Help! Have too many problems!

[schmiggy]

I have a 55 gallon, that has cycled. I have 1 sailfin molly, 1 balloon-belly lyre-tail molly, 2 fancy guppies, 3 danios,and 2 platies (2 others have died).

About a week ago I noticed my sailfin had popeye really bad (almost overnight). The next day, the other molly had popeye on one eye. I treated with Jungle Fungus Clear, seemed to take care of the problem. In the mean time, female molly seemed to be pregnant, as she keeps getting bigger (now I know, it's dropsy!) Then noticed had Ich starting, so treated with Ick Away, for 2 days, seemed ok. Did 25% water change (well water, not city). Treating with Fungus clear again as all but 3 of the fish have something wrong.

Sailfin - stays at top near heater, one eye cloudy, tail fin looks like it may be fraying ( not sure if fin rot or ammonia burn)

Balloon belly - dropsy, popeye might be returning, one fin looks like it is bleeding (small amount) where it joins belly. Spends most of her time near the heater.

Guppies - Male -clamped tail fin, was hiding, but is now out. Female-looks great

Both platies - have fins that look like the sailfin, one has a cloudy eye, stay at the top near the oxygen bubbles from airstone

Danios - two are great, one has the same fins as the sailfin ( he was staying near the top and the heater, but now is swimming near the bottom, acting more normal)


The two platies that died, one looked great up till she died ( old age?) The other had the fins like the sailfin, then started swimming in backward circles, and died 2 hours later.

The tank is clean, not even any algae! 0 nitrites, 40 nitrates, ammonia close to 1 ppm. Did add ACE to remove ammonia today, now down to about .5 ppm. I know it sounds like I don't take care of my fish, but I really do. I'm at a loss. The last fish I added were the guppies 3 weeks ago. I do the water changes, everything was mostly fine till 3 or 4 days ago.

Sorry this is so long, but as you can see, I have an awful lot going on. If you have any ideas, PLEASE let me know.
Also, most of the feces is white and stringy. Thank you in advance.

[wayne]

Any ammonia is a problem, and will weaken fish so bacterial infections can set in. If ypur tank is cycled where did this ammonia come from? What do you do for water changes? I would be tempted to do a large water change (25%) and see how they respond to that. I'd also think about a bactericide, and adding salt. I would stop chucking in fungicide though, as you don't have any fungus, and salt should get rid of any more ich problems.
Anything special about the water you added 3 or 4 days ago? I'd also try a polyfilter - maybe there have been chemicals added by the water company?

[bobrob]

Wayne is right but I would do a 50 % water change to be on the safe side.

[schmiggy]

We have well water, so we don't have any man-made chemicals added to our water.
The fungus clear is supposed to treat bacterial and fungal diseases. (This is all I can get, besides melafix at Walmart, which is the only store we have here :-/ )
I am doing a large water change right now, as I retested the nitrites, and they went from 0 yesterday to almost 3 today. I think this may have something to do with the medication killing off my good bacteria too.

After I do the water change, do you think it would be good to put in the melafix, or the fungus clear (which is supposed to clear bacterial too)?

Thank you

[ladyhawk]

Hmmm...not sure what to think you may have going on. But if you have accidentily killed off your good bacteria you may be able to get botteled ' good bacteria ' from wal-mart.
This is just a idea...dont know how it would work with all the other medications. Hopefully some of the more experinced will read this and add some feed back.
GOOD LUCK..I hope your fish get better.

[Lotus]

Have you tested your tap water for nitrites/nitrates/ammonia?

Is it possible you are overfeeding your fish? This can lead to spikes occasionally.

[schmiggy]

Thank you for your replies. Things are looking better. I did a 25% water-change yester, planning another for tomorrow. I also am using my nitra-zorb pouch ( has helped ALOT! ammonia less than .5 now)

I also went and bought a hospital tank ( I know, I should've done it earlier). I have the danio, balloon Molly, and the male guppy in there, and treating with melafix.

Both platies are looking better, looks almost like their fins are healing, and the one that had cloudy eyes,now looks normal.

The sailfin looks better also. His fins look to be repairing and his eyes maybe clearing up. Leaving him in the tank till tomorrow, see if he continues to improve. If he doesn't, he'll go into the hospital tank tomorrow.

Thank you all again, and I'll let you know when everything is cleared up.