namehater

about a week ago i moved all of my fish from my 14g to my newly cycled 29g. everything was set up in the 29g, temp was stable and was fully cycled. about 2 days after i moved them we went out of town for the weekend, before we left the house i checked the temp on the tank and noticed it was pretty high (ive had trouble with the heater in the past). it was supposed to be warm all weekend so i just unplugged the heater and left.

when we got back home, apparently there was a cold front and chilled my house. the glowlights were all dark colored and inactive, so i checked the temp, 66*F, ZOIKS! i did a 25% water change with some 90*F water and plugged the heater back in.

i monitored the temps for the next couple of days, tuning here and there, finally got it stable again at 75*F. got home the other night from work and checked the temp, 87*F!

my poor fish have been frozen and cooked, all with a week time frame! i feel horrible.

the fish that got moved are my x1 common pleco, 7x glowlight tetra, 1x xray tetra, 1x ghost shrimp. the glowlight tetra are the only fish that seem to be having any problems, they have spots on their bodies, kinda looks like their scales are ruffled, like they got beat up. they are also moving somewhat sparatically, they will be not moving, but almost seem to be twitching. they all seem to be eatting alright and the water parameters are all normal.

at first i thought that maybe it was just that the xray was picking at them all, he does have some aggression sometimes, but i just dont know. the xray and pleco are just fine, the ghost shrimp hasnt even had any problems.

everybody except for the glowlights are eatting fine, the glowlights get excited at feeding time, but they almost act like they dont like the taste of the food. they will gulp it, then spit it back out. it seems as tho there is a certain color of flake they like, the rest gets spit back out.

does this sound like something i need to medicate for?

ill post pictures tonight when i get home from work, just wanted to get the wheels of your brains turning!

thanks for any and all help!

Shawnie

awww poor you and your babies....new heater is a must id guess now huh? im sure they are stressed which would be normal, so keep an eye out for ICH...maybe add some stress coat and fresh garlic juice will help them feel much better......have you tested the water parims? what do you mean they are "normal"? moving all those fish at once is a huge bioload for a newly cycled tank...they may calm a bit after being more stable for a few days...

namehater

i was tired last night when i tested, so i dont recall the numbers, but there was no cause for alarm. thats why i said normal. ill retest it tonight and post up the parameters.

my first thought was Ich, but there is nothing on their fins at all (i thought that would be the first place for Ich to be seen).

yes, ive been heater shopping since yesterday, right now i have no heater running on them and the water is holding in the mid 70*F's, tonight when i get home i plan to put my 50W heater in, i know its to small, but at least its an attempt at stable temps, right?

i had assumed moving that many fish at once would be alright, when i cycled the tank i used seeded media, decorations, and some gravel. fed it with pure ammonia.

how much garlic juice and do i just pour it into the tank? what does that do for fish, ive never used it before.

Shawnie

getting the heater and the temps stable are a must for now..more stress and flectuating temps could throw them over the edge...ich will be white spots that look like salt anywhere on the fish...keep a close eye for the next week or so as it sometimes takes a bit to show..but it may never show which is what you hope for!!

im not saying your water is off, just test to be sure ammon is 0 nitrite is 0 and nitrate is under 20 ....

id put 4 drops or so of fresh garlic juice in the water as it entices eating and helps with their immune system....goodluck

namehater

thanks for the help shawnie

namehater

one more question, do you think my 50W would be enough to keep the water consistent enough?

im hoping that i can use it to take care of the temps for a couple of days, id rather order a heater online and save some money VS picking one up at petco or petsmart

namehater

doesnt matter, i checked out online prices vs local store prices and there only a $5 difference on average. my wife just went and picked up a Rena SmartHeater 150W. that should take care of any heating issues. i also had her pick me up a new bottle of Prime, cant wait to get home tonight so i can get those little guys on the road to recovery!

namehater

ok, tested my water last night, everything is ideal.

ammonia - 0
nitrIte - 0
nitrAte - 20 (before i did a 10% water change with prime)
pH - 7.6

i got the new heater setup the night i got it, the temp has been holding constant at 80.6*F. the water was very cloudy, but its slowly clearing up now, it turned cloudy the day after the first time i added Prime.

the glowlights seem to be much more active and seem to be acting just fine. but their sides arent really clearing up, it almost seems like they are shedding like a snake or something.

