Fish Sick

Hi everyone. Please please advise me on what to do to get my malawis well. I have always had a very healthy tank up to last week. My fish are flashing and rubbing against the rocks non stop.

I have about 15 medium sized malawis in a 230 liter tank. I use a self build small sump filter at the top of my tank. Since last week I've done a water change every second day. I use borehole and municipality water-conditioned ofcourse.

The water parameters after the water change this morning:
pH - 8
NH4 - 0, 05
NO2 - 0,3
NO3 - 20
GH - 9.

I am absolutely clueless when it comes to fish sicknesses.

Hope you can help.


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Hi there

While your ammonia and nitrite do not appear to be at 'high' levels, they're still detectable and could stand to be lower. Keep up with water changes until your filter can catch up. But I do not suspect that is the problem here (unless the ammonia and nitrite were previously higher, which may mean that they contributed to the problem). What is the temperature looking like?

When fish are flashing as such, it indicates some form of irritation, and my first thought would be parasites. Are there no visible signs of parasites on the bodies/fins/gills/eyes of your fishes? Look very closely. Is it all your fish, or just a few, or just one species? Are photos or a video possible? Do you feed any live foods at all? Were there any new additions to the tank?

Hopefully we can figure out what might be going on.

Regards,

 

Thank you so much for your reply.

My water temperature is a constant 28 degrees.

It's a few fish doing it, not all of them. I had 2 new additions exactly a month ago - a red tail shark and a loach. They came from a friends tank (we did a swap) and he had no problems in his tank. But the red tail shark is the one fish in my tank rubbing against the rocks the most. And then my 2 Ahli Juveniles and the one adult male Auratus. And I've noticed my male and female African Jewel fish also behaving strange as they keep on swimming underneath the stream where the sump lets the water back into the tank. (My fish are quite mixed I know, but except its been working very well).

I haven't seen any parasites or anything on my fish but will have a good look again tomorrow. Will also send a video or photo's tomorrow.



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Thank you. I will defnitely reduce the temp and have a look at the different parasite meds available. Do you know if there is a natural cure for parasites?

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It depends on the parasite - some react well to 'natural' treatments, others do not. If by natural you mean without chemicals or medication, some people use salt, epsom salts, or an increased temperature, but again, this works for some, and is not necessarily broad spectrum.

Give @Reedfish 's solution a try, though I'm not familiar with it, it sounds like it was effective. But in any case, give your fish a look, and photos and videos may still be helpful here.

 

Will post 2morrow. Thank you!

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Ok so I had a really good look at my fish this morning and I think it's defnitely parasites. I saw a white wormish formed thing in my Salvini's eye. I haven't seen something on the other fish yet, but I am still looking.

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Seachem Paragard is a general treatment for external parasites.
Seachem Metroplex also treats parasitic infestations.

 

Thank you! I am on my way to my lfs.

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I'm on my way to my lfs.

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Thanx for the tip!

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Its not parasites but chlorine in your water
Do you add any form of anti chlorine for the new water you add with a water change?
Also seeing that you have changed a lot of water recently you are adding more and more in from tap water

 

I got the Dophin Parasite Treatment. They didn't have the Seachem in stock and said this was the best they had on their shelves at the moment. I've been treating them everyday but they still do not look better. Still flashing and rubbing against the substrate.

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Yes, I add Waterlife's Haloex to the water before I add it to the tank. I have also used borehole water previously, but not since they became sick. Do you think I should rather switch back to the borehole water?

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@ElMatador , How are the fish doing?

I tried to check the composition of the Dophin Parasite treatment but cant even find it on their website so... cant comment

Have you added some salt?

If I may ask, why did you stop using the borehole water? Did they get sick while you were using it?

 

No spesific reason for stopping with the borehole water. We initially fill our tanks up with the borehole water. Then with water changes we do borehole one week and municipalty water the other week. I am doing a water change again this morning and will be using borehole. I do add salt to all my tanks. The salt I buy from my Lfs.

Yesterday I cleaned my filter and in the 1st compartment there were a LOT of fish scales in.

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