perfect one day gone the next !!

[coco]

hi all,
ok i got these red mellons at local fish shop at logan i must say they looked ok ,
but when i got them home they where a little shy but no diff than most of
the other fish i have got from shops. but these guy's just didn't pick up at all . now i thought maybe ph burn at the start of day three .... but no i think these pour little guy's had more than that :( check out the pic's and tell me what you think they had ? fin rot maybe ? the 4 fish died in 6 days . so i ran the shop but no guarantee :shock:



http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/13bute/sick%20discus/06122008049.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/13bute/sick%20discus/06122008050.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/13bute/sick%20discus/06122008051.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/13bute/sick%20discus/06122008052.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/13bute/sick%20discus/06122008053.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/13bute/sick%20discus/06122008054.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/13bute/sick%20discus/06122008055.jpg
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/13bute/sick%20discus/06122008056.jpg
heaps of slime
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l49/13bute/sick%20discus/06122008057.jpg

cheers

[scott bowler]

did you have a ph drop ? or a Ammonia spike ?
did it happen after a water change coco

[scott bowler]

sorry coco did you put the fish in to a tank with other fish ? or did you Quarantine tank ?

[coco]

hi scott my ph is 6.8 and Ammonia was ok . yes had them in a

Quarantine tank but with some fish i got from same shop when i ran the

shop said they run all there discus tanks on a sump lucky

it could of got nasty i just didnt have two quarantine tanks :oops: .

but there doing ok so the mellons must of had something before i got

them .

as you can see in the second last pic that mellon the color was coming

off the fish :cry: pour little bugga . i dont wont to sound silly but this is

my first major problem with sick fish, mine have just not got sick touch

wood . i keep my tanks clean .

cheer margaret

[jesx57]

Did you ask what the pH at the fish shop was? Could have been a bit too much for them to handle, the poor things. Looks like they had a bit of a fungus infection going there.

[pink66]

It is always hard to watch fishies when they are sick :cry: :cry:

I hope the others are still doing OK.

It looks very much like a nasty case of Odinium (well that's what the LFS called it at the time) my firemouths got it (after a waterchange and introducting new fish (Yes I know, no QT, I am older and wiser now) - dots everywhere and also the slimy looking fins, then colour issues, then unfortunately death - it was all very quick, not leaving me much time to treat.

It was a while ago but I think salt helped greatly in slowing it down.. I also believe a copper based product helped stop it in its tracks. I am sorry that I can not remember what the product was called.

[darren burgess]

Looks like a chlorine problem to me ! as Scott asked did you do a water change ? with all the recent rains and storms in Brissie you will find they are loading the water up at the moment !



cheers

[coco]

no i didn't do a water change ph 6.8 as always and shop ph the same .
ammonia nil .

management of the shop has offered to assist in the matter and for that
iam very gratefull for that



cheers margaret

[Merrilyn]

Coco, that's a terrible case of white spot.

We don't usually see it at the high temperatures we run discus, but the white spots on the body and fins, the size of a grain of salt, is a definite sign of white spot.

When it gets to that severe stage, the gill become infested with the parasite, and the fish eventually dies from lack of oxygen.

They must have been carrying the parasite before you got them because it takes more than a couple of days for the parasite to multiply to that extent.

The cysts can live for several weeks, even months, without a host present, so you'll need to strip down the tank and sterilize everything before you introduce fish again.

[coco]

thanks for replys everyone .

thanks Merrilyn yes i cleaned everything taking no chances , plus all fish
where replaced .i will watch these ones and see how they go .

cheers margaret

[Hollowman]

So how did you sterilise the tank?

[coco]

So how did you sterilise the tank?


hi hollowman ,

first thing i did was chucked out sponge filter because i dont think i could of wash it out . then washed the tank out with hot water , then took outside and hosed it out with gerni . then it's been in sun for a few days . plus every tank i have has it's own filter ,fish net ,and towel per tank.

cheers margaret

[Hollowman]

Hi Mararet,

I think you have now left yourself open to more of the same problems and more.

Sterilising a fish tank takes a little more than just washing out with hot water. To do it sucessfully, you should use a solution of at least 10% household bleach in water. This can be used safely and washed out. Bleach will kill all bacteria and parasites. Another way is to use PP, (potassium permanganate) In a strong solution you can sterilise all your equipment.
Your sponges can be sterilised too. Rinse them out in water to get rid of all the muck as much as you can, then nuke them in the microwave for a few minutes.

Thinking now about your 'new' setup, it seems that you have now put your fish into a tank that is not mature. This means that you run the risk of killing your fish because the new filters are not mature or able to convert the waste (ammonia/nitrite) from the fish to the safer nitrAte.
You should have held back in getting your new fish and done a fishless cycle in your 'cleaned' tank and taken it slowly.
You can never rush this, the shop would have given you a credit note for when you were ready.
For now, you need to do BIG daily water changes and check for ammonia, nitrItes and nitrAtes. Your ammonia will rise, then reduce as it cycles. Final readings will show zero ammonia, zero nitrItes and between zero and 10 nitrAtes.
Read up on the nitrogen cycle to get familiar.

Keep an eye on your fish, post up any problems ok :wink:

Steve

[coco]

sorry hollowman i haven't used that same tank yet :oops: but i got them in a 4ft tank that is aready seasoned .
thanks for the tip on cleaning sponge filters :) i will do next time instead of chucking them out . iam going to reclean tank today with bleach .

cheers margaret

[Hollowman]

lol, ok, :lol:

Just a tip with the bleach, wash it out until you cannot smell it anymore. You can also use a de-chlorinator to neutrilise any remaining bleach.

Good luck :wink:

steve