- Messages
- 38
Just to preface this, I'm in high school and an avid fishkeeper. My mom if afraid of fish and my dad is the only one who lets me keep pets. I'm at dad's house once every week- he feeds the fish and then I do the water changes whenever I see him.
This time, I couldn't get back to his place for two and a half weeks. I instructed him on how to do a water change and told him when to do it.
Well, I come back from opening night of the school play at one in the morning. I immediately see my 30-gallon tank in the living room, and it's looking less than stellar.
Two of our newest fish, little female platies, were both dead. Blue one was in the fridge after dad found her dead, and yellow platy was nowhere to be seen (I later found her remains behind a plant.)
My favorite fish, Finley, this brilliant orange lyretail female mollie was SO happy to see me, but she had a massive cut down her right pectoral fin with ragged edges.
My aquatic plants are looking SO scraggy- I think the mystery snails, after not having been fed, have been nibbling at the edges.
I'm going to immediately perform a salt dip on all of the fish showing signs of fin rot and ich- which all of the fish except my bristlenose pleco- and perform a water change and filter media refresh, pump up the filter flow, and take as much algae off the surfaces as possible.
My current theory is that my dad put WAY too much food in and didn't change the water, causing an ammonia spike and killing the smallest fish in there- which would be the two female platies.
My dad is going to be VERY stingy with buying commercial treatments for the tank, and I think all of the parasites are to the point that a salt dip daily will nip it in the bud. I have aquarium salt ready to go and I have all the time in the world today to do a 60% water change, maybe vacuum the gravel if I don't change the filter media...
Don't worry, I'll be giving him a BIG talk about keeping MY pets healthy.
SICK FISH TEMPLATE
29 gallon Aqueon tank
Two month cycling, three months running
Filter is an Aqueon Quietflow 30 (I'm getting a canister filter in a few weeks)
Heater is an Aqueon 13 inch (came with tank, getting a backup in a few weeks because we live in a SUPER cold area)
Water temp set to 78 Fahrenheit (25 cel)
STOCKING
3 young adult mollies- two female, one male
1 baby bristlenose pleco
3 mystery snails
2 Japanese Amano shrimp
1 cherry shrimp
5 black skirt tetra
1 male platy
plants:
3 amazon swords
1 crested java fern
Maintenance
Once a week
25-50%
Tetra Chlorine Remover
Vacuum gravel
*Parameters - Very Important
Yes, until ammonia was at 0.0
API 5-in-one, I'm hoping to get the Aqueon master kit for my birthday
Ammonia: 0.0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.6 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm
pH 7.6
Feeding
Twice a day, but dad probably feeds more often
I feed two minutes of flakes and half algae pellet
Tetra Tropical Flakes, Aqueon algae pellets (switching to Omega One once they run out)
I occasionally make my own snello with gelatin, seaweed, etc- or give them a treat of boiled veggies, marine seaweed, brine shrimp, freeze-dried river shrimp, etc.
Illness & Symptoms
Three months, the platies that died were small and I had gotten them less than a month ago
Yesterday when I came back to see my fish
Fin rot and ich on most of my fish.
No, but I have salt dip materials on hand
Not injured upon purchase
No behavior has changed.
Explain your emergency situation in detail.
I gave my dad instructions for caring for my fish tank, but he didn't when I was gone for a longer time than usually. The smallest fish, two small platies, were dead, and the rest of the fish had a slew of parasites- fin rot and ich
This time, I couldn't get back to his place for two and a half weeks. I instructed him on how to do a water change and told him when to do it.
Well, I come back from opening night of the school play at one in the morning. I immediately see my 30-gallon tank in the living room, and it's looking less than stellar.
Two of our newest fish, little female platies, were both dead. Blue one was in the fridge after dad found her dead, and yellow platy was nowhere to be seen (I later found her remains behind a plant.)
My favorite fish, Finley, this brilliant orange lyretail female mollie was SO happy to see me, but she had a massive cut down her right pectoral fin with ragged edges.
My aquatic plants are looking SO scraggy- I think the mystery snails, after not having been fed, have been nibbling at the edges.
I'm going to immediately perform a salt dip on all of the fish showing signs of fin rot and ich- which all of the fish except my bristlenose pleco- and perform a water change and filter media refresh, pump up the filter flow, and take as much algae off the surfaces as possible.
My current theory is that my dad put WAY too much food in and didn't change the water, causing an ammonia spike and killing the smallest fish in there- which would be the two female platies.
My dad is going to be VERY stingy with buying commercial treatments for the tank, and I think all of the parasites are to the point that a salt dip daily will nip it in the bud. I have aquarium salt ready to go and I have all the time in the world today to do a 60% water change, maybe vacuum the gravel if I don't change the filter media...
Don't worry, I'll be giving him a BIG talk about keeping MY pets healthy.
SICK FISH TEMPLATE
29 gallon Aqueon tank
Two month cycling, three months running
Filter is an Aqueon Quietflow 30 (I'm getting a canister filter in a few weeks)
Heater is an Aqueon 13 inch (came with tank, getting a backup in a few weeks because we live in a SUPER cold area)
Water temp set to 78 Fahrenheit (25 cel)
STOCKING
3 young adult mollies- two female, one male
1 baby bristlenose pleco
3 mystery snails
2 Japanese Amano shrimp
1 cherry shrimp
5 black skirt tetra
1 male platy
plants:
3 amazon swords
1 crested java fern
Maintenance
Once a week
25-50%
Tetra Chlorine Remover
Vacuum gravel
*Parameters - Very Important
Yes, until ammonia was at 0.0
API 5-in-one, I'm hoping to get the Aqueon master kit for my birthday
Ammonia: 0.0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.6 ppm
Nitrate: 20 ppm
pH 7.6
Feeding
Twice a day, but dad probably feeds more often
I feed two minutes of flakes and half algae pellet
Tetra Tropical Flakes, Aqueon algae pellets (switching to Omega One once they run out)
I occasionally make my own snello with gelatin, seaweed, etc- or give them a treat of boiled veggies, marine seaweed, brine shrimp, freeze-dried river shrimp, etc.
Illness & Symptoms
Three months, the platies that died were small and I had gotten them less than a month ago
Yesterday when I came back to see my fish
Fin rot and ich on most of my fish.
No, but I have salt dip materials on hand
Not injured upon purchase
No behavior has changed.
Explain your emergency situation in detail.
I gave my dad instructions for caring for my fish tank, but he didn't when I was gone for a longer time than usually. The smallest fish, two small platies, were dead, and the rest of the fish had a slew of parasites- fin rot and ich
