Not eating, looking poorly, water quality poor.

Hi,
It has been a while since i was last on here,But for the last couple of months we have been having problems with our girls, they havent been eating propely, couple have not been eating at all. I know it has been hot in there tanks and there water test readings are high well nitate is high and canot seem to get it down but the water quality is not just high in the girls tank its high in our boys tank and the babies tank, I think it could be because of the temps changing but not to sure, we have been giving all 3 tanks regular water changes and dosnt seem to chance the readings, we have put a big wide fan by there tanks and the temp has droped to 2.11c now so its alot beter than what it was. But realy conserned about the girls not eating they are acting realy strange, swimming about alot day and night, keep going to the top for air and some times have there mouths open a touch, also floating up the top of the water. Two of the wild type girls are looking like they are shreeding on there backs, as part of the top of there backs are flaky white and one of the wild type girls is looking like she is loosing weight and looks poorly. Apart from the girls, the boys and the two babys are fine they are eating fine, its just the girls that conserns me, realy worried please help.
Lisa

Re: Not eating, looking porley, awter qualitly poor.

Hi Lisa,

Its sounds like a water quality issue in the girls tank, the shedding? could be shedding, fungus or even ammonia burn its hard to gauge without a photo. How often do you do water changes and what is the temperature of your tank?

How long have they not been eating?

Re: Not eating, looking porley, awter qualitly poor.

Hello

Try giving the girls tank smaller, but more frequent water changes.

Maybe 10-15%, twice a day.

To buy your self some time, you could always try fridging.
There are numerous articles on here regarding it, use the search function

If you fridge them, I would look VERY hard for any scraps of food, or anything that may be causing bad water quality>
With the axies out, mix up your substrate, and get rid of any air pockets you may have.

The key here is water changes, nothing else.
Small, frequent is better then BIG, once a week.

Aaron

Re: Not eating, looking porley, awter qualitly poor.

Exact water chemistry test results would also help diagnosis.

Hi Lisa,

The situation sounds suspiciously like a case of poor water parameters. Please have your water tested for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. Would you also be able to provide some photos of the skin peeling?

Cheers

Hi dark sorry i didnt get back in touch, yeh its defently a water quality problem every thing is fine apart from the nitrate which is at 80, i Cant understand why, we keep them in top tip condition a good clean out once a week and check for uneaten food and poop every day, all i can put it down to is the hot weather.