also been "fluttering" their fins really fast for some reason??


3. What medications/ treatments have you already tried and what were the results. Include dosage and duration of treatment.

75% water change only



Tank/Water

4. Tank size and ages, numbers and sizes of fish.

250L tank. 5 discus 3@1yo 2@4months 6 back skirt tetra, 1 bristle nose sucker fish, 1 tetra (tank came with the tetras and bristle nose) tank and filter is 2nd hand. filter is a fluval 1050 so has a bio filter in it.


5. Water change regime (What percentage and how often).

3 in the last week (only had it for a week)


6. How long has tank been running? Is it bare bottom? If you have substrate, what type and how deep is it?

bare bottom. previously ran for 1 1/2 years and now i have it.


7. Do you age your water? If you do for how long and what is the ph swing.

no


8. Parameters and water source;

Note: Water Parameters are important in diagnosing problems within a tank. If you don't own test kits for the following information, you can purchase them, test your parameters and post this info as soon as possible.


- temp __27 but went up to 30 when i fist did the change (having issues getting my tank to 29 degrees even with a 300w heater!!)___

- ph ___6.6__

- ammonia reading ___1.5_

- nitrite reading __0__

- nitrate reading __10__

What type of water or combinations of water sources do you use? If it is an RO/tap/well water mix, please list percentages in the mix.

just tap water, in nz it is soft water.

- well water ____

- municipal water ____

- RO water ____


9. Any new fish, plants or inverts added recently.

5 new plants and the new discuss, all other fish were bought with the tank.

10. Include any pictures or videos you have which shows the symptoms. If you can't add them to this post, please provide a link to them.

cant take pics at the moment sorry while my camera charges.

[Trier20]

One your tank doesn't seem to be cycled. With ammonia that high my guess that is what is doing it. I would check you tap parameters too. You may have ammonia in your tap. I suggest finding some prime or safe to help with the ammonia.

[STHH]

Sorry to hear that your fishes are sick.
If your tank is not properly cycled, you have so many water sensitive fishes, it is going to be difficult.
Doing large water change daily will help keep your fishes alive, but it will slow down the cycling of your tank.
Do you have any friends who are also keeping fishes? You may want to ask them for some filter medium that they have in their tanks. Put these medium in your own filter, tt will help seed your own filter with useful bacteria needed to take away the ammonia and nitrites.

[Second Hand Pat]

Since the tank is over a year old my guess is your tank is having a mini-cycle due to the extra bio-load when adding the discus. As mentioned you are best to do large daily water change until you show no ammonia. You may also see if you need to age your water over 24 hours with aeration in a aging barrow. Measure the ph before and after the 24 hours. If you have more than a 0.5 change it is best to age the water. Using a de-chor like prime etc will help to neutralize the ammonia.

[Crunchy]

Use ammolock from api or prime asap.

[Eddie]

With a PH in the 6 range, the ammonia readings are actually ammonium (non-toxic). I suspect something else is going on. However, continue to use Prime or similar conditioner. I highly advise against EVER using anything like ammo-lock as this will not support nitrification. Nitrifying bacteria continue to thrive on ammonium so a water conditioner is the better option.

[Baygon]

+1
With a PH in the 6 range, the ammonia readings are actually ammonium (non-toxic). I suspect something else is going on. However, continue to use Prime or similar conditioner. I highly advise against EVER using anything like ammo-lock as this will not support nitrification. Nitrifying bacteria continue to thrive on ammonium so a water conditioner is the better option.

btw if you have issue with the heater getting to the desire temp and it is 300W I suggest you get 2 heaters instead of one for safe play. Which also can help you get to the desire temp quicker.

[Crunchy]

Use safe or prime from seachem asap to Help with the ammonia, also you can buy some instant bacteria such as pond balls or tetra safe start to help with cycle.