Lost another one!!need help!!!

[Giniel]

I had already posted about this once ,but couldn't find my old post. In January we had a bad ice storma dn almost froze all my tanks before I bought a generator.. Tank temps got down to 45 degrees for about 38 hours.A lot of the fish were streesed to the piont of spinning and whirling around.All but 5 survived the mess. We moved about 2 to 3 weeks later and now I am losing apparently healthy fish every 2 to 4 weeks. They eat fine and their poo is good . When they finally die they kind of curl in the middle.
My tank parameters are:
ph 7.2
ammonia 0
nitrite .02
clorine 0
iron .02
kh 6 drops
gh 15 drops
nitrate 20 - 40 before doing a water change

I have 13 fish in a 75 gallons tank (I know a lot) but have 2 big hang on back filters with sponge and mesh filtration and one has carbon that I change out every 2 weeks. I also have a large sponge filter in the tank and 2 large air stones. Water change is 1 to 2 times a week .(I know probably not enough). But this has been my routine for almost a year and only now am I having problems..

I also have 13 smaller fish in a 100 gallon tank with a rena filstar xp and 3 large sponge filters in the tank with a large airstone. This one I have treated with parasite clear 3 times now per directions . 3 of these fish are dark and head down and scraping against things in the tank with no signs of improvement. Tank parameters are about the same except for the nitrate which is 10.

Please can anyone help me !!I am tired of losing fih that look fine and are acting fine.

Debbie

ps: forgot to mention that I am raising the temps from 84 to 88 and adding pickiling salt to all tanks to try to help

[Tropical Haven]

Well you have answered alot of your questions.

1. You have too many fish in that tank, if you are gonna keep that many then you need to do daily water changes of at least 50 to 75%.

2. You are showing a trace of Nitrite which is very bad for your fish. Due to not enough water changes.

3. Your Nitrates are really too high and need to be down to the 5 range or zero. Again not enough water changes.

4. Your fish are just now showing signs after a year probably because their immune system is to the point that it can't keep up with the harsh readings in your tank.

So you need to do a few things here. If you are going to keep all of those fish in that one tank, then you will need to do daily water changes of 50% minimum. The other option is if you want all of those fish in one tank then you need a bigger tank to put then in to.

My option would be a bigger tank and keep up with frequent water changes and you will see your problems disappear.

[Darren's Discus]

Have to agree to many fish,too little water change plus the other stress placed on them your ammonia levels to high and even sometimes when you fix the water the fishes organs have already been damaged causing what looks like losses for no reason.they need a bigger home.



cheers

[Kindredspirit]

Hey Deb! How are you? ~ these guys are right, babe ~ way too many discus in one tank ~ esp with the little wc you are doing ~ up your housekeeping and you will see improvement ~:)


" Your fish are just now showing signs after a year probably because their immune system is to the point that it can't keep up with the harsh readings in your tank."


This is true, Deb:( ~ also lose the carbon ~ use it only to remove meds from the water ~ Some would say it takes out important nutrients from the water ~ does more harm than good IMO ~

Keep us posted and hang in there!


Marie ~ :balloon:

[Ringo]

Hi,

How big are the 13 fish in the 75 Gal? The three fish in the 100 gallon sound like they may have flukes. Two of my fish had the same symptoms, dark, head down on a 45 degee angle and scraping. I first increased water changes however that didn't seem to help, I then used meds. I treated with formalin (1 ml per 10 gallons) and malachite green (5 ml per 10 gallons) for 1 day then did a 60% water change. I retreated 7 days later. If you use this treatment don't raise the temperature and add an air stone.

Good Luck