Nexxorcist

Hey everybody. I need your help. This is my first tank, and I'm definitely at a loss here. After reading up on a lot of things on fishlore, and the forums, I can't seem to figure out why my fish are flashing. I've had my tank for about a month now, and it's definitely cycled. I started it up off of a friend's established filter.

ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0 or pretty close to it. It's also planted nicely and small so I've got pretty much zero Nitrate readings ever since I started.

Now here's the problem. My 3 cherry barbs are flashing. And here's everything that I can possibly think of in terms of detail to lead up to when this all started happening...

Originally, my tank was pretty much spotless. But ever since I rinsed my used filter, cut it open, and emptied out my carbon, all sorts of brown algae/green spots with white worms attatched on front glass havoc has been reeked. I also did this around the sametime as putting in a couple of new anubias. Gross stuff. Definitely did some vacuum, trimming, wipping of the glass. Thinks were goin alright, so I decided to get 3 neon tetras, and 1 female cherry barb to even things out. Acclimated them alright, but 1 neon died in about two days. The other two Neons seem fine, playing with each other and eating very greedily. One had a semi broken tail when I got it, a tiny part of his tail broke off, but has almost completely healed up very nicely to where its almost not even noticeable.

Now my flashing barbs... 2 of them seemed perfectly fine up until i introduced my third barb last saturday... Then hit the fan a couple days ago when I noticed the male flashing, and running into the gravel... Then the one I picked up from the store followed suit on a couple of plants yesterday. And now today, I see my original female barb body checking against the plants. Also, as a side note, she's been very lethargic ever since I got the new barb. Just hiding in the corner, next to the heater underneath some plants. However, she does seem to come out when the lights are off. I'm guessing it's an aggression thing between them. None of them have any white spots or anything like that. However, the three of them seem to have black tips on their fins. Can't recall if I got them like that or if they're supposed to look like that. Besides that though, no noticeable markings or anything like that have popped up... I'm at a complete loss as to what it is. I'm thinking it might be ICH, but I see no spots. Could it be Columnaris? I was reading up on the forums here and I think it might possibly be that, but the spots on my glass aren't that white-crystal like. However, at one point I did notice a white tiny worm like strand thing crawling around on the gravel, but I thought it might of been some filter floss so I thought nothing of it.

I pumped my temperature up this morning, thinking it might be ich. It's currently at about 83F. They're a lil more active now, but I dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing seeing as how Columnaris requires the temp to be on the lower end...

I'm at a complete loss and feel a lil helpless. Can someone please help?

I'll put up some pix once my cam battery is charged up.

Beeker

If the worms are tiny, thread-like squirmy things, don't worry about them. They won't harm your fish. They just like to eat algae and goo that grows in the gravel and on the glass.

The black tips of the fins could be fin rot. Maybe your third brought it in with him. How often to you change your water and how much?

Nexxorcist

Once a week, about 25% or more. I've been doin a gravel vac of one side of the tank, about every other week.

Does fin rot cause flashing? I'm guessing the third one brought something in, cause it used to just sit around and then dart randomly, then get super calm again when I first got her.

Lucy

I'm sorry that your fish are ill.

Flashing is usually a sign of ich. Keep the temp elevated for at least 2 weeks and vacuum the gravel to get all the spores.
It would be a good idea to increase aeration to make up for the lack of oxygen.

It could be you got some sick fish, it's a good idea to quarantine any new fish you get.
You also overstocked your tank which can cause stress in fish, which in turn can bring out an illness like ich.

Good luck.

Shawnie

im curious as to what test kit your using? it sounds to me like ammonia poisioning and maybe you are getting a false reading or an expired test kit? (thats been happening way to much lately) and also even though you have a planted tank. 7.7 gals with that many fish and never having nitrates is hard...overstocked tanks are famous for nitrates and I have to do every other day 50% changes to keep mine under 30..I also do run the carbon in my overstocked ones..but I change it out every 3 weeks.....if it is the ich, you are already doing whats needed by the higher temps...goodluck with them!!!

Nexxorcist

shawnie- Actually, that's always been something that's worried me as well. i'm using an API test kit. i never got a reading out of them. they might be expired, but the lot number reads 06/08. Should I go pick up a different kind of test kit? Maybe a paper one just to see if I can get some kind of reading? I was also thinkin of replacing my filter with one that had carbon back in it as well.

so far things seem alright with the higher temp. i think ill do a water change/gravel vac tonight just in case.

