MissMTS

In my 29 gallon tank with Apistograma Viejeta, Apistagrama Borelli, 2 GBR's, a BN Pleco and an angelfish my dwarf cichlids are turning black and are hiding and not eating. This happened to all three of my bolivian rams before they died. I am currently treating the tank with Parasite Clear, but that does not seem to be working. I don't know what is wrong with them, and I desperately want to save my fishies. The angel, bn pleco, and gbr's are doing fine, but the other 6 fish are doing really badly. Please help. Thanks!

Shawnie

Im sorry for your sick fish...im sure many will ask your water perimeters..do you know them?

MissMTS

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5

Nags1965

We lost 2 fish this weekend. I thought one had ICK and treated for that.. But now im starting to think we may have some kind of parasite. I to bought treatment for a paraiste. Im hoping it works quickly

Good luck on keeping the rest of your fish healthy.

sirdarksol

Nags, ick is a parasite. The dots on fish with ick are the parasites themselves. There are, of course, many other parasites, both internal and external, that affect fish.

Newbee, I'm afraid I have no idea what could cause a fish to turn black. Keep us updated, keep your tank's water clean, and hopefully either someone will figure something out, or your fish will pull through on their own.

kra-z-fishmumm

What do you mean turning black? all over? spots? any other symptoms? how does their poo look? do you have a sick tank to put them in? sorry this is happening

MissMTS

Their color is just darkening to a dark charcole grey color. They are swimming with clamped fins, hiding, and not eating. One of my fish is missing all together. I looked for him, but don't know if he is dead somewhere because my tank is heavily planted. I was thinking that I may remove all of the plants and decor since I don't have a sick tank to put them in. I figured that it would be easier to keep things clean that way and keep a better eye on things. What do you think?

susitna-flower

I believe the discription you gave of the fish turning black is something many fish do who are completely stressed. The GBR in particular seems to darken in color when they are sick. This stressed condition could also be caused by housing fish together in a stressed state without enough caves, rocks, or other hiding places approperiate to each breed.

I have looked up all the fish mentioned, and they all seem to have different water conditions that are optomal for each. Some do best in 65-75F another 78, and the GBRs 76-85....one said they were super sensitive to water quality especially to chemicals that are released in the decay cycle.

I would say that you need to prune your plants, do many water changes, and even if your tanks are 5 on nitrates, it might not be clean enough.

They all sounded like they would eat similar foods, although one was a "carnivore" and required more food like bloodworms, the others could take tropical flakes, brine shrimp and bloodworms.

One article I came across which has very interesting information especially for the GBRs describes why so many of them don't thrive for us.....read this it might help.


http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/..._ramirezi.html

MissMTS

Thanks so much for the info. I will prune my plants and do some major water changes to see if it improves. The wierd thing is that it happened so suddenly. They had been doing great for a couple of months.

Nags1965

Hmmmm ICK IS the parasite? Ok Im thinking i didnt totally understand when i read about ick. I hope I have not over medicated the tank.. cause ive treated for ick and a parasite.