Sick fish for no apparent reason

[NetMax]

"Batik" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
> I have a ten gallon tank that is undergoing a little disaster. I have a
> dwarf Gourami, 3 platys, 1 danio and i added a blue ram to the
community
> about a week ago. All of the sudden one of the platys, the danio and
the
> blue ram are not doing so good. The danio is very bloated, to the point
that
> her spine is curved and she can't really swin very well. The platy
hangs out
> at the bottom of the tank all day, except for at feeding time, during
which
> he's voracious! The blue ram seemed to be doing well at first (except
he was
> a bit shy), now he's hanging out at the bottom of the tank as well and
he is
> definately not eating. He also seems to be breathing quite fast. I
tested
> ammonia, nitrates and pH. The first two tests show normal levels (zero
for
> both). Ph is around 6.8 but i have been working with ph regulators to
bring
> it back to neutral.
> Any ideas on what the problem is? Anyway way i can save some of the
sick
> fish? I honestly don't know what to do or if to treat the whole tank.
They
> all seem to have different problems.
> Please help!
> Elisa


It's always recommended to quarantine a new purchase for 2 to 3 weeks
before introducing them to your community tank. The reason is
unfortunately very apparent, in your case, the Ram introduced a disease.
Do lots of water changes until you have symptoms which can be treated.
Typically it will either be bacterial or parasitic. You could treat for
both, take a guess, or wait till the symptoms are clearer. I'd guess
bacterial, based on the danio and parasitic, based on the respiratory
distress of the Platy and Ram, but I'm no expert. I have lots of links
on my site for disease management.
--
www.NetMax.tk

[Batik]

Hi,
I have a ten gallon tank that is undergoing a little disaster. I have a
dwarf Gourami, 3 platys, 1 danio and i added a blue ram to the community
about a week ago. All of the sudden one of the platys, the danio and the
blue ram are not doing so good. The danio is very bloated, to the point that
her spine is curved and she can't really swin very well. The platy hangs out
at the bottom of the tank all day, except for at feeding time, during which
he's voracious! The blue ram seemed to be doing well at first (except he was
a bit shy), now he's hanging out at the bottom of the tank as well and he is
definately not eating. He also seems to be breathing quite fast. I tested
ammonia, nitrates and pH. The first two tests show normal levels (zero for
both). Ph is around 6.8 but i have been working with ph regulators to bring
it back to neutral.
Any ideas on what the problem is? Anyway way i can save some of the sick
fish? I honestly don't know what to do or if to treat the whole tank. They
all seem to have different problems.
Please help!
Elisa

[TYNK 7]

>Subject: Sick fish for no apparent reason
>From: "Batik"
>Date: 10/3/2004 10:12 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>Hi,
>I have a ten gallon tank that is undergoing a little disaster. I have a
>dwarf Gourami, 3 platys, 1 danio and i added a blue ram to the community
>about a week ago. All of the sudden one of the platys, the danio and the
>blue ram are not doing so good. The danio is very bloated, to the point that
>her spine is curved and she can't really swin very well. The platy hangs out
>at the bottom of the tank all day, except for at feeding time, during which
>he's voracious! The blue ram seemed to be doing well at first (except he was
>a bit shy), now he's hanging out at the bottom of the tank as well and he is
>definately not eating. He also seems to be breathing quite fast. I tested
>ammonia, nitrates and pH. The first two tests show normal levels (zero for
>both). Ph is around 6.8 but i have been working with ph regulators to bring
>it back to neutral.
>Any ideas on what the problem is? Anyway way i can save some of the sick
>fish? I honestly don't know what to do or if to treat the whole tank. They
>all seem to have different problems.
>Please help!
>Elisa
>
>

The first red flag to me is the addition of new tank mates without
quarantine...you never know what they're bringing in. Many things canot be seen
on the outside, but can be deadly.
The other red flag, and this was a big one, is the pH regulators. Messing with
those chemicals will not have good affects on a tank. The up and down,
bouncing of the pH is horribly stressful on fish and often kills them.
Tell me more about the bloated fish with the bent spine.
Is the bloating making the fish's scales protrude, similar to looking like a
pine cone?
Also, are you sure the bloating is what's causing the spine to be bent?
There is fish TB which can cause a spine to bend, bloating, and many more
symptoms.
Also a vitamin deficiency will cause a bent spine.
How long has this tank been running?
Was the last fish (Blue Ram) the only new addition within the last month or so?

[Batik]

The tank has been set up for a little over a year. The gourami, platys and
the danio have been there for a bit under a year. I thought that what the
danio had might be dropsy but her scales are not protruding. So i wasn't
sure if to treat her. She has been swimming at the water level and her
swimming is very erratic. Occasionaly she get exhausted and kind of flops
onto her side. She just floats that way for some time. I am not sure about
the bent spine. Her abdomen is honestly really really big at the moment so i
thought that was the cause.
Other than that the blue ram has been the only addition to the tank for at
least the past 3 months. I have been doing water changes and i raised the
temperature of the tank a bit.

"TYNK 7" > wrote in message
...
> >Subject: Sick fish for no apparent reason
>>From: "Batik"
>>Date: 10/3/2004 10:12 AM Central Daylight Time
>>Message-id: >
>>
>>Hi,
>>I have a ten gallon tank that is undergoing a little disaster. I have a
>>dwarf Gourami, 3 platys, 1 danio and i added a blue ram to the community
>>about a week ago. All of the sudden one of the platys, the danio and the
>>blue ram are not doing so good. The danio is very bloated, to the point
>>that
>>her spine is curved and she can't really swin very well. The platy hangs
>>out
>>at the bottom of the tank all day, except for at feeding time, during
>>which
>>he's voracious! The blue ram seemed to be doing well at first (except he
>>was
>>a bit shy), now he's hanging out at the bottom of the tank as well and he
>>is
>>definately not eating. He also seems to be breathing quite fast. I tested
>>ammonia, nitrates and pH. The first two tests show normal levels (zero for
>>both). Ph is around 6.8 but i have been working with ph regulators to
>>bring
>>it back to neutral.
>>Any ideas on what the problem is? Anyway way i can save some of the sick
>>fish? I honestly don't know what to do or if to treat the whole tank. They
>>all seem to have different problems.
>>Please help!
>>Elisa
>>
>>
>
> The first red flag to me is the addition of new tank mates without
> quarantine...you never know what they're bringing in. Many things canot be
> seen
> on the outside, but can be deadly.
> The other red flag, and this was a big one, is the pH regulators. Messing
> with
> those chemicals will not have good affects on a tank. The up and down,
> bouncing of the pH is horribly stressful on fish and often kills them.
> Tell me more about the bloated fish with the bent spine.
> Is the bloating making the fish's scales protrude, similar to looking like
> a
> pine cone?
> Also, are you sure the bloating is what's causing the spine to be bent?
> There is fish TB which can cause a spine to bend, bloating, and many more
> symptoms.
> Also a vitamin deficiency will cause a bent spine.
> How long has this tank been running?
> Was the last fish (Blue Ram) the only new addition within the last month
> or so?