Need Help....

**zeek_fon** · 7th Jul 2009, 11:51

Hi,

Recently I have this problem with this tank. Whenever I put in any fish into this tank, the fish will have white thingy on their fin, body etc. I tried tearing the whole tank down and restart everything, the same thing happens. I lost 2 pairs of wild Apisto, around 15 pcs of ballons rams throughout. I feel at lost now.

I just tear down the tank again, put in around 20 Cherry Barbs yesterday, again the white thingy came alife. The fish seems 2 loss their balance this time round. The 5 remaining rams seems okie this time round.

Can anyone tell me what I should do? I added Melafix to the tank this morning. Must I raised the temperature of the water? The instruction did not mention anything about increasing temperature of water though. Is there anything I should do besides adding Melafix?

Thanks for all help....

Regards

**zerg66** · 7th Jul 2009, 12:03

firstly..stop adding fishes to the tank..raise the temperature..add a big load of salt..when i say a big load..i meant huge load..make it extremely salty..leave it for a few days and ensure temperature is high..i'm just guessing its an ick (white spot) problem..make sure its extremely inhospitable for almost anything to leave in..after that.. wash every single item that is place in the tank throughly..that will include ur filter .. another problem might be where u get ur stock from.. the place or person u bought it from might already be keeping the fishes and exposing them to the problem..so when u bring them home..the problem matures and manifests itself, thus causing u think its ur tank's fault. also make sure ur plants are placed in the salt solution for awhile..not too long or they will die..some plants may have yellowish leaves..but tis is ok as long as ur whole stem or root doens't die

**Philosophos** · 7th Jul 2009, 12:40

Sodium will kill off plants. Adding too many at once will cause a mini-cycle.

Is your tank cycled? Is NO3 being produced? A loss of balance points to internal parasites or other causes of swim bladder disorders.

If ich (the parasites causing white spots) is a chronic problem, I recommend going to the basics of fish keeping. This parasite is always in the tank, and it is only how the fish are treated and the tank maintained that induces it.

Get a good book, find some good new tank guides, and work from there. Head to a forum specializing in fish keeping in addition to this one.

-Philosophos

**TED** · 9th Jul 2009, 16:06

how to prevent such parasites? it happened to my tank once in awhile..

**TED** · 9th Jul 2009, 16:09

it happened to the tank the last time in my working place also, my colleagues suspected to be caused by some 'water conditioning' that we used..possible?

**Philosophos** · 9th Jul 2009, 23:05

ichthyophthiriasis occurs because of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis. This parasite is ambient nearly anywhere fish are found. It does not become an issue unless the fish is stress. The source of the stress can be anything from temperature to water chemistry.

If all of your fish are getting it, you are most likely missing something in the fundamentals of fish keeping. There is the off chance that your water is being contaminated enough to cause this stress as well. Most of the time though, it's more typical water chemistry problems. If a conditioner is suspected, perhaps it only removes chlorine while your tap water contains chloramine.

-Philosophos

**zeek_fon** · 11th Jul 2009, 12:08

Hi Philosophos,

Thanks for your guidance. The problem with mine is my Rams are ok but my Cherry Barbs got all wipe out within short period of time. None of my Rams are affected in this tank. This puzzles me.

Regards