# Getting over a tank epidemic - any suggestions?



## Majickyl (Oct 21, 2015)

Hello fish people!

I've been reading his forum as needed since I started fish keeping about a year ago with an outdoor pond. At the time I was living in GA and had a (then small, now larger) common pleco in the pond who didn't appreciated the winter as much as the goldfish, so we brought him inside for the season and have had our little aquarium ever since.

We're now back in FL so the pleco is out in the pond all year, but we've got a small freshwater community going on in his former winter home. It's been about a year since the beginning, so the tank's long cycled and has been illness free until recently.

A few weeks ago I made my first fish-killing mistake. We got a few mickey mouse platies from our new LFS here in FL. I did not have QT tank set up and had been lucky to this point, but a week or so after the new additions a zebrafish did not show up for feeding and he was found with a clamped pectoral fin, angry and red at the base with a white patch on his side beginning to affect his gills. Less than 24 hours later he was dead after becoming increasingly lethargic and losing function of the affected gill.

The next day a raspora began acting a bit unlike himself and was hiding more than usual. Sure enough, he had a similar patch further down his body. Since the infection was on the gills of one fish and the skin of another I thought it may be flukes and looked for something with praziquantel and administered it. His spot cleared up, but he eventually succombed as well.

I've read that flukes are common and only cause problems in fish weakened by something else. After the praziquantel was complete I did a course of Tetra Lifeguard for the survivors to hopefully get whatever that might be taken care of, and that is now complete. I'm anxious to be done with medicating these poor fish and I bet they will appreciate the end of this!

Well, my tank is now, not surprisingly, currently in a mini-cycle. It's the first ammonia spike I've seen since the tank was established over a year ago, but I'm managing it with daily partial water changes and the remaining fish are currently looking rather well. 

So on to questions:

Any comments from you experienced fishkeepers as to what I could do better in the future (besides the obvious use of a QT tank)?

Also, it occurs to me that removing the charcoal for the medication (which is integrated with the sponge in my filter) removed a lot of biomass and, on top of the drugs, is responsible for the current minicycle. I had some ceramic beads in there from when I initially seeded the biological filtration (they came from the fish pond) but would be much better to have the bulk of the biomass (the sponge) separate from any charcoal. I have a topfin 20 filter... is there a way to do that in that type of filter?


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

the qt tank obviously is the best prevention, but also buying from a reputable source. not all lfs are equal and mass breeding operations sadly result in a lot of disease. another thing that my help is drip acclimation, as its less stressful on the fish. as for the filter im unsure, photos would help.


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## LizStreithorst (Jul 16, 2015)

Majickyl said:


> Hello fish people!
> 
> I've been reading his forum as needed since I started fish keeping about a year ago with an outdoor pond. At the time I was living in GA and had a (then small, now larger) common pleco in the pond who didn't appreciated the winter as much as the goldfish, so we brought him inside for the season and have had our little aquarium ever since.
> 
> ...


Don't worry about the mini cycle. Just change lots of water every day until the tank is stable again.

If the existing fish show no symptoms after a week, introduce one fish from a trusted source. It would be better to introduce one existing fish to one new fish in a QT tank, but you don't have that option.

If your new fish comes from a disease free source and there is disease still lurking in the existing fish, the new fish will get sick and die. If not, you are home free.


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