Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have two Orandas in my fish tank (60 L - it's not an aquaponics system (will be soon though in a 200L)). One's fairly new (got him a couple months ago) and white with an orange head and the other (Orangey) is fairly old (my 1st fish - got him almost 4 years ago), Orange with no bumpy head, and much bigger than the white one at 11 cm! Sam's about 7 cm from head to tail tip (the white fish).

For the last couple of weeks Sam's Orange head has had a big white bump in the centre but seems fine, and Orangey's head has got a smaller white patch. I didn't want to do this but had to - just quickly touched Sam's bump to see what it was like. It was soft and not like normal fish feel (I don't think I stressed him out too much). A few weeks ago I put a new waterplant in there.

On Saturday night one of my Hong Kong Plecs died and on Sunday we buried him. I haven't seen the other one in a while either. I hadn't done a water change for a coupe of weeks but on Sunday I did one, scraped the algae off, replaced a filter cartridge (3 in a HOB), and cleaned all the filter stuff out to let it flow freely. Every night after school since I've used the jug to get water from the tank and put it back in and repeating to help aerate it (as the bubbler's not doing a good job). I put one tablespoon of salt in on Sunday and am hoping to make a sponge filter on Saturday, take out the HOB cartridges, and use some antibacterial + antifungal medicine to help with the white bump patches.

But today when I saw Orangey he was lying on his side looking all dead. I've heard u tell the difference between an asleep and dead fish by whether they're floating on top - lucky he wasn't. But this is false as my Hong Kong Plec that dies wasn't at the top - he was at the bottom. So I checked by tapping the glass lightly (I know I shouldn't but I had to to check) but he was alive. Quickly though he settled down into the dead-looking position. I moved him gently using the jug but still once he settled back down he was dead-looking again.

I don't know what's wrong! Should I wait until Saturday and use the meds, or what? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

Sorry about this looooooooooooong post but u need the info. Thanks for any help once again.

I'm sorry to hear about your fish. A photo would be helpful but this sounds like either a fungal or bacterial disease. I'm not certain what the best path to take would be. I'd definitely look at the water parameters to see if there's a problem that's contributing to this (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and temp).

It sounds like these are pets so I would go ahead on treating them but in another tank, I wouldn't wait. The meds could affect the biofiltration in your current tank and if you're eating any plants from the system you probably don't want the meds in there either.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the reply.

They're not in an aquaponics system yet (next week hopefully ). Last night I did the water test and: pH 7.4-7.6, ammonia 0.5, nitrite also 0.5 and nitrate 0! The ammonia and nitrite are too high, whilst the nitrate I probably tested it wrong.

If you look at the temperature and pH vs your ammonia reading you can tell what form the ammonia is in and whether it will be in a form that is toxic to the fish - http://ibcofaquaponics.com/files/IBCofAquaponics.pdf look on the last couple of pages of this pdf for the chart. I would expect Orandas to be pretty durable but I'm not sure about this. Even if it's not in the toxic range now, it wouldn't surprise me if you've had a spike in ammonia or nitrites that was somehow involved in the problem. You've already salted or I'd suggest this for the Nitrites (might not have done this soon enough ). Keep your fingers crossed and get them treated.

It's pretty common not to show any Ammonia, Nitrites or Nitrates when testing a system - just means they are getting used by the plants as fast as they are being produced by the breakdown of fish waste. In other words, I think your Nitrate test was probably valid.

I've got two water plants inside the tank and that's it.

It's not an aquaponics system yet as there's no hydroponic part - and I don't think two small water plants can get rid of the Nitrates of TWO Orandas and a couple of Hong Kong Plecs.

BTW thanks for the link I'll take a look at this

Don't forget about the algae.

Both Hong Kong Plecs have passed away but the Orandas are getting better and the Aquaponics system's built so next week after some peeponics the fish can go in there!!!!!!!!!! Whoooo!