Roughley Posted August 14, 2015 Report Share Posted August 14, 2015 Hey everyone, Have been having some trouble with my 700L tank and was wondering if I could get some advice so I can take action this weekend with treatment. The tank contains: Assorted rainbow fish, danios, pakistani loaches, bristlenoses, a sailfin pleco and buenos aires tetras. Parameters - Nitrate was 40, ammonia and nitrite 0, pH 6.4, temp 15C. In the past nitrates have sat around 40, with no obvious problems noted. Tank is heavily stocked. Initially I lost an older (8 yo) boesmani rainbow, then another large rainbow became ill, sitting at the bottom of the tank before passing away.At this point performed a 30% water change to decrease nitrate. Another 1-2 rainbows appear lethargic, dull, not eating, pale and hanging out at the back of the tank. Loaches at this point appeared ok, but one jumped the tank, and later passed away. Since then, other loaches breathing heavily, lethargic, but with spurts of almost spastic behaviour, open mouthed, not eating. No external marks, gills do not appear overly red. Now in general most fish acting a little quiet, sailfin pleco developing areas of white, soft appearing material over the body in places. A tetra has similar material protruding from beneath a gill cover, and is flashing like a fish with white spot. In general fins are ratty and fish paler than usual. Performed another water change last night (25%) with dechlorinated town water, nitrates now 10, fish not improving. The occassional white stringy poo seen - unsure if could be parasites vs not eating due to water issue etc. Also noticed just before fish illness noted was the appearance of huge numbers of trumpet snails on top of the substrate - unsure whether they are also feeling off, and so are surfacing. The only change to the tank was the addition of potted crypts from a private seller - plants appear healthy. Poss sounce of the snails? although appears to be too many to have come from the pot. No other fish or plants added for at least 6 months, previously all well. Tank has been set up for 18 months Attached are photos of the sailfin plecos markings. The deceased loach appeared to have no obvious internal parasites on post mortem, but was quite autolysed at that point internally. Wondering what further parameters i should be testing, or what other steps to take to try to halt the spread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
none Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 temp 15C. Is the water temp a misprint?? If not that is the first thing I would be addressing.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonofhud Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 I have a couple of healthy chocolate pleco's but I run temp at about 22 deg. Some say 25 to 28 degrees. Even tetras and ranbows like it warmer. (I also run a little bit of rock salt - ie natural salt without additives) There are many schools of thought. It is suggested that the metabolism slows down at lower temperatures and they don't feed as much and become susceptible to disease etc.. ggogle eg Link - Plecostomus | Pleco | Hypostomus plecostomus One tiny bit of snails eggs on a plant can soon explode into huge numbers. Bets of luck with the snails. Best of luck Peter Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lictoga Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 That temp man, get a heater and have it running at 25-26. I'm surprised your tanks isn't full of w/s. Fish eat less at colder temps as the heat needed to assist in the digestion of food is not there, so this can lead to bloat in some fish as the food fermentes in the digestive system. So raise the temp but do it over a few hr period if you go from 15 to 25 in a short amount of time you will stress all of the fish out big time and give yourself more drama Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roughley Posted August 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 Had 2 x 300w heaters, I didn't realise one had dropped out. Have added a 200w and 300w, temp is climbing, up to 20C, rising gradually. Stupid mistake I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roughley Posted August 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 Once temp up, would the addition of salt as a one off be of any benefit to help with any bacterial infection caused by the low temp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lictoga Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 I'm not sure it's a bacterial infection, they usually happen as a secondary infection after some injury or parasite damage. But very well could be a solo bacterial infection. So salt will help, I use evaporated sea salt, but any uniodonised normal salt will do, stay away from standard table salt as it can contain anti caking agents. I'm not sure on a dose level for you. [MENTION=8516]none[/MENTION] maybe able to help more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckmeister Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 Normally I would dip a fish at 1/2 cup salt to 5 litres of aquarium water for 2 to 3 minutes (obviously in a bucket or hospital tank) Pleco's are a little different. I have never given a pleco a salt dip but I'd start at a half dose. 1/4 cup for no more than a few minutes. Its generally not recommended to salt bath the whole tank. Plecos will not respond well to protracted exposure to salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
none Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 Normally I would dip a fish at 1/2 cup salt to 5 litres of aquarium water for 2 to 3 minutes (obviously in a bucket or hospital tank)Pleco's are a little different. I have never given a pleco a salt dip but I'd start at a half dose. 1/4 cup for no more than a few minutes. Its generally not recommended to salt bath the whole tank. Plecos will not respond well to protracted exposure to salt. Firstly you don't "salt balt" the whole tank but you can add salt to a tank as Lictoga has suggested. The dose rate you are suggesting as a bath will kill many species of fish even if used for just "a few minutes".. [MENTION=16476]Roughley[/MENTION] I'll send you a pm.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckmeister Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 (edited) If you read my reply its a salt dip as in a seperate bucket. The dose I recommend can be taken as you will. My advice was given to me from a breeder that has done it many times on skype as I typed it out. I'm not here to guarantee anything. As I said...i have never had the need to dip a pleco. I'm not sure where your "salt balt" is coming from. Are you the passive aggressive member that every forum seems to have. i have dosed so many fish in a quick dip using this method that you clearly dont use salt as a medication. I also said that salting a tank entirely with pleco's is not a good idea (and would be a different method regardless). Is it a habit to pick up on simple spelling mistakes? Also why not just post your advice in public instead of pm...it helps so many more people? edit spelling... you have me worried lol Edited August 15, 2015 by Chuckmeister Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
