My fish keep dying, what am I doing wrong?

[Tonyu]

Please help….it’s been since before Xmas that my fish have been dying. My first run to the fish store turned out to be a batch of diseased fish that killed off my existing fish. I believe it was ich or the other white spot disease. I wrote in and someone had mentioned to immediately start a treatment of melafix for 7 days. I lost two more fish in the process of the treatment but managed to save 1. Did my 7 days, all was good, did a water change, went to the store and got 8 tetras. I didn’t do the recommended quarantine tank, but I did 3 days of treatment of the melafix to make sure the new fish were not bringing any baggage with them. All went well for two days, then the first tetra died. The day after I noticed that two fish were covered in white spots. So I immediately started another 7 day treatment, 1 more tetra died 2 days after. Now today on my day 7, another tetra has passed. So I did a water test, all is good, did a 25% water change and checked the fish for white spots….and they are all gone. Any one have any ideas of what is going on? Am I doing something wrong? I posted some pics of the fish after water change, please help!

[Colu]

I don't think it's ich as melafix doesn't treat ich what are your water parameters  and temperature

[813aquatics]

If you have ich or epistylis (looks like ich but protrudes off their body), then you may be best off with dosing 1 tbsp aquarium salt for every 3 gallons (can be increased to 1tbsp per 2gal or 1gal but make sure you check your species tolerances). Temperatures of around 84-86F will speed up the life cycle of ich but that may back fire if it isn't ich so use caution. You can use other antibacterial/fungal meds like kanaplex mixed into their feed for good results as well.

[PineSong]

I'm sorry you're having this hard time. It's so frustrating when your fish keep dying; this also happened to me when I first set up the tank.

If you don't have a water test kit or test strips, those will be your best investment. Whether your fish need medication or not, you will need to test your water to make sure it's not part of the problem.

Also, you mentioned that the diseased fish you brought home killed your existing fish. How long has your tank been set up and how long did you have healthy fish living in it before all this happened?

 

 

[Tonyu]

Hi , so I had a healthy tank for almost 10 months before all this started happening. My current temp is at 79 degrees, I do have a test kit for ammonia and nitrates, both are at 0. I’ve been treating with melafix cause I thought it was epistylis. Any ideas? Any other test kit I need to see what the problem is? I’ve had the water tested at the fish store and they always tell me it’s perfect.

[BettaHomesAndGardens]

I agree with previous posters that aquarium salt may be your best bet. It works well for a broad spectrum. Outside of that its really hard to say. My other question is did you get the second batch of diseased fish from the same store? It sounds like they have a major issue on their hands somewhere and unfortunately they've transferred that to you. Sorry this is happening, I do think the recommended dosage of aquarium salt can help. Just do be advised if you have any snails, shrimp or live plants this can harm them so maybe a hospital tank would be warranted. Hope it gets better for you.

 

Edit: The other thing I meant to mention is that if you have very soft water or if you've changed the source of water you're using for changes, keep an eye on the PH as it could swing and cause problems as well. It sounds like something other than that bit just something else to keep an eye on.

Edited February 2, 2022 by BettaHomesAndGardens

[Colu]

He's how you tell Epistylis from ich if it's Epistylis you want to treat with kanaplex in food @Tonyu as Epistylis feeds on the bacterial on your fish and spread more rapidly at higher temperatures

Edited February 3, 2022 by Colu