 Elephant Nose Fish with pink sore around mouth!
I have this posted in the thread 1 fish dead, 1 with no fins, 1 with white scaly sore or something to that effect but thought this particular issue needed more attention.
First I know I had not cycled properly!
BASIC INFO: I got the tank last Friday 2.8.08, kept 20 gallons of original water, added 25 more of tap with conditioner, washed rocks and decor and put in new filter.
I added the 12 existing fish from the tank that same night, cause they were going to die if I kept them in a 1 gallon tank while the 55 cycled (not much of a choice). I then added 3 gourami's on that saturday and then 4 more guppies the following Tuesday. Giving me 12 Gupppies, 3 gourami's, 2 cory cats, 1 elephant fish, 1 betta (he has been put back in his own home now), 1 butterfly fish.
Feeding schedule: I was feeding twice a day but cut back to once a day per instruction of LFS Lady. They get a small pinch of tropical flakes (guppies, gouramis), small pinch of freeze dried bloodworms (butterfly fish only eats these or frozen if they don't sink first, he will not leave the surface!) 3-5 shrimp pellets (cories), 1 frozen bloodworm from a bubble pack of 8 (elephant nose, cories will steal them but suffer a head butting if they get caught..lol).
Now to the issues I've incountered:
1st Dead Guppy stuck to filter-2.15.08 could have been a water quality issue or maybe just got stuck. I found his fins in the filter along with my bettas. Water test at LFS showed high nitrite lvls between .25 mg/l and .50 mg/l.
-- They suggested daily water changes and tetracycline. She said the waste the fish produce goes from ammonia, to nitrite to nitrate, I was in the nitrite stage but possibly didn't have the proper bacteria to get to the nitrate stage and the ammonia issue likely killed the guppy cause he was just prone to it (he was not as hardy as the others).
I DID NOT DO THE MEDICATION PART but did the water change, salt and another filter change. Today after the second 33% water change my tests are all perfect nitrite 0, ammonia 0, ph 7.4. She said without the good bacteria I will continue to have ammonia and nitrite issues and to add a product called cycle (bacteria) and do daily water changes with 1 tbls of salt per 5 gallons.
2nd first started as a white sore then turned pinnk on the elephant nose's- well-nose right in front of his mouth.--They suggested that this could be a fungus, bacteria, or just from the ammonia, nitrite spike as well.
Funny thing is my ammonia lvl is always at 0 the 3 times I tested it last friday, this friday and today. I guess I just missed the spike!
3rd a few whitish spots on one of my cories.
Everyone else looks fine. They all act normal as far a behavior and eating go.
So my questions are:
1. what does it look like to you?
2. Could the guppy death, pink sore on elephant nose and white spots on the cory all be from ammonia or nitrite spikes? Just diffrent reactions by diffrent fish?
3. Should I do tetracyline? Or just the Cycle (bacteria)? Or just stick with frequent water changes and testing of course with the aquarium salt additive?
| 
