unknown tank issue

[SkyAurelia]

i have a 14g cube, it hass a fine soft gravel in the bottom with several diffrent plants in it, there are 2 cory cats in the tank albino and black, also a albino pleco, and a female betta, there all doing great, now the issue i am having lies in the guppies inhabbiting the tank, at first they had skinny diesease, i cured it and they stoped dieing on me, a few weeks later, i am now daily waking up to 1 to 2 dead guppies a day, at first i thought it was the older ones only, but then i noticed some of the younger ones dieing off, from what i can tell this is not skinny again, they do die upside down on the bottom like skinny but they do not have open mouth like they seen ghost now and are not deflated, i tried the same medication i used for skinny on it but it did not seem to help, (metroplex being the medication)

the tank has a sponge filter, internal filter, and gets bi weekly water changes of 15%, the nitrates and nitrites seem to be fine, i am going to test the ph later to see if says any thing but i doubt t he ph is the issue sense the corys are in good health.

 

[vetteguy53081]

i have a 14g cube, it hass a fine soft gravel in the bottom with several diffrent plants in it, there are 2 cory cats in the tank albino and black, also a albino pleco, and a female betta, there all doing great, now the issue i am having lies in the guppies inhabbiting the tank, at first they had skinny diesease, i cured it and they stoped dieing on me, a few weeks later, i am now daily waking up to 1 to 2 dead guppies a day, at first i thought it was the older ones only, but then i noticed some of the younger ones dieing off, from what i can tell this is not skinny again, they do die upside down on the bottom like skinny but they do not have open mouth like they seen ghost now and are not deflated, i tried the same medication i used for skinny on it but it did not seem to help, (metroplex being the medication)

the tank has a sponge filter, internal filter, and gets bi weekly water changes of 15%, the nitrates and nitrites seem to be fine, i am going to test the ph later to see if says any thing but i doubt t he ph is the issue sense the corys are in good health.

Assure ammonia level is not high and recommended with live bearers is aquarium (not sea) salt or Epsom salt in their tank at one teaspoon per 10 gallons which protects against disease including fungus which they are prone to.

 

[Fish Fan]

Assure ammonia level is not high and recommended with live bearers is aquarium (not sea) salt or Epsom salt in their tank at one teaspoon per 10 gallons which protects against disease including fungus which they are prone to.

I don't believe the OP's catfish can handle the salt addition.

This might be a decision; do you want to keep guppies or do you want to keep the catfish. The guppies prefer hard water, and the catfish prefer soft water.

As always, thank you for helping, Vette!

EDIT: @vetteguy53081 thank you in particular for being willing to help and discuss freshwater tanks. I am one who really wishes R2R would have just a small freshwater forum, but I know that's not happening :)

 

[SkyAurelia]

ah so thats the issue, water hardness, i never considered to check that, alright i will getting some aquarium salt to add after moving the catfish, i have some epsom salt i can add a little bit of that tell i can get to the store to get the other stuff, thanks for the help, i will post back and let you guys know what happens.

 

[SkyAurelia]

before i move my catfish, trying to pick the best tank, i have a tank with rainbow shrimp only, would they be a good fit for that tank? i have panda cory cats with my male betta but i prefer to keep them kind on there own as they tend to be more sensitive then normal corys

 

[vetteguy53081]

I don't believe the OP's catfish can handle the salt addition.

This might be a decision; do you want to keep guppies or do you want to keep the catfish. The guppies prefer hard water, and the catfish prefer soft water.

As always, thank you for helping, Vette!

EDIT: @vetteguy53081 thank you in particular for being willing to help and discuss freshwater tanks. I am one who really wishes R2R would have just a small freshwater forum, but I know that's not happening :)

Its is safe for these corys despite being scaless as I ran aquarium salt through my entire FW system at my LFS with all freshwater fish and 1 teaspoon per 10g is a small amount

 

[Fish Fan]

Its is safe for these corys as I ran aquarium salt through my entire FW system at my LFS with all freshwater fish and 1 teaspoon per 10g is a small amount

Even with the pleco? I have always thought these fish were very sensitive to salt additions.

Thanks again!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Even with the pleco? I have always thought these fish were very sensitive to salt additions.

Thanks again!

Recommended is one tablespoon. I recommend teaspoon. This level is safe for most pleco species (clown pleco being most sensitive) and prevents osmotic stress with plecos and most catfish species. Because theyre scaleless makes them more sensitive

 

[Fish Fan]

Recommended is one tablespoon. I recommend teaspoon. This level is safe for most pleco species (clown pleco being most sensitive) and prevents osmotic stress with plecos and most catfish species. Because theyre scaleless makes them more sensitive

I appreciate that, I didn't think the plecos could handle any salt at all. With that in mind, I know the OP's guppies would appreciate it.

