Guys,

I don't know whats going on here.

Stats:

Amo = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 40
Ph 7.9
temp = 27 degrees

My Cichlids are dying all over the place. It started with what looked like for fin rot, i lost 4 fish in a week. The the yellow one developed the white around the mouth so i started treating with Protozin. Three days in i woke up to find one of my nicest biggest fish in this state. He is floating around upside down and i don't give him long.

What is this problem and how can i fix it.

Please help me now, he doesn't have long!





This post has been edited by jonny: May 11 2008, 01:18 PM

Finrot, saddleback lesion and mouth rot (often called mouth fungus) sounds like columnaris to me.

Not up to it on meds, what is protozin?

Columnaris is bacterial (flexibactor columnaris). It can be treated with tetracycline and a lot of other common antibiotics. There are several strains. Some of them take several days and are usually curable. Others drop fish within 12-24 hours and may show external symptoms only hours before death when it's already too late. Hopefully you have a less virulent strain which you can probably knock off with tetracycline.

Not sure if it's gram pos or gram neg

Thanks for your advice, i believed it to be columnaris too but the advice i got at the lFS was to use this:-

PROTOZIN is used for the control of all protozoan and fungal infections e.g Whitespot, Fungus, Neon Tetra Disease, Velvet, Costiasis and Trichodiniasis. You will require 4 separate applications to complete the course of treatment. By adding the treatment on days 1, 2 and 3 the product safely compounds in strength and does not burden the already stressed animals with a hard hitting formula. The final dose on day 6 is a preventative measure to try and ensure the organism does not re-occur. PROTOZIN's properties are highly effective at treating all its target organisms. Protozin is our best selling disease treatment world wide.

I thought it strange as i was going to buy this:-

MYXAZIN - broad spectrum bactericide.

MYXAZIN lowers the count of harmful bacteria in aquarium water, treating Fin Rot, Body Rot, Ulcers, Sores and other bacterial infections. MYXAZIN will also help to control Pop - Eye Disease, Cloudy Eyes and Mouth Fungus. MYXAZIN should be used daily until symptoms disappear (typically this would be between 3 and 5 applications). MYXAZIN can also be used to sterilise nets and live foods such as Daphnia and Tubifex. MYXAZIN is mild on fish, highly biodegradable and effective against a wide range of fish health problems.

Anyway, i decided to buy the MYXAZIN and treat with that instead. It says on the bottle not to use within 4 days of protozin but i don't think these fish can wait that long.
I did a 65% water change and dosed the new med. I think the 4 day rule is down to the fact that both meds may use similar chems that could overdose if not careful.

Should i crank up the temp too? Should i add any salt? Are africans cichlids tolerant of salt?

Thanks for any help.

For columnaris in the uk myxazin and pimafix.
Good luck.