Red fins and gills

Poor water parameters = stressed fish = disease.

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Anyone read the the link I posted that guy had the same problem with Malawi's

 

Sorry dude but it sounds like you are missing the basics (filtration, cycling etc). I read the article but can't comment on whether this is the same or not with the limited information you have given us. A lot of problems sound the same. Give us the answers to the questionaire and we can help you. We all started somewhere...

 

Joburg
one and half year
3 days
malawi's 12 African jewels 2 catfish plego1
last week
blood worms and pellets

Disease
breathing normal fins gills red 2 fish on top of tank rest are swimming with red gills two big fish sitting on the floor also got the red prob living stone is brown can't see really but also sitting down
fish is eating
no it has not


Will be back now now

 

Yes I have with the medi the Lfs gave me tetra general tonic
no never had probs

1.2 by 45 4 foot
250L
hang on filter
the cartridge carbon and wool
800 L hr
once a week
with that clear tube sucking thing
25%
Just add water
tap
pool filter sand silica
rock two small fake plants


Just that fish smell water was lil white but cleared up
28 room temp
not sure
Not sure
0 I think Lfs said
ph 7.5
amonia between 0 and 5
Lfs tested it

T5 I think
3 foot tank light
fake plant
no

no fertilize plant

 

Ok. Firstly if I understand correctly you introduced 15 fish into a 3 day old tank? Thats a problem. Your tank is not cycled.Your filter turns your water over 3.2 times an hr...slightly under whats recommended. Should be looking for 4-5 times but I think with Malawi it's more (experts?)Did you remove the carbon from the filter before dosing the meds? It will remove any meds you dose.When you add water from your tap you should dechlorinate it first. If you say the water was milky it was probably heavely dosed with chlorine which is bad for your fish.

 

I think because I never put any anti chlorine when I set up the tank that all this could be happening

 

Maybe I should do 30% water change a day adding anti chlorine until the medi is out

 

Hi, I would say the problem definitely stems from the tank not being cycled properly before the fish were added. The red gills etc are symptons of high amonia levels, the ich breakouts due to the bad water quality as mentioned by someone else. The amonia levels need to be reduced immediately before the fish die. From what I have read on the forum from others that use it (luckily I havent had to in an emergency) the consensus would be an immediate treatment with Seachem Prime which will convert the amonia into a safe non toxic form, coupled with a big water change. If you can get hold of an already seeded sponge or similar from a well established filter to kick start your filter that would get your filter going in a matter of a few hours. Adding Seachem stability wouldnt be a bad idea either. Whatever you do do something quickly, if not you could lose the lot !

 

I think you need to get these fish into another properly cycled tank (take them back to the LFS or ask on the forum for someone to look after them).
Doing water changes now with water that is not dechlorinated is going to make things worse IMO.Get dechlorinator and start cycling your tank with one of the available bacteria-in-a-bottle.

Please read this thread:
Nitrogen Cycle for Aquariums

 

@Hawk , good suggestion, that would be first prize. Tomorrow by the sounds of things will be too late though. As you say the water must be dechlord first before being used, having said that though, and I dont know the area (some guys in the cape eg prof Dirk can use water straight from the tap), some areas have little or no chlorine in the water anyway which begs the question would little or no chlorine in the water not be better than lethal levels of amonia for a few hours in an emergency till he can get the fish into a properly cycled tank ?

 

Need someone with more experience. Which is worse chlorine or ammonia? My gut says ammonia but...

 

Maybe @Marco or @SalmonAfrica can help. I see they are online

 

I think it depends on the type used by the local water treatment works. Chloramine being potentially more harmfull than chlorine. Someone in the area with experience of the local water could help. Pity there wasnt an "emergency" after hours fish chemist in the area selling Prime

 

The other thing not mentioned that may help in the short term is to increase aeration for now as much as you can.

 

As far as I've read, the bases have been covered here. I'm leaning toward ammonia poisoning - the redness in the gill area and fins, along with the gasping and inactivity, is typical of ammonia poisoning. I'm not too sure but it also seems that the tank isn't cycled (this was mentioned earlier) - and even if it was at some point, the unconditioned tap water may have hit the bacteria colonies hard enough to cause an ammonia spike.

First and foremost, I recommend getting an ammonia test done. "Between 0 and 5" is very vague and there is quite a difference between those values. If you don't have your own test kit, ask a nearby pet store or nearby friendly fishkeeper to help you with this. If we can definitely say that it is ammonia, then we can move on to treatment of our problem.

So, if it IS ammonia, cut down the feeding for now. Fish can go surprisingly long without food and this will be for their benefit. Adding food to the tank will add to the ammonia buildup, so avoiding adding too much more nitrogen to the system. I'd say do frequent water changes - daily if possible - of 15-20%. Use a conditioner/anti-chlorine this time, and every time there after. Trust me, you won't regret it. Don't throw in any medications or mutis, as these may affect the friendly bacteria in your tank that are trying to get rid of the ammonia. Finally, do not add any new fish to the system.

Hopefully, with a little time, the symptoms (redness etc) should go down. Get the water tested for ammonia whenever you can. Symptoms may persist for a little because of the transition from ammonia spike to nitrite spike to nitrate spike, but Malawis are quite hardy so don't worry too much. Keep up the water changes and efforts and you should be in the clear. Keep feeding to small amounts for the time being and little while after the symptoms clear.

I hope this helped, even if a little...

Regards,

 

Thanks Tim. There you go @yas.shark

HTH and good luck. Keep us posted.

 

Thanks Tim and everyone else who has given me advice I'm going to get a good anti chlorine today and start with the water changes I do have my old filter should I put in the tank ? It's the black sponge

 

Unless the sponge has been in an actively running tank it will be useless on its own at this point since it will not contain any bacteria. BUT, If you can add your old filter to the tank (the sponge + all that goes with it - I'm assuming it is air-pump driven?) and get it running it will definitely help with filtration over time(since your filtration is a little weak at the moment..

 

It's a jet pump the one that goes on the glass because now I got a hang on filter but only took the jet pump out a day ago