Help wanted Grey Albino

hi my friend has just texted me to ask my advice on her albino bristlenose male, he has gone very skinny and gone grey in colour any ideas as i have never come across this before

"L Number mad wrote:

hi my friend has just texted me to ask my advice on her albino bristlenose male, he has gone very skinny and gone grey in colour any ideas as i have never come across this before

go hear
http://www.plecofanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=71426

sounds like this...

Just wish i could get to the bottom of it, i tested the water

Ammonia 0mg
Nitrit 0mg
Nitrate 5mg
Ph 7.6

But he went grey around the head region, abit of the skinny side on his belly region (this came on all of a sudden) and was lethagic, Anyway i did a 30% water change on the tank in question and left for work, when i returned he'd died during the day (Is it normal for the cheek spines to be fully erect when they die??) found him upside down in the slate cave.

Got abit excited coz i thought he was fanning my next brood

I've had him about 2 years but he originally came from Gloucester so i don't know his true age.

He was mated with two larger females 4 weeks ago, not sure if this may help anyone???

this is a tricky one coz you have had him for 2 years with no probz....water results look fine PH rising slightly high but 7.6 isnt to bad...
you have gotta look at things you may have done differant recently ie. food..new addition's...any plants ...
Also what is your aeration like(O2)..
This could just be a case of severe stress as if he died with his spike out then it could mean he died in a bit of pain as normally when there spikes are out its classed as a defensive mode..
Like i said have a think about anything that may have changed in your tank recently...
Has he been eating atol???
Like i said its rather stress or an internal parasite but i will try and get answers for you.....just make sure you keep an eye on your other BN's..
As soon as you see any other sign's then ask straight away and we will try and work a solution out before its to late...
Either way sorry for your loss...

Sorry for your loss

i would keep a close eye on the others

and i would say this is some sort of Paracite

Hi guys thanks for all your help but the disaster is still attacking my tank, 3 days later (thursday) just gone my 2 large albino females were upside down DEAD, Totally mortified!!! Think they had died in the morning sometime as i had been at work all day and didnt return home until 7pm and went to feed them at about 9pm when i discovered them both, everything else in the tank was fine,

Ammonia was up slightly 0.25mg
Nitrite 0.25mg Am suspecting due to the two large decomposing bodies i found (as all readings the night before were 0mg)

Nitrates 5mg
Ph 7.6

I was informed that theres water works going on in my area at the moment, and may have something to do with it???

Just looking for answers really as i've lost 3 good sized and healthy bristlenoses in the last week!!

Could be the waterworks but I am thinking its more something they might have eaten.
Could their vegs have been sprayed with something, or their food wafers have gone "off"?
Also make sure all your filtration airstones and canister tubes etc are all unblocked and working well.

this is bad news......how often do you do water changes??? and how do you do water changes ie. what do you treat the water with before you add it too your tank??
how much water do you change ?? if the nitrite is a little high you will need to do at least a 25% water change...the best thing to do if you suspect the water works is to do a water test on the water before you add anything or take it to your local fish store and ask them to test it....what type of test kit do you have???

i do water changes every week and i change 25 to 30% of the tank volume, i always pre treat the water with a dechorinator prior to adding the water slowly to the tank and most importantly i make sure that its the same temperature to prevent thermal shock am using the API liquid test kit and its brand new. I tested the tapwater coming into the house and theres no ammonia or nitrite and Nitrates are zero also and the Ph is 7.6. Temperature of the tank is at 26.5'C

a friend of mine said the water board could be using a chemical that descales the pipework and also i have notice a strong cholrine smell to the tapwater.

something is wrong with the tank as some of my platies were sitting on the sand when i came home from work at about 5pm

i am just annoyed now as ive paid out for a pair of L059's and am worried they will not settle in the tank, all my other tanks are completely fine despit using the same tapwater source.

am thinking of changing over to R.O. water but thats added expense and time consuming job in itself.

Has anyone else had the same problem recently especially in the Cardiff Area??

well you are doing everything right.. is there any chance you could post a few pics of your tank setup and some of your fish that dont seem very well..
it may be a good idea to move your new plecs into your other tank for piece of mind....thats what i would do just to make sure i save them...
i still think its down to some sort of internal parasite...have a look on ebay for ESHA 2000 its pefect for fighting parasite's..and if that doesnt work then a least we no its not parasite's..
its also worth a quick call to your local water board and explain your concern's....and use words such as ive sent a sample off for testing and see what they say...
i really do hope you sort this out but if all else fails you may have to go down the line's of buying ready prepared water and move your plecs into quarentine whilst it cycle's...
like i said try and get some pics up so i get a rough idea of your setup.....and dont lose patience

Yeah i could add a picture but im a women and when it comes to inserting pictures i am not that technically minded...lol

Its a 3ftx2ftx2ft tank

with 2 mangrove roots which were presoaked for 2 weeks before adding to the tank
a selection of various live plants
slate cave

have

Platies
Corydoras
Clown Plec
1 Large Angel
Black neons
Cardinals
Swordtails
Coolie Loach

there is a pic of her tank in her gallery curby

Yep i manage to work out how to upload pictures in the gallery but not sure if you can upload them in your posts if so i not sure how to do it.

