aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 I have 6 WCMMs and one has become very pale and it's gills look red. It's still swimming around. I noticed one has been isolating itself and just stays completely still kind of arched quite a lot except when I put food in the tank. I don't know if it's the same one. Because when I looked this morning I have the pale one and another one is doing the isolating itself thing, arched. The wild guppies are fine. I can't see any white spots or anything else on the WCMMs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 Poor wee fishy! Keeping up with water changes? Red gills usually mean ammonia issues :smln: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 Yes I do a 25-30% water change once a week. And I added Stress Coat the last time (on Friday) which says it neutralizes/gets rid of Ammonia. Usually I just use Water Ager but I ran out. But I don't have a test kit for Ammonia. I only have a PH test kit. The Stress Coat apparently also gets rid of nitrate or nitrite ... can't remember which one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 That sounds okay. I'd do a 25% water change now to see if it helps. Hopefully someone knows what else it could be :dunno: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 Yeah I am going to put my fantails into the pond today and then clean both the 15L and 64L tank. I may try putting the sick WCMM/s into the 15L with some salt treatment... Could it be oxygen starvation? I know coldwater carries more oxygen than heated water. I have some live plants in there. Maybe I need to add more plants eg oxygen weed or an oxyshell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 It doesn't really matter. Water at a certain temperature can only hold so much oxygen. Providing that your tank is getting enough surface disruption it should have enough oxygen. Adding plant does not always help. During daytime they do photosynthesis turning CO2 in to oxygen. At night it reverses oxygen into CO2 . I think it may be ammonia. Do a water change. Also when you bought your WCMM were they cold or tropical? Did you acclimate them? Good luck Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted July 24, 2011 Report Share Posted July 24, 2011 Stress coat doesn't do anything along those lines as far as I am aware. Try Seachem Stability. Or you could even use prime instead of stress coat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 When you say acclimate them you mean putting them in the tank in the bag from the pet shop and leaving them for 5-10 mins then opening the bag and putting some tank water into the bag and then slowly tipping the fish into the tank? I did that. They were from a coldwater tank. And my tank is also coldwater. I did turn my filter off for half a day on Friday because I ran out of water ager so couldn't put more water in and there wasn't enough water for the filter to not run dry. Then on Saturday afternoon I turned it off again when I siphoned some water out of the tank to put into the 15L for the 2 fantails I got for the pond. I wasn't sure if there was enough water in the tank to leave the filter on. I didn't want to break it. After the first time I did a water change and removed the sponge off the filter to clean it and it started making horrid grinding noises because it got lifted out of the water accidentally and I thought I'd broken it I am nervous all the time now. But last night I turned it back on. So it was off from Saturday afternoon to Sunday evening also. I'm just waiting for my sister to pick up Abby and then I'm going to put the fantails into the pond and do the water change in the tank and also the 15L. Then if the WCMM is still not looking any better tomorrow morning I will put it into the 15L tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Ahh there's your reason. You've most likely killed all your BB(beneficial bacteria) wen you turn your filter off. Therefore recycling the tank starting at ammonia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 I think we've found your problem! With the filter turned off for so long, the bacteria would have died and now your tank is re-cycling. In which case it would be ammonia and you'll need to do much more frequent water changes for a few weeks otherwise all of your fish will start to show similar symptoms :nilly: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :oops: Thanks I have done a water change. How often should I do it over the next few weeks critter crazy? I usually do it every Friday. Today is Monday. So if I do another on Friday and the same for the next 3 weeks do you think that will be enough? My fantails are in their new home outside in the pond now. :thup: :happy2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Stress coat doesn't do anything along those lines as far as I am aware. Try Seachem Stability. Or you could even use prime instead of stress coat. It says on the Stress Coat that it eliminates chlorine and chloramine and ammonia On the Stress Zyme it says it eliminates nitrite and ammonia. :thup: Will have a look at the Prime next time I'm at the pet shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Since you have fish in there, you don't want hpthem to get ammonia poisoning. But you want some ammonia in there for the bacteria to grow. I'd say 20% every 2-3 days. Maybe a google search will help. You don't want to be adding anything