- HELP - Excess Body slime, hanging on top of fish tank, cloudy look

[cghiotto]

Hi!

My Red Oscar Fish is sick i think, he started developing cloudy pectoral fins, then after few weeks some body slime, and hangs close to the surface of fish tank.

His appetite is still ok, but not the same.. he rubs his gills against the substrate sometimes..

I really need help in a hurry to know what kind of med i should use.

I always perform 30-40% water change every week and vacuum the grave almost every day...

Is a 55 Gallon Fish Tank running EHEIM 2215 and Strong internal Pump. Fish Tank is aerated with surface agitation, i set it up so that they create current at the surface of aquarium water with heavy ripples in the surface of water.

I bought ectopur last week and dosed my 200 litre fish tank with 40 grams of the product.

Today i woke up to find that my fish was covered with heavy body slime, i did Ph water test and i found out that the PH was at 5.5!!! But how??? The water i use is filtrated and with Ph at 7.5!!

I did a 80% water change and seemed to help a lil bit but after 3 hours he started again to release heavy body slime that you can even see dropping from its body.. Temperature in fish tank is at 82F now and PH is at 6.5...

Apart from all that fish seems ok, good coloration, swimming around..
So i didnt feel i needed to take a picture of the fish because you wont see anything wrong..

Ammonia: 0 / Nitrites: 0 / nitrates: 10ppm


I fully appreciate your help

[Mikeinco]

It sounds like a bacterial infection to me. When did you take the water readings? Are you finding alot of waste in the tank? The only culprit I can think of would be waste/pollutants in the water. How big is your Oscar? Hope you figure it out.

[cghiotto]

It sounds like a bacterial infection to me. When did you take the water readings? Are you finding alot of waste in the tank? The only culprit I can think of would be waste/pollutants in the water. How big is your Oscar? Hope you figure it out.

i started using SERA Costapur in conjunction with Ominpur, i think it may be some sort of endo parasite since my fish tank is spotless, already started the treatment, lets pray for the best!

[chc]

If you are wondering why your pH has dropped it is due to a lack of buffering capacity in the water. Oversimplified, the biological processes in a tank will reduce the pH gradually unless there is adequate buffering capacity to combat it. Your tap water can test one number yet become another after a fairly short while in an aquarium with lots of organic material.

[cghiotto]

If you are wondering why your pH has dropped it is due to a lack of buffering capacity in the water. Oversimplified, the biological processes in a tank will reduce the pH gradually unless there is adequate buffering capacity to combat it. Your tap water can test one number yet become another after a fairly short while in an aquarium with lots of organic material.

I see, i have already added a Big Shell inside of the fish tank to see if will be enought to buffer the water, i have been mesuring the ph since that day and is constantly on 6.5, while ammonia is at 0, nitrite at 0 and nitrates are kept at 10ppm..

Im using Malachite green in fish tank as one of the ingredients of Costapur and Omnipur, i hope doenst harm significantly the biological filter because i had to medicate whole tank to avoid recontamination. I hate to use medication but my red oscar was developing something that salt ( ectopur ) didnt solve.