HEAD STANDING AFTER MANY DEATHS...PLEASE HELP?

[grantbudd74]

OK I HAD A HUGE RISE IS AMONIA AND PH DROPPED VERY LOW. 15+ CORRIES GONE, 8 BN CATS GONE AND NOW I HAVE 2 ADULT DISCUS SWIMMING HARD TO KEEP DOWN. I HAVE THEM IN THE SUMP AND THEY ARE VERY STRESSED AS YOU CAN IMAGINE.

I HAVE BEEN DOING 200L WATER CHANGES EACH DAY APPROX 700 TOTAL VOLUME. THEY HAVE BEEN LIKE THIS FOR A WEEK AND I HAVE BEEN AAY THIS IS WHY THIS HAPPENED :-(

DO I CULL THE FISH OR IS THERE ANYTHING THAT CAN BE DONE? I AM NOT BLESSED WITH LOTS OF TIME BUT ITS SAD TO SEE A PROVEN PAIR FIGHTING TO STAY UPRIGHT LIKE THIS.....

I KNOW ITS NOT A HAPPY POST BUT HELP IS WHAT I NEED IF YOU CAN...

THANKS

gRANT

[Eddie]

If they are alive, keep trying. Make sure you have good aeration in that tank. The gills are more than likely damaged and will need time to recover. How many fish left?

Sorry to hear about the breakdown. Was it a PH crash and then ammonia started to rise?

Also, can you lower the water level to reduce the pressure on the fish?

[grantbudd74]

Hi Eddie

Good to hear from you. Yes unfortunately I am renovating the house and besides feeding my fish they got left alone for too long. I do not know what went up or down first all I know is I have/had .05 amonia and -6.0 PH. The discus are still alive but not feeding due to awkward swimming pattern and I don't know how long they will last for. One is quite thin no but still swimming hard so I guess she will last a while longer. I can reduce the water level and have done this but one is almost vertical so she is finding it hard but will try :-(

So sad and this always happens when I renovate as its all systems go and everything else gets dropped :-( Is there any magic stuff I can treat them with besides fresh water? I doing a 200l water change now...

[Eddie]

Only fresh water. 6 ph is not too low but depends on how fast it dropped. I am assuming over time it just crept down so it should not have been that traumatic. With low PH, you ammonia is not harmful to the fish as it is ammonium at ph levels below 7.2. So all the survivors have there faces pointed down, trying to stay upright?

[grantbudd74]

I have/had 12 adult discus in a 10ft tank which has a 4ft sump. First corries died off slowley and had white tufs of something on them so I treated the whole tank for fungas at a very reduced medication dose over one week I think.The water turned green and the fish got a little better ut litle known to me was the amonia and Ph. So after more fish died one discus started swimming head down and found it hard to stay down so I pulled her out and put her in a the sump where she got better. I put her back into the main tank and she was swimming hard again by morning?

This carried on 2 more times until she got too bad for the main tank. Then the male started going off food and losing colour and the next day or 2 he was head down so pulled him straight away and put him into the sump with the female. This is where the both are now.

They seam fine and are in near total darkness except for a light that comes on for 5-6 hours in the main tank so they get a bit of light from that through the sump intake.

All the other fish are fine now and non are standing on their heads. I have not looked at my tank in weeks due to stuff everywhere and this renovation!!!! Makes me so mad that I ignored them and this happened. I had a breeding colony of corries and BN cats!

It takes over an hour to do a water change with my poor setup and sanding and painting has taken over my life :-(

Thanks eddie

[Eddie]

I'm assuming the main tank is a planted substrate tank? If so, I'd get the fish into a barebottom tank for better observation. Maybe something has died in the main tank/system and there will be a constant ammonia reading. Also bacteria will go bananas.

[grantbudd74]

not planted infact its only pool filter gravel as bare glass makes them skittish. nothing dead as all dead fish accounted for so far...I am guessing it was me dumping in cubes of frozen bloodwrom? usually I defrost it but I didn't bother as I was out of all other food. I like the gravel as it keeps the corries happy. I have 6 left from 16:-(

Everything else is looking better its just the 2 adult discus are my main worry. I tested for amonia and its not showing. Ph is now 6.3 and before it was less than 6 more low 5's

[Eddie]

Have to watch for another crash. Your kh is probably low and it only gets lower with normal nitrification. Might add something to keep your PH stable. Baking Soda works fine but I prefer something better, Seachem's Reef Builder. A very small amount and your KH will be in excellent shape to buffer your PH.

Also watch your nitrites

http://www.chelonia.org/articles/waterchemistry.htm

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/ReefBuilder.html

[grantbudd74]

thanks eddie

Wow I have never worried about KH since I stopped planted tanks a year or more ago. I have discus buffer and will check tomorrow thanks for that. My nitrites are fine so far.....I was thinking it was the treatment that killed off my bacteria in my sump and filter?

[Eddie]

What was the medication?

Yeah, if you have low kh and you do not perform frequent water changes, your PH can crash. Its always good to have some buffering capacity if you go for several days without changing any water.

[grantbudd74]

thanks for your help Eddie. Only sorry its at times like this I contact you. I have stopped breeding/trying to as its way too hard when you work. I lost all my last lot of fry and since I put all my fish in one tank its so much more peaceful as they hang in a group and do not fight at all :-) Thanks again and it really shows how quick things can go from bad to very bad when you are busy doing other things......

[Eddie]

Definitely sorry to hear the news. Hope things get better and keep us updated.

Eddie