Shawnie

hmmmm 6-08 should be ok....im sure the shelf life doesnt run out as soon as food would but id plan on a new one in the next few months....paper ones are not as reliable a the liquid so I wouldnt change that...did you really bang that #2 bottle for the nitrate test? it has to be pounded off a counter or something to mix up those crystals..and I agree a water change never hurts and some prime water conditioner with some vita chem will help them feel better if you can find it..goodluck!

dancerhas

Might be an internal parasite. Check and see if their poop is slimy and clear-looking.

Unfortunately we've been having almost the exact same problem. And our fish had at least two sicknesses at the same time. We ended up having ich, velvet, and possibly internal parasites. We think we're over it, but not 100% sure.

With the ich, the spots didn't appear until the fish had been flashing for a few days.

Nexxorcist

update and new problem. shawnie, took your advice and banged the living heck outta that nitrate 2 bottle for about 30 minutes, and now i have close to 5.0 Nitrate readings. 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite.

So the male is lookin better, however the two females are giving me mixed signals. The bad is definitely when one of them opens her mouth to breathe or go after food, it's like her mouth gets huge and looks white. i have no idea what that means. also, both of their tails are droopy. their bodys look almost like an arc. neither of them are eating. one looks like shes trying to eat, but is struggling with it. does anyone know what's going on there? I don't see any spots that would indicate ick/velvet.

currently, the tank runs consistently at about 83 degrees. Gonna do a water change tonight just incase.

any help, definitely appreciated!

oh yeah, and lucy, i bought a 14 gallon that i'm gonna setup soon. as soon as it's ready, i'm movin the neons outta this tank and puttin them in that one leavin the 3 barbs in this current one.

also, dancerhas, what'd u do to help your fishies out? could you give me a run down maybe? meds, temp, etc?

Lucy

Great, you could have a nice school of neons and something else.
They're very pretty.

I'm sorry your females aren't looking well. I'm sure someone will be able to help you.

Good luck.

Nexxorcist

quick update:

so i wake up this morning to find that one of my barbs is on the brink of death. also, in her stomach i see a bright red spot. internal hemoraging? something failing? i'm not sure, but as i read up, I'm starting to think it might be internal parasites.

i go out and get jungle labs parasite tabs and toss one in. now to wait. however, i think it might be too late for one of my barbs. also, something weird. when i tossed one in there, this weird thing popped outta no where! is this some kind of parasite?? or is it a baby snail?? i def didn't buy any baby snails! my tank is planted however.

Beeker

Yep, it's just a snail. They always come in on the plants. Even if there are no visible snails on the plants, there are, more often than not, eggs on them. No big deal. If you don't want him, just pick him out. You will most likely find more. Keep picking them out. Their population can get out of control if you over feed, but they are great algae eaters. It is your choice if you want to keep him or not.

Shawnie

im sorry your babies arent doing any better...one suggestion to turn down the temp to 79-80 as the warmer water has less oxygen..so unless you are treating ich, keep it around there ...and yes I agree a snail took a ride on one of your plants...I hope the parasite tabs work!

Nexxorcist

Thanks for the info and well wishes...

I was wondering, if anyone could identify what was goin on with the cherry barb tho? I took a pic of it, and it's belly, on one side, is bright red. If she doesnt survive, i wanna make sure I know what it is so the other one doesn't get it, or I can figure out how to treat it if she does...

Shawnie

wow it looks like an ammonia burn but as from the beginning when I thought it was ammonia issue and we figured it wasnt, im lost now also...I hope someone might know something different. ..could she have hidden behind the heater and got a burn?...poor lil girlie...

bluealuefish

Hi fellow brooklynite. I don't know what's wrong but someone here shared this with me once, maybe it will help you with the cherry. http://www.fishyfarmacy.com/fish_dis...l_changes.html

I have neons too! And I'm planning on getting cherry barbs as well. Luckily the only problem so far has been internal parasites.

Good luck!

Nexxorcist

After the death of the newly bought female cherry barb, and one of the first fishies i ever bought, my male cherry barb, I have sadly learned never to over stock fish. Even in a clean and well kept tank, an over stock tank could easily lead to stress from aggressiveness and competition from other fish. Also, not qurantining a fish before adding it to my tank is another reason I have to blame for the unwellness of my last remaining Cherry Barb (crosses fingers).

Right now, I am down to one female cherry barb (crosses fingers) and two neon tetras. I am saddened that one of the first fish ever I bought has died, and the other is sick. All this, just because I wanted to have more fish in my tank.

This is a lesson well learned.