[Tomm1986]

Hello all

My 100L tank has been fine recently but I've notice a few things tonight which I hope someone may know the answers to.

One thing which is puzzling me is a reddish bump on my molly (picture attached). I don't know what is causing this, I did a water check and only saw nitrate as being higher than usual (I did a strip test with the others being fine and the nitrate being between 50-100). I've also replaced a carbon filter in case this wasn't filtering enough (I have 2 in the filter).

The other thing which is puzzling me is that my honey gourami has faded a lot recently and today is just lying at the top of the tank breathing but just going with the current. I'm not too hopeful as everything I see on the internet leads to the gourami dying without explaining why, but if anyone's seen this before I'd be interested to see any potential reasons why so I can stop my other honey gourami from suffering the same fate.

Thanks

Tom

 

[Sylverclaws]

I would suggest you do a big clean of the tank. From what I have read on similar issues, especially when more than one species is experiencing issues...there is a bacterial build up that can lead to infections(and make cysts and sore spots on the fish like red bumps), and those often turn into fungal infections if it's not cleared up.

Do a big clean, wipe down the glass, rinse the filter GENTLY and keep old media(gently or you'll kill your colonies, you may want to just dump out any yuck in there, rinse the filter itself and leave the media alone so that doesn't happen), and vacuum at least half the tank, and do all edges.

Use Prime to treat changed water, this will detoxify your nitrates if they're too high, nitrites too, and it removes ammonia. May help out the slime coat too, and they need a boost.

Make sure you're not over-stocked and not caring for it right. If over-stocked in a handled way, make sure you are cleaning right.


You can use a light antibacterial and antifungal to be safe if you'd like. I have good luck with melafix and pimafix for light ones, and with clean water that should help out.


Other than a bacterial infection or a fungal infection about to hit(if it is a fungus, it may not get fuzzy right off), my only guess is there are toxins in the water, or possibly a parasite since your fish does look a little skinny, which could be due to being ill if it's not a parasite.

We need some more info on your tank. I also suggest you get a liquid water test kit since strips are often inaccurate. If they show something in the tank, what I've found in testing strips out against API Master Freshwater Test Kit, is that the numbers are often MUCH higher than strips say.

If you can give us exact water parameters, tank size and how many fish you have of what kind....Well, read the "Before you post" thread in tropical fish diseases and follow that for us, we need that info as it could be a number of things and that may or may not help us positively identify them. Without more info, it's mostly just guesswork unless someone has had a similar issue and knows what it is or how to treat it.

 

[Tomm1986]

Thanks for your post Sylverclaws. I'm going to get some melafix this afternoon which should help.

I do regular water changes, hoover on a weekly basis and wash the filter every week as you mentioned as well as treating all new water. I think it's best to do a bigger change than usual and hoover in the way you suggested just so I can rule out bacterial as a cause.

As for overstocking, I've got 6 danio, 2 dwarf gourami, 1 honey gourami (the pale one passed last night), 3 platys, 1 molly, 2 corys, 1 angelfish and a dwarf puffer. So I don't think it's overstocked given it's 100L, if anything I was thinking the other day that I needed more fish!

Do you think the molly looks thin? I've always thought he was quite fat and he's always first to the top when I go to feed them ;-) (although if a parasite then I know this wouldn't necessarily rule it out).

Hope this helps, I'll report back once I've had a liquid test done but this won't be until weekend as need to go buy a kit and my local store doesn't sell them so will need to go to another shop which is closed by time get home from work.

Thanks again for your help thus far, will update with any changes in meantime.

 

[Sylverclaws]

Before you go buying medicines, why not give us the info required to properly figure out what you have going on and wait for some advice? Treating fish for things they don't have can be stressful, and unfortunately your gourami and molly may be too far gone at this stage even if we did, so you gotta be careful.

Depending on your care that could be fairly overstocked actually.

Over-washing the filter can lead to issues too, one should only rinse it out like that every few months. Other than that the sponge or cartridge should be gently rinsed in TANK water every two weeks or so. Rinsing in treated water or tap water will likely kill your beneficial bacteria and send the tank into a cycle.

Having higher nitrate than usual tells us you either added more in with tap water(test that to make sure), or you had ammonia at one point that was eaten and broken down into nitrites(also as toxic as ammonia) and then to nitrates. So it came from somewhere, either via your tap water, or from toxins in your own tank.

Get some Prime to treat your water. If that's the cause, trust me, it'll help the rest of your fish and possibly save your two ailing friends.