Just done another water test just waiting for the results to develop. Will post results shortly.

Bristles2009 wrote:

Yep i manage to work out how to upload pictures in the gallery but not sure if you can upload them in your posts if so i not sure how to do it.

Just done another water test just waiting for the results to develop. Will post results shortly.

ok luv just keep us updated.....

Results were

Ammonia 0mg
Nitrite 0mg
Nitrate 5mg
PH 7.6

WHICH AM ASSUMING is ok??

Bristles2009 wrote:

Results were

Ammonia 0mg
Nitrite 0mg
Nitrate 5mg
PH 7.6

WHICH AM ASSUMING is ok??

Nope they are fine...hows your community doing now???

Do you Gravel Vac????

what is the readings of your tap water?

any more losses

o yer i forgot to mention i had a few problems with our water the other day very strong smell of chlorine and very cloudey looking so i texted bristles a pic to see if it was the same problem she had accured and she said simular, anyway i decided to phone the water board and the reply i got was very off indeed they said we supply water to drink, shower and bath not to put straight into the fish tank it passes all tests required our end before being released for human consumption

That's a cold answer. I wouldn't trust drinking water that would kill my fish by doing a water change.

JacobkGreen wrote:

That's a cold answer. I wouldn't trust drinking water that would kill my fish by doing a water change.

me neither strange...its good to see they care about thier customer's...tosspots......

Indeed..i mean i get an average on 10 customers a week coming in with water chemistry related problems, mainly due to soft tap water which causes Ph crash, which in turns kills filter bacteria and end up with New Tank Syndrome all over again!!!

It's wrong!!!! water board should inform customers on basis of doing any treatment works!! i reckon there was an overload of Copper in the water supply as it also kill my shrimps that i had in the same tank, and copper is toxic to them.

Getting to expensive hobby, have right mind to forward on my plec death bill to the waterboard.

Just gutted.

Bristles2009 wrote:

Indeed..i mean i get an average on 10 customers a week coming in with water chemistry related problems, mainly due to soft tap water which causes Ph crash, which in turns kills filter bacteria and end up with New Tank Syndrome all over again!!!

It's wrong!!!! water board should inform customers on basis of doing any treatment works!! i reckon there was an overload of Copper in the water supply as it also kill my shrimps that i had in the same tank, and copper is toxic to them.

Getting to expensive hobby, have right mind to forward on my plec death bill to the waterboard.

Just gutted.

i would i wouldnt let them get away with it. whilst they say we only supply drinking thats rubbish as you are a paying customer you pay for the water, id get a nice nasty little letter wrote with all your finding's even if you dont get anywere at least you gave them a roasting, you never no, i hope you can build your collection back up..

Thanks curby, wouldn't like my chances after how "L number mad" was treated, have 3 aquariums running. tonight the water issue still hits me in the face, tested the ph of my fry tank with 6 week old albino common anistrus fry. Which i do 50% water changes every other day.

Ph is 5.5 on nutrafin test kit and 6.0 on the API test kit!!! am thinking what the hell is going on????

tested ph in other 2 tanks fine thank goodness but was going to do wc on both of them, which means now i have to buy buffer powder and invest in r.o. tub along with r.o. water when i go to work.

am going to note all the extra expense its costing me in my lovely letter to the water board.

not to mention the massive skin rash on my right arm!!!! which is related.....fit for human constumption, bath and shower (my backside)

Bristles2009 wrote:

Thanks curby, wouldn't like my chances after how "L number mad" was treated, have 3 aquariums running. tonight the water issue still hits me in the face, tested the ph of my fry tank with 6 week old albino common anistrus fry. Which i do 50% water changes every other day.

Ph is 5.5 on nutrafin test kit and 6.0 on the API test kit!!! am thinking what the hell is going on????

tested ph in other 2 tanks fine thank goodness but was going to do wc on both of them, which means now i have to buy buffer powder and invest in r.o. tub along with r.o. water when i go to work.

am going to note all the extra expense its costing me in my lovely letter to the water board.

not to mention the massive skin rash on my right arm!!!! which is related.....fit for human constumption, bath and shower (my backside)

lol to (my backside) hopefully your water result's stay stable but some things you simply cant see, i would stick a few cheaper fish in there first before you add any exspenive fish, i no its like sending a monkey into space but it could save you loads more dosh......