that removes ammonia either wise the bacteria won't grow. Just something to remove the cloramines and chlorine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Since you have fish in there, you don't want hpthem to get ammonia poisoning. But you want some ammonia in there for the bacteria to grow. I'd say 20% every 2-3 days. Thats a good amount. When you treat the water, do it in a bucket before you add it to the tank. Some ammonia needs to be there for cycling Pics of the pond please!! :spop: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Unfortunately I wasn't able to get water ager from Animates when we ran out recently, and only have Stress Coat and Stress Zyme. Will have to get hubby to get some from the supermarket. I've already added Stress Coat and Zyme to the water I put into the tank. Thanks Will do water change every 2-3 days for the next few weeks. Hopefully none of the fish will die. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Thats a good amount. When you treat the water, do it in a bucket before you add it to the tank. Some ammonia needs to be there for cycling Pics of the pond please!! :spop: Yep I always add it to the bucket of water before I put it into the tank LOL I will upload some to Photobucket tomorrow and post a link. I need to get off the computer before hubby comes home and growls lol Unfortunately my concrete slab pond idea didn't work as neither the heavy duty tarp or the pond liner from Mitre 10 was wide enough to fit the slab properly and so there was an overlap and water was going under the pond liner and leaking out the side where there is a gap where the door of the garden shed was and I had put 2 large bricks across the gap but the water just leaks underneath them. But I had an old shell paddling pool so I lined it with the pond liner and put rocks/stones around it and I measured how much water I was putting in there with the 10L bucket and it's about 120L so good enough for just 2 fantails. I'm going to fill the concrete slab with soil and make a garden. The pond is inside the concrete slab and I have a bird bath in there too. Now all I need is lots of soil and some flowers It's going to be really nice. I also got some silver solar powered lights and they are really nice. Hubby is going to try to get to Animates before they close and get me some oxygen weed for some covering/hiding places because we have 2 cats. I made a little cave for them to hide in in the meantime with smooth rocks and a piece of driftwood. And both cats are inside the house until hubby comes home. Photos tomorrow, I promise! :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Good problem solving! Will be awesome to see how it progresses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 went to check on my minnows and guppies this morning and found one WCMM dead on the gravel. I removed him/her. Another WCMM looks pale. The rest seem fine and the guppies are perfectly happy. ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Do a 70% water change. Im not sure what could be wrong Are you able to take some tank water to animates to be tested? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Very likely ammonia poisoning. It can kill a fish very quickly. Only thing I can think of doing is move the filter(or spare filter?) to a bucket or spare tank or something to let it cycle(adding a few drops of pure ammonia every few days) and doing large water changes on the tank that your fish are currently in daily , this removes ammonia and could prevent the fish from getting more sick. Adding something that does remove ammonia into their current tank could assist. This will take a long time. 6 weeks possible. Read on how to do a fish less cycle on google may help. Good luck Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Unfortunately no. I don't drive (don't have drivers licence). And hubby's at work. How about if I move all my WCMMs and guppies into the 15L tank for a while, until I can get the ammonia levels down to 0? I have to get an ammonia test kit. In the meantime I can do a 50% water change every 2 days and then on Saturday go to Animates to get the test kit and whatever else I can that may help. What's available to remove Ammonia alone, at the pet shops? All I have is Stress Coat and Stress Zyme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squirt Posted July 25, 2011 Report Share Posted July 25, 2011 Is the 15L cycled? And what else is in there? I'd imagine you'd have to do frequent water changes on it to keep the ammonia levels down. It is going to take a while for you to get the tank ammonia down to 0. What I was saying is if the 15L wasn't cycled do large water changes and add an ammonia remover. I'd wait for a second brain to confirm this process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted July 26, 2011 Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 Read what's written on your stress coat bottle. It is effectively a water-ager. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 This is the exact one I have.... http://aquariumpharm.com/Products/Product.aspx?ProductID=43 It does say it removes Ammonia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted July 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 I just checked on my fish and I have no more casualties :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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