About a year ago, I didn't quarantine a platy from a dodgy pet store. I have regretted it ever since. She was gone within two weeks and introduced some kind of bacterial infection into my tanks. I've lost about six fish to it and no amount of water changing and tank cleaning seems to shift it. Every time I've posted about one of the six fish I've been recommended medication I can't get, mainly Interpet no1 which isn't even in the index of common medicines up the top.

It's struck again in the week while I've been too busy to do more than feed my fish. This time it's the five gal on my desk. I can't get water stats, but they might not be great. Filter blew two weeks ago. I moved as much cycled media into there as possible but because I had nowhere to put the betta, two adult and one juvenile dwarf platies, I had to cycle it fish-in. I cut feeding as much as I could, and all the fish got pretty skinny. I thought that's all it was but I've realised I was wrong. Yesterday I lost the male dwarf platy. He was resting on the bottom at night looking very ill. In the morning he was corkscrewing around the tank, whacking into things and upsetting all the other fish. I put him down.

The adult female is now very sick. This is STRYKER I'm talking about, one of my best fish. She's infertile, but I love her to death, she's an old friend. She is unbelievably thin, her belly looks pinched in and hollow. She is still eating as are the remaining fish in the tank and the male that died was eating the day before I lost him. Their diet's not great, good quality flake interspersed with lettuce leaves, peas, beans, potato and the odd tiny piece of meat. Can't get live food at all.

I think it's internal bacteria but it could be internal parasites. At any rate, the symptoms are rapid weight loss while still eating and normal behavior until the end. The betta and the juvenile platy are absolutely fine, both eating, healthy, no symptoms at all that I can see. I can get melafix and medicated food for parasites and I think some medicated food containing tetracycline. Not sure if anything else will be available. I live in a small town with a small pet shop - they do their best but they can't stock what they'll never sell. Water test kits included. I'm not sure what to give them and I don't want to combine meds, but she's pretty far gone. I thought she was just skinny and would recover when I stepped up feeding but I was feeding three times a day for a few days and nothing has changed. I'm seriously bummed about losing the male and I really dont' want Stryker to die.

Water stats: ammonia unknown but I believe the tank is now cycled, water changed very recently. nitrite and nitrate unknown. pH 7.3 kH/gH unknown. Temp 24.5C.

Thanks so much for any help you can give me.

Internal parasites can cause bacerial infections.
Signs are.
Being skinny or bloated.
Long stringy white poo to clear mucas poo.
Red inflamed anus to enlarged anus.
Sometimes bent spines.
Worms prutruding from the anus.
I think I remember swimming in a cork screw motion can be a sign of internal parasites.

Both fish that were sick (the one that died and the one I'm trying to save) were skinny.

Poo is bluish-green with the classical stringy white bits - it's sort of half and half but mostly normal.
Nothing wrong with the anus that I can see.
Fins normal, the female that's still alive had some damage to the ventrals that never healed but they've been like that for months.
Never seen any sign of worms in the tank or sticking out of the fish.

Thanks Wilder- so glad you're on!

Do you know if the livebearers that you bought were from the wild.
http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/nematodes.shtml

This post has been edited by Wilder: May 7 2008, 11:20 PM

It seems very unlikely that wild livebearers would turn up in a small country town in Australia. I haven't seen anything like that sticking out of her, the anus looks normal. I've just been in the LFS. They have no idea (at least they won't lie to me) so I wrote down the active ingredients in every medication they have.

Melafix and Pimafix - you know what's in those

Broad spectrum medication, dose rate is 5mL/20L (5.something gallons)
24.2g/L mafenide hydrochloride
3.3g/L aminacrine hydrochloride
0.4g/L malachite green

tetracycline tablets - 1 tablet/20L
375mg tetracycline hydrochloride (equiv 346mg/kg tetracycline

triple supfa broad spectrum
153.3mg sulfadiazine
154.7mg sulfadimidine
154.1mg sulfamerazine (as monosodium salts).

worming tablets
praziquantel 100mg/tabl (1 tab per 20L)



Dunno what I should use. The fish looks worse, still active but so bloody skinny. I doubt she'll hang on much longer. I'm going up town tomorrow to get whatever you think is most suitable.

