Please help urgent!!!

[ctvu]

I got one of 6 discus swimming up side down, side way and panting a lot. There is no sign of sickness i.e no dark colour yesterday still eating but when I got home this fish always hides in the corner. The ammonia level is a bit high 1.2, PH 6.5. Please help me what to do I already raised the temp 32 It is breaking my heart when I see him or her going to die. Thank you

Ps: I don't have QT tank

[Proteus]

lots of water changes...

make sure the water is the same temp, as I stated in another post, double dose with ager, just to be safe...

keep the lights off.

I usually dont advocate using bacteria additives, but if you have some, use it... anything with Nitrosomonas, or Nitrobacter. (the nitrifying bacteria should deal with your ammonia problem, for the moment anyway)

ok, question time... detail all the filtration equipment you are using, how long has each item and tank been running??? have you recently done anything different???

aside from the suggestion above, do several small water changes every day... even if it is just a bucket at a time. Sounds like you are having a massive spike in your parameters... (have you tested for NitrItes, or NitrAtes?)

[parasite]

i agree, lots of water changes with similar temp and ph, maybe even use something like ammagon (zeolite) into ur filtration to absorb the ammonia till ur filtration is in order.

[ctvu]

lots of water changes...

make sure the water is the same temp, as I stated in another post, double dose with ager, just to be safe...

keep the lights off.

I usually dont advocate using bacteria additives, but if you have some, use it... anything with Nitrosomonas, or Nitrobacter. (the nitrifying bacteria should deal with your ammonia problem, for the moment anyway)

ok, question time... detail all the filtration equipment you are using, how long has each item and tank been running??? have you recently done anything different???

aside from the suggestion above, do several small water changes every day... even if it is just a bucket at a time. Sounds like you are having a massive spike in your parameters... (have you tested for NitrItes, or NitrAtes?)

Thank you guys

I don't have bacteria additives. I just put the second canister last week it is Eheim 2228 and it was brand new, the first one has been with the tank all the time since the first day, we went thru the fishless cycling a month before getting fish. Other than that I have not done any thing else to the tank.
And every day I put my hand in the tank to vac the left over and poo. I read some where it is not good either for fish.
I'll test the Nitrite today

[Trebs]

Only raise temps if you are doing it to treat disease. If there is ammonia in the water, raising the temp will reduce the amount of disolved oxygen. The reason your fish were gasping is due to lack of oxygen.
The bacteria that break down ammonia and nitrite use oxygen to do this. The more ammonia the more oxygen is being used up by the bacteria. Add this to raised temps and there isn't much oxygen left for the fish.

Adding an airstone when ammonia is detected will help keep the water oxygenated.

Also, when your ph is below 7 nitrites can be more of a danger than ammonia so be prepared for a nitrite spike to follow the ammonia. The nitrite spike will typically last longer than an ammonia spike.

HTH.

Proteus - Above is what I understand to be true, would you agree?

[Proteus]

Totally agree..

and I totally overlooked the aeration side of thing...

[skoom]

What do people think of AMMOLOCK? It claims it'll nullify the toxicity of ammonia...

[ctvu]

Thanks guys

I should mention that there is a sponge filter which is very dirty, I am about to get it clean, and one airstone in the tank as well. Do you think because the dirty sponge filter causes the problem.?
I am trying to figure out what cause of it then it won't happen again. Thanks

[Trebs]

Things like AMMOLOCK have their place but they are only a stop-gap solution. Sooner or later the bacteria in the filter needs to develop to a point where it can handle the load created by the fish.

These sort of things are good to have in an emergency though.

Sponge filter - very unlikely to be the problem. You should still aim to keep it fairly clear of obstructions in order to keep the flow through the sponge up though.

[ctvu]

Today test : Ammonia still the same 1.2, Nitrite = 0.0 (test done after 1/3 w/c) the sick fish stops darting around but he is not as active as the other 5, he swims alone and slowly.
The other 5 fish are still too scared when I come to the tank. Since my camera is out of action, as soon as I got it back I will take some photo of my tank and things around it.
All I am trying to do is that K I S S and calm, I do w/c daily, I took out the filthy sponge filter, try not to put my hands in the tank as much as possible, what else I should do now?
I was going to buy some plant on drift wood tomorrow, because of this so it may not be a good idea I guess to buy it now.
Thanks a lot guys I need your supports atm.