10 Gallon Tank Sick fish! Laying on substrate breathing heavily

[lunanightlock]

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 10 gallons and 5 gallons
How long has the tank been running? 3 months and 2 days but with filter from main tank
Does it have a filter? Yes a 2 sponges and 1 sponge
Does it have a heater? Yes
What is the water temperature? 79 and 76
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.) 10: peacock gudgeon and endler 5: 5 blue emperor tetra

Maintenance (today is water change day I just haven’t done it yet)
How often do you change the water? At least once a week
How much of the water do you change? ~25%
What do you use to treat your water? API tap water conditioner
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? Both

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? Yes
What do you use to test the water? API freshwater master test kit and test strips
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 4.0 .25
Nitrite: 0 0
Nitrate: 20 0
pH: 7.0 7.5

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? Once a day
How much do you feed your fish? Two small flakes for 10 and one pinch for 5
What brand of food do you feed your fish? Omega one
Do you feed frozen or freeze-dried foods? Yes on mondays

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? Peacock gudgeon about 2 months blue emperors 1 week
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? Both a few days ago
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? Peacock gudgeon lethargic and not eating much and for the most part blue emperors are fine until they die
Have you started any treatment for the illness? No
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? No
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? Peacock gudgeon has been hiding more eating less and now is lethargic one blue emperor is swimming head up which started today

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
I have a QT tank that I started quarantining blue emperors in last week (I got an actual tank two days ago before that it was in a bucket) and so far three have died on consecutive days now one is swimming with its head to the surface (pictures attached) and in my main tank my peacock gudgeon has been hiding and eating less for about two weeks but I thought it was because of the endler bullying her but recently she’s been laying on the substrate breathing heavy and not moving a lot. Please help I’m thinking of putting my gudgeon in the QT tank in a breeder box so she doesn’t get whatever the emperors have but should I just use general cure for both tanks? My endler seems perfectly fine.

 

[Pwilly07]

Is your ammonia really 4.0? If so you need to do 50% water changes at least daily to bring that down. Then do 50% every week instead of 25%. I don't know what water conditioner you have, but Prime would be the best to use. I'd dose it per the directions every day after water change. That's where I'd start as anymore would be a guessing game for now.

 

[lunanightlock]

My tank has kinda stopped cycling for some reason and it’s hard to do that as there’s sulfur in my water (on well) but I’ll definitely try thank you

 

[mattgirl]

The 4ppm ammonia along with the sulfur is more than likely why your fish are unwell. Is there any way you can get your water from another source. A quick search lead me to this thread Does Sulfur From Well Water Harm Fish? | Aquarium Water Forum | 209942 It might give you some pointers as to what to expect and what you might be able to do to make the water safer for your fish. The most important thing to do right now is get that ammonia level down as soon as you can.

 

[lunanightlock]

I have been airing it out over night so the sulfer gets released into the air and I’m going to try to get it down I bought some bacterial medication in case it’s gill disease but I’m gonna wait until the ammonia is down
Another one of my blue emperors just died (they’re in the 5 gal)