# Sick Green Terror, other fish dying



## zepheenia (Aug 27, 2015)

Hi, I have a 7 year old GT who I've kept with assorted Africans for her whole life (it was only this year I found out I shouldn't have been keeping them together)
I noticed on Monday she was looking unwell, had a bloated belly and was constantly trying to swim downwards. I immediately took her out and put her in an isolated small tank with multi-cure in it (this is all I have, I understand it might not be what's needed but as I'm unsure what is wrong I thought it was worth a try). I then noticed three of my small Africans that were born in the tank and survived out of 12 babies for months were all dead. The fact that I could see them was strange as my tank has a habit of disappearing small new fish (I believe they get attacked by my aggressive tank mates and my eel scavenges the remains).
They had all looked fine the day before, but I assumed whatever my GT (Iris) had was killing them quickly. I did a half water change of the tank over the next two days, cleaned out any debris from the filter, tested for ammonia and pH (ammonia is <0.02ppm safe & pH is at 7.6-7.8. Tank is 120 litres and temp is at 24)
The remaining 3 cichlids in the tank looked ok though weren't particularly hungry which was alarming. Yesterday Iris was looking much better, swimming normally, swelling had gone down, so I introduced her back in to the tank.
Woke up this morning to find 2 of the remaining 3 cichlids dead on the gravel. I've taken Iris back out in case.

The only things that *** noticed different in the tank in the past month has been quite a lot of brown algae growing (which I'm trying to control with algae cure), a few snails randomly appearing (I guess they came in on the plants) and at one point the pH got a bit low but I quickly remedied that.

Sorry for the long post, I'm sure I've done something terribly wrong but any help to save my last few fish would be great!


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## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

Your tank is too small for your stocklist. A green terror should be in a tank that's bigger than 30G (120 litres). The fact that you have an ammonia reading is concerning. The only acceptable reading for ammonia is 0. Either you have a dead fish stuck somewhere or your tank cannot handle the bioload.

Sudden algae growth in an established tank can be a signal that you have too many pollutants in your tank. The recent pH drop is not a good sign either.

What does your water changing routine look like?

I don't mean to sound harsh but my recommendation would be to get a bigger tank (at least a 55G) for Iris.


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## zepheenia (Aug 27, 2015)

Thanks zimmy. Sorry, my ammonia reader is one of those little discs that reads between 0 and 0.02, so it is very likely 0, either way it's in the 'safe' zone apparently, but I will get a better system shortly for testing.

Not too harsh at all, I appreciate your advice. She was in a larger tank for most of her life but I've had to downgrade due to space issues. If I can get her well again I will try and see if I can find a better home for her. She's a beautiful old fish and I want what's best for her.


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## zepheenia (Aug 27, 2015)

Would you have any recommendations as to how many fish I'd be able to keep in my size tank so I know not to overload it again? Thanks so much for your help, I think getting used to a smaller tank is going to take some getting used to


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## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

> Sorry, my ammonia reader is one of those little discs that reads between 0 and 0.02, so it is very likely 0, either way it's in the 'safe' zone apparently, but I will get a better system shortly for testing.


It would be good to find out if you have a nitrite reading and if not, what your nitrate levels are.


zepheenia said:


> If I can get her well again I will try and see if I can find a better home for her. She's a beautiful old fish and I want what's best for her.


It's admirable that you're willing to put the well being of the fish ahead of your attachment to her. 


zepheenia said:


> Would you have any recommendations as to how many fish I'd be able to keep in my size tank so I know not to overload it again? Thanks so much for your help, I think getting used to a smaller tank is going to take some getting used to


What is the length of your 120 litre tank? The length will help determine what kind and the number of fish your tank can support over the long-term.


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## zepheenia (Aug 27, 2015)

Thank you again. Ok I got a nitrite testing kit today and tested the water as soon as I got home from work, it was at 0.5 eek! I've just now finished a half tank water change adding Prime, Blue Planet Bio-Active and a small amount of aquarium salts to each bucket. I'll let it run through the filter for half an hour or so before testing again. Will post results.

My tank is 122cm long, 46cm deep and 51cm high. Thank you again for all your help. I only have one 10cm African, one 5cm bristle nose and my eel in the tank now. Oh and 4 tiny cichlid babies who I only just saw tonight.


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## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

I would keep doing 50% water changes till your nitrites are below 0.2 or lower. You can't do enough water changes at this point. In addition to the steps you've taken, aim the filter output or a powerhead toward the water surface to maximize surface agitation. Reduce feeding or stop all together till the tank is cycled. You may want to consider removing the babies to a smaller tank if you have one so you can still feed them.

The good news is that your tank is much more than 120 litres. The dimensions you provided are for a 75G or 243 litre tank. That's a good size for your Green Terror.

How are you filtering the tank?


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## zepheenia (Aug 27, 2015)

Oh wow, how did I manage to miscalculate the litres so badly haha! I'm going to put it down to the stress of dying fish. Thanks for the tip on water agitations, I'll make sure to do that. I will stop feeding for a while, or maybe just put some peas in there? Or will that still cause a spike?
I have a BioPro UVF-1800 external canister filter. I've got three lots of varying density foam sheets in it, the filter balls that came with it and Seachem Matrix media as well. I hope that filter is enough, I had so many terrible ones for years that I really tried to get one that was going to filter well


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## zepheenia (Aug 27, 2015)

Also I gave Iris a quick 10 minute Epsom Salt bath tonight to see whether that will help her at all. I'll keep her in the isolation tank until I can get the main tank back to a suitable level.


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## zimmy (Aug 13, 2010)

I wouldn't feed peas either at this point. The fish can handle a long time without food. It's better they go a bit hungry than deal with toxins (nitrites or ammonia) in the water. I would just focus on daily water changes till you get a zero nitrite reading.

I don't know that filter. Do you know what size tank it's rated for?

An epsom salt bath probably isn't necessary. It's better that the fish have minimal stress to allow them to recover.


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## zepheenia (Aug 27, 2015)

Ok thanks, no food it is! I won't give Iris any more salt baths either, I'll just let her relax. I put a few drops of multi cure in to her isolation tank this morning and the lid fell off! It was horrible! So much multi cure got in to her water! I fished her out and got her in to a clean treated water bucket within a minute so I could fix up the tank but I'm so worried she would have overdosed. I wish I didn't have to be at work right now and could keep checking on her! She was ok when I left though. Poor thing, would have been so horribly stressful!

These are my filter's specs

Canister Specifications:
Biopro UVF-1800
Capacity: 1800 L/hr
Max. Aquarium Volume: 3600L


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## zepheenia (Aug 27, 2015)

Hooray! The tank is back to how it should be. Nitrites are at 0! I'm still a little wary of introducing Iris back in, but now that the water is good I'm hoping she and the other fish will be fine.


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## zepheenia (Aug 27, 2015)

Also I tried two pellets in the tank and my remaining African quickly gobbled them up. So good to see her appetite back! Thank you so much for all your help, I feel like I've learnt so much this week.


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