Thanks again for your help here!

 

[vetteguy53081]

I appreciate that, I didn't think the plecos could handle any salt at all. With that in mind, I know the OP's guppies would appreciate it.

Thanks again for your help here!

here is one of a few talks for reference

https://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/threads/can-plecos-tolerate-any-salt-at-all.104299/

 

[SkyAurelia]

ok so i dont have to move my fish around then, thanks you very much for the info, im going to add some epsom now and see if things improve, i will post back in a few days if things improve, if i post back sooner somthing prolly didnt go well.

 

[Fish Fan]

ok so i dont have to move my fish around then, thanks you very much for the info, im going to add some epsom now and see if things improve, i will post back in a few days if things improve, if i post back sooner somthing prolly didnt go well.

I am sorry, I don't mean to post over your thread here :)

I would listen to @vetteguy53081 he's typically spot on with advice, both freshwater and salt.

Check out the link Vette provided above. I read through it quickly, and it seems to me that salt for catfish is fine as a short term disease treatment, but not the best idea in the long term. Maybe I'm missing something in that thread, but please check it out and decide for yourself.

Please let us know if you have further questions, and definitely how things are going! Good luck!!!

 

[SkyAurelia]

alright when i have time i will look that over, how offten should i add the salt? with water changes or?

 

[Elira_6301]

i have a 14g cube, it hass a fine soft gravel in the bottom with several diffrent plants in it, there are 2 cory cats in the tank albino and black, also a albino pleco, and a female betta, there all doing great, now the issue i am having lies in the guppies inhabbiting the tank, at first they had skinny diesease, i cured it and they stoped dieing on me, a few weeks later, i am now daily waking up to 1 to 2 dead guppies a day, at first i thought it was the older ones only, but then i noticed some of the younger ones dieing off, from what i can tell this is not skinny again, they do die upside down on the bottom like skinny but they do not have open mouth like they seen ghost now and are not deflated, i tried the same medication i used for skinny on it but it did not seem to help, (metroplex being the medication)

the tank has a sponge filter, internal filter, and gets bi weekly water changes of 15%, the nitrates and nitrites seem to be fine, i am going to test the ph later to see if says any thing but i doubt t he ph is the issue sense the corys are in good health.

Swim bladder disease?

 

[SkyAurelia]

no dont think so i have delt with that aa few times in my salt tnak with my clowns and i fixed it with epsom salt. they are look fine, swim fine, hang around mid level of tank unless feeding or foraging on the bottom, from what i can tell there is no signs of sickness any more in this tank. just what looksk like random death. hoping the salt fixes it.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I appreciate that, I didn't think the plecos could handle any salt at all. With that in mind, I know the OP's guppies would appreciate it.

Thanks again for your help here!

Yes, 1 tsp of Epsom salt per 10 gallons is fine for South American catfish. I’ve taken common plecostomus / Hypostomus up to 2ppt sea salt.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

i have a 14g cube, it hass a fine soft gravel in the bottom with several diffrent plants in it, there are 2 cory cats in the tank albino and black, also a albino pleco, and a female betta, there all doing great, now the issue i am having lies in the guppies inhabbiting the tank, at first they had skinny diesease, i cured it and they stoped dieing on me, a few weeks later, i am now daily waking up to 1 to 2 dead guppies a day, at first i thought it was the older ones only, but then i noticed some of the younger ones dieing off, from what i can tell this is not skinny again, they do die upside down on the bottom like skinny but they do not have open mouth like they seen ghost now and are not deflated, i tried the same medication i used for skinny on it but it did not seem to help, (metroplex being the medication)

the tank has a sponge filter, internal filter, and gets bi weekly water changes of 15%, the nitrates and nitrites seem to be fine, i am going to test the ph later to see if says any thing but i doubt t he ph is the issue sense the corys are in good health.

How many guppies are in the tank?
I wonder if they have gill flukes? I’ve had problems with guppies getting those and then dying a few at a time with no apparent symptoms.

 

[SkyAurelia]

about 10 have not had a single baby die only the parents died off, babies have been in there for about 3 weeks now.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

about 10 have not had a single baby die only the parents died off, babies have been in there for about 3 weeks now.

Gill flukes would be worse for the babies, but the parents may have had longer infections…..

 

[SkyAurelia]

going to assume its not that then sense the babies seem ok so far.