any thoughts?

any ideas?

namehater

heres a more recent and clearer picture of one of the fish, this one isnt as bad as some of the others

namehater

nobody?

namehater

last bump for the night

Fishies-for-me

Im not sure what that could be...I think the spots look to big for ich but yet that is what it looks like to me . Good water...warm temps and make sure the parameters are stable . If you think it is ich you can bump the temps up a few more degrees...84 or so for 2 weeks and that should take care of it..good luck.

namehater

today all the glowlights seem to be feeling very good! they have finally started schooling around the tank together, which is a first since they have been in the 29g. they dont look any different, but at least their behavior is back to normal. this has to be a good sign right?

i try leaving the temp alone for another day or two and monitor their appearance, if there is no improvement ill bump the temps up like you said and see if that gets me anywhere.

Fishies-for-me

Sounds good.

AlyeskaGirl

It sometimes is so frustrating to figure out what is going on with the fish when the parameters are all good. I'm going through that myself, again! I use Pemafix and Melafix together when I don't know exactly if it's a bacteria or fungal infection. It works well on Tetras. I used it on my Black Neons.

Don't use eather on labrynth fish; Gourmai, Bettas etc. or even Corys.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...m?pCatId=11269

namehater

do you think that stuff will fix what is wrong with my glowlights?

i may get a bottle of both, doesnt seem like a bad thing to keep in my arsenal of bottles lol

AlyeskaGirl

It wouldn't hurt to try! That's why i told you about it, lol!

I was looking at your pic of your glo-light, he has white cottony growth on his body, is that what I see? Could very well be a fungal infection but get both bottles and treat. What I did is I moved my Tetras and 3 Angels into a q-tine tank and dosed for 3 days, did 25% water change, dosed 3 days, w/c etc. then repeated that for a few weeks or more. The bottles say dose daily for 7-days then do a water change. But the water change inbetween worked well for me and just wanted to keep the water clean too. Melafix does put a foam on the surface, nothing to worry about. Some fish may be like what the heck when you add the Pimafix, but adjust soon after. Just watch them. The stuff does have a smell to it!! lol It makes you not want to add it to your tank. lol Because the way it smells makes you wonder what exactly it will do to your fish but they do fine with it.

namehater

lol, thats what i thought about Prime

thanks for info!

namehater

ya, its kinda cottony, to me it looks just like when a snake is shedding or something

namehater

got a better pic, it seems to be getting worse on this particular fish

Fishies-for-me

Oh wow ...that definatly isn't ich....I hope you figure it out and cure the fish...good luck.

Just did a google on fish sheding it's skin and read that sometimes it looks like it is shedding it's skin and it is really it's slime coat it is shedding. Related to water quality and leaves the fish open to infections and such. Try searching and see if that might be the problem and what you can do for it...good luck.

namehater

got up this morning and left the light out to help keep them calmed, i ran up to petsmart and picked up a bottle of Melafix and Pimafix. when i got home and turned the light on i found that one of the little guys had passed away. i started the meds, hopefully i dont lose anymore. im sure the rest will make it through tho, they arent to bad at all and all that are rest are very active and eatting fine.

unfortunately, the one that passed away was my little ham. he always came forward when he saw my camera and loved getting photo'd, he will definitely be missed

namehater

btw, i did notice a couple of the glowlights flashing last night, if that helps anybody identify the problem

namehater

last night i noticed another one of the glowlights getting the cottony whatever pretty bad... i expect he will be dead in another day or so. today is the third day of dosing with the melafix and pimafix, but i havent really seen any improvements.

AlyeskaGirl

namehater

according to that it sounds like my glowlights have Columnaris, which i believe should be covered in the treatment im giving them. hopefully its just a matter of time before they are better.

i should also note that they are looking worse and worse everyday and that only the glowlights are being affected, which is whats really blowing my mind

namehater

todays update...

no dead ones, but 2 are now looking bad. they hide very well for the most part, come out for food, but dont try to eat really.

i sure wish i had a 'q' tank, medding the 29g is a bit pricey, im probably half way through my pima and mela fix.

namehater

last night after work... 2 more dead...

none of the glowlights are showing a bit of improvement so im stopping the meds and cutting my loses. no sense wasting more meds on a dying cause, no pun intended.

i do think ive learned that i dont want to mess with keeping 'little' fish anymore