Being really skinny is old age, fish tb to internal parasites.
Sorry laura never looked where you was from.
Hollow bellies can also be signs of internal parasites.
I would go with internal parasites with the corkscrew swimming aswell.
Wasting away can also be flukes.

This post has been edited by Wilder: May 8 2008, 07:59 AM

Can I combine praziquantel and the broad spectrum med? I think she's too far gone to save but I want to try. Her underside is now just one line from her head to the bottom of her tail fin, no curve at all. Scales are starting to lift up near her tail (not dropsy, no abdominal scales). I'm probably wasting my time but I don't want her to die!

Bless her to be honest I think she to far gone to save, internal parasites do alot of damage to the organs.
Once they waste away there infested with them.
You can save the rest of the fish in the tank if you treat it with an internal wormer.
Not sure if you could use both meds together, you can with some meds you need to read the instructions.
I would treat for the worms first.

It's hard to say fish tb without having test done but I will leave you a link so you know what to look out for.
http://www.torrens.org.uk/NatHist/Aqua/disease/tb.html

This post has been edited by Wilder: May 8 2008, 08:35 AM

It could well be that actually - most of the symptoms aren't showing but blah...

What rotten luck that she would start showing symptoms when I had to cut feeding - I would have noticed within a few days otherwise. I think she's probably dying. I can't bring myself to put her down without attempting treatment but I agree there's probably too much internal damage to save her.

Thanks for your help Wilder.

I know how you feel its awful, even thought there fish you still care for them and want to help them.
I can't even kill an insect.
I wish you all the luck.
Keep us all informed how you get on.

If she does what the male does - careering around the tank smashing into everything and obviously suffering - I will put her down. But I don't want to while there's still a chance. If it is fish TB I guess there's zip I can do. Whoever manages to cure that one will be rich. I hope it is parasites because if the other fish in the tank have it I can fix it.

Antibiotics and vitamin b for six weeks.

What for? TB?

How do I get vitamin B? Human supplements?

Yes for tb.
I don't know how you feed the fish the vb supplements though.
You must have to mixed it in there foods.

Okay, I'll look into that. You can get vitamin supplements for reptiles that you inject into whatever you're about to feed them (preferably after you've killed it). I could possibly soak some freeze dried brine shrimp in it or something.

I don't think killing the parasites are going to do anything at this stage, so I'm going to try her on the antibiotics this afternoon. I'm treating my other tanks (not the bettas, they have never been exposed) for parasites. If she pulls through, I will treat for parasites. If not I will treat the tank for parasites after the antibiotics are gone.

Do you ahve any pics of the poor dear? Sorry, but i dsoubt she'll make it. I would definatley try a anti-parasitic medicated food and see what ahppens.

I booted the betta out of a six gal I've been meaning to divide and put tetracycline in it. My thinking is that the worst problem right now probably isn't the parasites but the internal infection. Depending on how badly certain organs are damaged it will either help or it won't. I can't get medicated food but I can get anti-parasite tablets. Is it safe to mix tetracycline and pyrantel?

I dont' know if she'll live or not right now. I'm still inclined towards 'not' but I'm hopeful. She's a lot more active today and tried to evade the net, and still eating. This fish is unkillable. She's survived whole tank dieoffs before. Quite old now, but should have a few months left - IF I can get her past this, which is a pretty big IF.

What does it say in the med instructions on the worming tablets and tetracycline about using other meds.

The instructions on the tetracycline are very vague. It gives a dose rate, 'do not use on fish intended for human consumption', the poisons information centre number and not much else. A notable absence is the length of time the fish should be treated for - how long do I leave her in there?

I'll check the pyrantel next time I get near the LFS, which may be a while. I think I'll treat the other tanks because there are signs of parasites with some of the fish. I'm sick of the darn things, I can't get rid of them.