You have a few issues with your stocking. Dwarf gourami's together and another type of gourami...they can seem fine and still bully the other. If you want to keep them together, and it's always a risk, you need a much larger tank(50+ gallons, well planted).

The angel will get too big for a 25 gallon fully stocked tank. Alone he -might- be alright.

Mollies need groups of four or more or they can get very depressed and very stressed out, then very ill allowing all manner of nasties to grab them. Being unhappy like that lowers their immune systems.

Cories also need groups of five or more, same reasons except these little guys are even more delicate. Be sure you have proper substrate for them or they'll get bacterial infections and their barbels WILL erode on improper substrate...this kills them.

Dwarf puffers in this setting...Eheh, they are small, but they can be pretty aggressive. And small though they are, prefer a great deal of space - to themselves.

If I were you, I'd fix your stocking before adding anything, and I'd remove the puffer or angel. You want to lessen stress in there, and make sure everyone is getting properly fed. Stress may be your only issue. Fix that and the rest may clear up.

 

[Tomm1986]

Before you go buying medicines, why not give us the info required to properly figure out what you have going on and wait for some advice? Treating fish for things they don't have can be stressful, and unfortunately your gourami and molly may be too far gone at this stage even if we did, so you gotta be careful.

Depending on your care that could be fairly overstocked actually.

Over-washing the filter can lead to issues too, one should only rinse it out like that every few months. Other than that the sponge or cartridge should be gently rinsed in TANK water every two weeks or so. Rinsing in treated water or tap water will likely kill your beneficial bacteria and send the tank into a cycle.

Having higher nitrate than usual tells us you either added more in with tap water(test that to make sure), or you had ammonia at one point that was eaten and broken down into nitrites(also as toxic as ammonia) and then to nitrates. So it came from somewhere, either via your tap water, or from toxins in your own tank.

Get some Prime to treat your water. If that's the cause, trust me, it'll help the rest of your fish and possibly save your two ailing friends.

You have a few issues with your stocking. Dwarf gourami's together and another type of gourami...they can seem fine and still bully the other. If you want to keep them together, and it's always a risk, you need a much larger tank(50+ gallons, well planted).

The angel will get too big for a 25 gallon fully stocked tank. Alone he -might- be alright.

Mollies need groups of four or more or they can get very depressed and very stressed out, then very ill allowing all manner of nasties to grab them. Being unhappy like that lowers their immune systems.

Cories also need groups of five or more, same reasons except these little guys are even more delicate. Be sure you have proper substrate for them or they'll get bacterial infections and their barbels WILL erode on improper substrate...this kills them.

Dwarf puffers in this setting...Eheh, they are small, but they can be pretty aggressive. And small though they are, prefer a great deal of space - to themselves.

If I were you, I'd fix your stocking before adding anything, and I'd remove the puffer or angel. You want to lessen stress in there, and make sure everyone is getting properly fed. Stress may be your only issue. Fix that and the rest may clear up.

Just thought I'd write with a quick update on what's happened with the tank since the original post.

The molly has fully recovered, must have been a bacterial infection which has cleared up now, thankfully. The gourami unfortunately passed the morning after, have had no problems with the other fish so I think it was a one-off.

I'm interested in what you say about the angel, I've kept them before and are normally ok for community aquariums in my experience, what makes you say they need more space?

The puffer I know I've taken a chance on but he seems quite happy as there's plenty of plants in the tank to hide in (he's got his own territory too so he's bedded down quite nicely).

I've been unable to get a water testing kit, however the results have balanced out quite nicely - must have been a temporary thing.

 

[Sylverclaws]

Angels get pretty big, and are usually fairly wide with their fins. They are slow moving, usually, and like space. They can get very territorial. And usually being 6+ inches long/wide, being in a tank they can only swim a few inches and turn around in is stressful to them, or stunts them which has its own set of nasty issues usually ending in the fish dying from crushed organs years before their time, or in cases of minor stunting just messes them up and makes them look awkward and their bodies function is usually off. Having that with other fish can make it worse. though they may not fight with less room, you can only push them so far.

 

[RackinRocky]

Agree with Sylverclaws completely--I have one angel in a 55 gallon community tank, and I would never get another one, even in that size tank. In fact, I almost feel my angel should have a 75 gallon! They are so big (mine is about half grown) that they don't have to swim very far to get to the end of the tank. That has to be stressful. Mine gets along fine with my other fish, but I'm not overstocked. If he were in a smaller tank with other fish, I have no doubt he would become nasty to the other fish before long. It's just plain cruel to put a fish as large as an angel in anything under 50 gallons, IMO.