Sickness in my tank and i cant figure it out

Question
QUESTION: hello,

I have a community tank and i had two fish die. I feel like there is somethin in my tank and I can't figure out what it is. Both of them died and had bloated stomachs....is there some kind of disease that that is a sign? Please let meknow thank you.


ANSWER: S,

I will try to help you without knowing what kind of fish, the size of your tank. If they have bloated stomachs, chances are they are suffering from swim bladder disease, but its hard for me to tell without knowing what kind of fish you have.

This will be easier for me if you let me know what kind of fish you have. Different kinds of fish need different kinds of treatment. Aslo, how many fish are in the tank? I will tell you how to treat swim bladder disease, but please let me know what kind of fish you have.

Remove the sick fish and put them in your hospital tank. Fast them for 2 days, on the 3rd day take a frozen pea and put it in hot water. This thaws it out and cooks it. Remove the shell from the pea and throw it away. DO NOT feed the shell to your fish, they cannot digest it. Cut the inside of the pea in small pieces and feed them to your fish. Fast them again for another 2 days. If they are still bloated, repeat the whole process.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello,

I have a tiger and yoyo loach, khulid loaches (i think that's how its spelt), tetras a sword tail and a molly and it looks like my blue ram is sick and i don't know why he isn't showing any symptoms or anythin but he is sitting at the bottom of the tank and breathing heavy.

if u need anything else please let me know.

I dont have a hospital tank and if i set one up i feel like he'll die because of the amonia that would build up from cycling. What should i do?

ANSWER: S,

 It sounds like a water problem, most likely ammonia is spiked. You should always have a hospital tank that is running, without fish. I would do a 50% water change, and add a very good water conditioner to your tank. You need to test your tank water every week. If you are going to have a problem with a fish, you will know just by doing a water check. Your blue ram is being poisoned and needs to be remove as soon as possible. They are very sensitive to any organic waste such as ammonia, nitrates, and nitrites. If you cannot keep the ammonia down to zero at all times, you will lose that fish. They are not the best fish to keep unless you are a very experienced fish owner. They are very sensitive to water quality, and very picky eaters. With the amount of fish that you have, and I don't know how many tetra's you have, you will need a 50 gallon tank minimum to keep them all happy and healthy.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello,

Thank you for geting back to me. I did do a water change and my tank is healthy. I do water changes weekly and i check my water and everything is good. The blue ram died and I saw some blood around his stomach...can that mean an internal parasite?? I have a 60 gallon tank and I am experienced when it comes to keeping fish. I've had fish for over 5 years now. Plase let me know if u think its an internal parasite. Because i had my clown loach for a very long time. he was very hearty ive had him for almost 4 years...so the fact that he died alarmed me that there is something in my tank especially he died with a bloated look. Unless when they die the bloat up more....i'm not sure. Anyways thank you for getting back to me!  

Answer
S.

 I don't think it would be an internal parasite. An external maybe or even an injury. If a fish is sick or weak, other fish will pick on it until it either dies or gets removed from the main population. Sorry to hear your Blue Ram died. Good luck on all your other fish. If he looked bloated, it could have been either swim bladder disease of possibly the beginning of Dropsy. If it was Dropsy, then chances are you would not have been able to save him. That disease is almost 100% fatal.