Ongoing mystery illness, please help....

Salomlar · Mar 21, 2022

I have a 70 gallon FWOLR tank.

My fire fish have been slowly degrading for months. they've got fin rot and have been increasingly lethargic. Now they're virtually catatonic. I've been treating the tank with amoxicillin and kanaplex, which seemed to slow down the illness, but I just can't get it to go away. Now the green chromis also appear affected, they're staying near the surface in the aerator bubbles.

This illness came out of nowhere. The tank was stable, no new fish added, water parameters are good, cleaning the filters weekly, and water changes every other week.

Becoming very frustrated that I can't defeat this....

Any guidance beyond kanaplex and water parameters would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Seth

blaxsun · Mar 21, 2022

You'll need to list your water parameters, details of your tank, filtration, media, etc. Is that an air stone running?

Salomlar · Mar 27, 2022

blaxsun said:
You'll need to list your water parameters, details of your tank, filtration, media, etc. Is that an air stone running?

Hi, thanks so much for the prompt response, and apologies for my delayed response.

My water parameters are:
Total Hardness: 120
Free Chlorine: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Total Alkalinity: 40
Carbonate: 40
Ph: 6.8

Filtration: bio media (stones), charcoal filter, sponge filters, and U/V filter.

Have a protein skimmer, but I unplugged it last week when I started medicating the tank again.

Also have an oxydator, filled with 6% peroxide.

Have two air stones.

Have two koralia 1150 flow fans plugged into a wave controller.

Any other details?

Thank you!!

seth

Biochembob · Apr 6, 2022

Salomlar said:
Hi, thanks so much for the prompt response, and apologies for my delayed response.

My water parameters are:
Total Hardness: 120
Free Chlorine: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Total Alkalinity: 40
Carbonate: 40
Ph: 6.8

Filtration: bio media (stones), charcoal filter, sponge filters, and U/V filter.

Have a protein skimmer, but I unplugged it last week when I started medicating the tank again.

Also have an oxydator, filled with 6% peroxide.

Have two air stones.

Have two koralia 1150 flow fans plugged into a wave controller.

Any other details?

Thank you!!

seth

That pH and alkalinity is super low. Are you just topping up with fresh water? How often are you changing water? What is your refractive index?