Ok need help fast somethings really not right :(

[Jamess]

Hey guys i wasnt sure where to post this but ive just found my german blue ram dead today and now looking at the other fish i have a cardinal tetra who is like literaly bent into an s shape does any have any ideas what could be happening. Nothing new has gone into that tank for a long time

 

[Superman]

Wish I could help, thought I'd write something rather than view and not post.
Any signs on the ram of what happened?

 

[John Starkey]

Hi James,

any chance you could give us some details on tank spec,co2 bps,stocking levels,how much you feed, and so on

regards john.

 

[Thomas McMillan]

Do you have any sort of treatments at all that you could dose?
If you inject CO2, is that looking ok?
If your tank is open-top then you might have sprayed deoderant near the tank or something and that has effected it.

Either way, I don't really know what to do but I thought I'd help out anyway. IMO it would be a good idea to dose something if you have it and do a water change.

If you post on TFF, you might get a bit more help.

 

[Jamess]

atm its literally jus t a 180 litre tank with an eheim 2213 and a tetratec ex700 filtering, standerd lights (rio 180 with hi-light) im not injecting any co2 or dosing as iv only got half of the stuff i need for the tank i was planning on starting next week after i get paid. Stocking is 6 small angels like 50p size 9 cardinals and 5 black neons. the angels will be cut down to 2 once i get a pair

 

[Thomas McMillan]

I think the best thing to do would be to dose something to help the little guys out. You might also want to do a water change.

MA are usually quite helpful and can advise you on what the best product would be to use.

 

[chris1004]

Can you be certain that the angels haven't attacked the other fish as is there want? They should have been called 'hells angels'.....

 

[Ed Seeley]

There's no point 'dosing something' unless you know what the problem is and what you are treating. A lot of treatments actually knock back the filter and if you have a water quality problem they will make it worse. Do not just sling treatments in a tank unless you know why you're doing it.

Your first step is to take some tests of the water and do a large water change. I'd test for Nitrite (and ammonia if you have it) and pH at least. Is this a new tank or have you recently changed any of the filters or filter media?

 

[TLH]

Fish tuberculosis can sometimes present with a spinal curvature in advanced cases. Do your other fish have any lessions, fungus, hollow stomachs, clamped fins etc?

 

[Thomas McMillan]

Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting you just buy some random treatment, dose it and hope that it works. That's why I said I wasn't really sure what to do and to go to Maidenhead for further advice on that.

 

[Ed Seeley]

Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting you just buy some random treatment, dose it and hope that it works. That's why I said I wasn't really sure what to do and to go to Maidenhead for further advice on that.

I'm sorry but it seemed like that was exactly what you were doing. Often the guys in unfortunately far too many LFSs will sell you something on the chance it might help and to make a sale when actually what you need to do is sort out the water quality and then leave well alone. You should never dose unless you are sure the treatment will actually be effective against the diagnosed problem. Koi keeping IMHO is far ahead of the rest of fish keeping here where scrapes and microscopes are more widely used to diagnose parasitic and other issues. You can then be relatively sure of what's wrong with a fish and dose with a powerful, fairly specific drug that sorts the problem out.

 

[Thomas McMillan]

Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting you just buy some random treatment, dose it and hope that it works. That's why I said I wasn't really sure what to do and to go to Maidenhead for further advice on that.

I'm sorry but it seemed like that was exactly what you were doing. Often the guys in unfortunately far too many LFSs will sell you something on the chance it might help and to make a sale when actually what you need to do is sort out the water quality and then leave well alone. You should never dose unless you are sure the treatment will actually be effective against the diagnosed problem. Koi keeping IMHO is far ahead of the rest of fish keeping here where scrapes and microscopes are more widely used to diagnose parasitic and other issues. You can then be relatively sure of what's wrong with a fish and dose with a powerful, fairly specific drug that sorts the problem out.

Ok, maybe I should have re-phrased what I said, I didn't mean to give misleading advice if that's how it seemed.