QUICK ASSISTANCE!! HELP plz

[MStars30]

HI sorry to trouble you all with the quick help thread title. My GBRs are suddenly struggling. I had a breeding pair of the biggest baddest GBRs around... my GF wanted to add another pair so we got a nice new small couple and added them a few days ago. Everything seemed fine til we lost the new female. I didn't think much of it cuz my tank is healthy as ever. Now suddenly my main stud male is upside down and his female has a white circular type chunk out of her tail fin. Also the new male has a white circular spot on his top fin towards the back and one white circular spot on his back sorta. Any suggestions? I will try and take a picture but I have yet to find a setting on this camera to get a clear enough one so you could see it.

Please help I'd prefer not to lose them all, already losing my main male. =(

Thanks again for your time and reading,

Matt

[valerietheangel]

First, I know you're already kicking yourself, but QUARANTINE. Especially with fragile fish you really like, you don't want to expose them to whatever might be carried by any new fish you're adding. You might want to go ahead and net your remaining GBR's and set up a hospital tank and treat with salt or meds. I would suggest a mild salt treatment until you can figure out what exactly is ailing your fish and then start a more targeted treatment.

I know personally how awful it is to lose fish you really like just because you didn't quarantine. A bare bottom 10 gallon can be found for around $10 and a cheap filter will save you a ton of money and heartbreak. Good luck with your remaining fish.

[MStars30]

Problem I have is last night they were all acting normal with no symptoms and now my main couldn't be healthier male is dead and his female is acting like she's on her way out as well. The smaller one is still active in the tank but I can see his white spot on his top fin and back. Its not a bunch of spots just a bigger white spot. I have them in a bucket of their same tank water atm so as not to expose the rest of my fish anymore than they have already.

Thanks for the response so far

[James From Cali]

Keep them quarantined. Is it possible that the new fish you had gotten had an unseen ailment? How big is the tank initially? Rams are still cichlid and fighting may have occured and caused stress to the fish. Rams need 20gallons for them to be comfortable, especially for a breeding pair. For two breeding pair I would have recomended at leas a 40g tank with lots of hiding places.

[MStars30]

tank is a heavily planted 55 gal. Except for today during the day I have been watching them pretty carefully and not much fighting or nipping was going on actually. Only when I got home tonight I noticed they were acting strangely. They are surely not feeling well.

Thank you for the responses so far again

[James From Cali]

It may very well be a fungal issue. Get some Anti- Bacterial(Fungal) meds and keep them isolated. Watch them carefully and beware of fighting. Thats as much as you can do at this point.

[MStars30]

will do, thanks for the help.

[lauraleellbp]

x2 on you need to QT all new fish, for at least 2weeks minimum IMO, and you should QT now any fish that appears ill. It sounds like an infection likely from fighting wounds to me too. Since you're not sure if it's a fungus or bacteria (the two are not the same and so what treats one may or may not treat the real issue here) I personally would dose 1/2 tablespoon salt per gallon in the QT tank. Give the fish someplace to hide; an overturned terracotta pot, some artificial plants or disposable live plant clippings would help make the fish feel more hidden and less stressed.

[mott]

Originally Posted by valerietheangel

First, I know you're already kicking yourself, but QUARANTINE. Especially with fragile fish you really like, you don't want to expose them to whatever might be carried by any new fish you're adding. You might want to go ahead and net your remaining GBR's and set up a hospital tank and treat with salt or meds. I would suggest a mild salt treatment until you can figure out what exactly is ailing your fish and then start a more targeted treatment.

I know personally how awful it is to lose fish you really like just because you didn't quarantine. A bare bottom 10 gallon can be found for around $10 and a cheap filter will save you a ton of money and heartbreak. Good luck with your remaining fish.

My thoughts exactly...

You might want to try that lifeguard med that treats everything it worked for me one time.

[MStars30]

I'm on EST so gonna have to wait til tomorrow to go buy it now is my only problem =(. Hope the fish hang on til then.

Thanks again for all your suggestions

Matt S

[SeaSerpant]

Ok photos would be great. I have a feeling it's fin rot. my black skirt tetra has it right now and has a white cottony growth on all of it's fins. i added 1tsp per every 5 gallons but since your quarintining him i would do a saline dip so you fill up a icecream bucket with you water (i think) and raise the salinity till it is 2.5% saline (about 1/2 cup per 1g of water) and put the fish in it until it shows signs of stress and then put it back in the quarintine tank.

[lauraleellbp]

IMO salt dips tend to be better for parasites than for infections. They can also be stessful for an already pretty sick fish... in this particular case I'd probably add non-iodized salt to a hospital tank slowly over time.

Keeping up with clean water parameters is the best medicine- so daily 10% PWC (partial water changes) would be really beneficial.

Especially don't neglect the water parameters of the main tank; I'd do daily 10% in this tank as well, to try and ensure the fish that were exposed to the infection stay as healthy as possible and hopefully they will be able to avoid/fight off any infections themselves.

[valerietheangel]

Be sure to keep the rams in the bucket warm, don't let the temperature get too low or it can bring on ich.

You also might want to raise the temp in the main tank to around 82F and add a little salt there as well. If your other fish were exposed to something, the high temperature plus low dose of salt will usually take care of any ich etc. on healthy fish.

[MStars30]

I will be busy today when I get up. For a long time fish keeper, I'm very amateur in this area as I've never had even one sick fish. Amateur question... what type of salt am I adding? Do I need to get special salt as in aquarium salt like for a reef tank? I am keeping them warm and will definitely keep up on the 10% water changes as you suggest.

Thanks for holding my hand on this one I really need it. Hope the fish can keep hanging in there while I take your suggestions

Matt

[lauraleellbp]

You should use non-iodized salt. Aquarium salt or epsom salt is fine. I personally don't use reef salt; it contains other additives that can be problematic in a FW tank.