Brisltenose catfish and betta in trouble please help

[bec1984]

i have a 1 year old bristlenose catfish with which i just spotted a nasty fungus growing on its belly its white but going toward the middle of the fungus it has turned a pale yellow color with like a small indent toward the top of it .
as well as this my male fighter has what i believe to be fin rot

Please help me :(

[William]

Hmmm seems like you have some mayor problems. I recommend that you check the water quality which likely is very poor and take measures to improve the water quality such as cleaning the filter if it is very dirty, removing waste matter from the aquarium and making a water exchange. The size of the water exchange depends on the water quality but if it is poor as I suspect I suggest you do a 40% water exchange each day for the coming 3 days. Make sure to use water treating chemicals on the water when you change the water.

You might also want to consider getting adding some iodide free salt to the water, about one tablespoon for every 5 gallon of water. This will help prevent outbreaks of more diseases.

You will also have to go and buy medicines that can treat the diseases you mentioned. Make sure to follow instructions.

I recommend that you quarantine these fish if you have other healthy fish in the tank.

This will hopefully help cure your fish but it might be to late considering that several diseases apparently exist in your aquarium and have progressed far in the infected fish.

I would also like to recommend that you download our tropical fish e-book (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/book.html) and read it to learn more about how to care for your aquarium to avoid (or rather try to avoid) problems like this in the future.

[bec1984]

The betta died the bristlenose is recovering i isolated them as soon as i noticed the problem and done a partial water change new pads in the filter and treated the main tank with tablets from the lfs. i am treating the bristlenose catfish in my hospital tank with multicure fungal.
In the main tank i added new plants intoit from the lfs washed b4 they where put in and the ones that were in it already died along with 3 more fish the latest a Platy.
I dont know what else to do! the only salt i have been told to put in the tank is sea salt.

Please help me i am getting desperate to save the remainder of my fish.

which are:

10x Guppies(7 of which are fry)
2x Platies
2x Columbian Tetra
2x Neon Tetra
2x unknown (is a type of tetra)
1x Male betta & 2 Female ( i had another male betta in a separate tank)
1x Baby Bristlenose catfish
1x molly

in a 5 foot tank/ 219 litres

[William]

What are your nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels?

Whats the pH level in your tank?

Can any foreign substance have been introduced into your tank?

How do you clean your filter? Im asking since you said that you changed the pads in the filter which actually might have worsen your situation. The new pads lack the bacteria to break down certain substances in the aquarium and it will take it a few days for the filter to be fully functional again. (putting the old ones back will not help you. Keep the new ones now when you installed them)

Have you added any new decorations?

does any of the rest of the fish show any signs of disease?

do you ever use any chemicals/detergents when you clean your aquarium?

Are you telling me that both the plants and the fish are dying of in a fast pace?

A lot of questions I know but i will need more info to make sure I get to the bottom of this.

[bec1984]

What are your nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels?

We havent been able to get a test kit for those yet, we take water samples down to the lfs and get them to test it for us, but the tank gets a weekly water cycle.
1 third of the tank emptied, refilled and dechlorinator added.

Whats the pH level in your tank?

Between 7.0 & 7.4

Can any foreign substance have been introduced into your tank?

No not that i can think of, we dont have kids. and all chemicals are kept in the kitchen and dont get near the tank.
Hang on, my boyfreind installed an airwick airfreshener in the lounge near the tank a couple of months ago, could that be a cause of the problem?, i never really gave that a thought when he did it.

How do you clean your filter? Im asking since you said that you changed the pads in the filter which actually might have worsen your situation. The new pads lack the bacteria to break down certain substances in the aquarium and it will take it a few days for the filter to be fully functional again. (putting the old ones back will not help you. Keep the new ones now when you installed them)

I clean them with aquarium water from the tank in a clean bucket, to try and keep the good bacteria in the aquarium.these where installed about a week and a half ago.

Have you added any new decorations?

No only the ones we got with the tank 8 months ago. the tank was 6 months old when we got it.

does any of the rest of the fish show any signs of disease?

No they all seem healthy, but when i get up in the morning i have a dead fish, the latest a white cloud. (I always remove the dead body as soon as i notice it).

do you ever use any chemicals/detergents when you clean your aquarium?

No only Hot water and a sponge that hasnt been used with chemicals

Are you telling me that both the plants and the fish are dying of in a fast pace?

Well when i added the new plants the next day the plants that where in there were yellow and breaking into peices so i removed them and also around that time the male fighter died and i noticed the bristlenose with the fungus, since then i have lost a fish every other day.

thanks for yur help.

[William]

- What are your nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels?

They are substances that are produced when waste matter is broken down in your aquarium. They are toxic all toxic and the levels must be kept low or the fish start dying due to the toxin. This is still my main theory on what is happening in your aquarium and frequent water changes are the best way to avoid this problem. I still think a few large water exchanges over a few days will help cure the problem. You can read more about nitrite, nitrate and ammonia and there effects in our ebook (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/ebook.html)


- Hang on, my boyfreind installed an airwick airfreshener in the lounge near the tank a couple of months ago, could that be a cause of the problem?

No that’s to long before your problem started. It should have been something that happened right before the problem started.

- Well when I added the new plants the next day the plants that where in there were yellow and breaking into peices so I removed them and also around that time the male fighter died and I noticed the bristlenose with the fungus, since then i have lost a fish every other day.

From this I would say that something have caused a rapid change in water values in your aquarium. I can’t really say what caused it. All I can suggest now is to keep changing the water and to get those test kits to get more info.

And think hard about what can have caused this. Is all equipment working, have their been a power outage lately and so on.

Have any more fished died for you since my last response?

[bec1984]

Since your last response 3 more have died, that was about a day ago. Anyway Thank you for all your help mate, this is the best tropical fish forum i have been to so far and the most helpful i will do what you have said and up date you in the next couple of weeks.

Cheers

Bec1984

[William]

sorry to hear that and good luck.

Hoping to hear good news soon.

[bec1984]

I have had no more deaths, the plants are all healthy as are the fish, water quality is fine so hopefully everything is in the clear ( for now fingers crossed)

[William]

Good to hear. Hopefully it was just a seriouse dip in water quality that now has been corrected. (keeping my fingers crossed for you too)