1 Dead Fish, Unsure If Another Is Sick

[smmetz]

So, I look at my 55 gallon tank yesterday, and there is a dead "rainbow madagascar" in it. Before throwing it in the trash, I looked for signs on disease, fungus, injury on it, and found nothing.

I tested for nitrate, and it was a bit high, probably around 20-40. (didn't have the color chart with me, left that at work where I have another tank) I know these fish are supposed to be sensitive to water chemistry, and had put off my weekly water change for a few days. So, I proceeded to do the water change.

I looked at my other rainbow madagascar fish, and one seemed to have a spot on its lower lip, in the middle. It seems to stick out a little bit. I do not see this spot on my other fish. However, it is quite small and hardly noticable. I took a couple pics, and here are the two that came out the best:

I know its hard to tell from the pics, but do you think it is something I should worry about / treat now (if you know what it is), or should I just keep an eye on it.

My 55 gallon tank has been set up for about a year, no new additions. November lost 2 platy to dropsy. Dec/Jan lost 1 whiteskirt tetra to something. In all cases, sick fish were moved to hospital tank as soon as symtoms appeared to reduce exposure for other fish.

55 gallon - aquaclear 110 filter, sand - 10 female platy, 3 spotted raphael catfish, 6 rainbow madagascar(3"), 1 common pleco (8"), 1 bamboo shrimp, 2 whiteskirt tetra

 

[WILDER]

Nitrites in a tank can soon kill fish.
The spot is it white as usually there bacterial, is there any circling of red around it.

 

[smmetz]

Thanks for the reply Wilder!

nitrItes and amonia are both at 0. NitrAtes in this tank are typically kept at or below 20. However, it got up a bit past 20 since I put off the weekly 20% water change I usually do. The nitrAtes may or may not have been related, but I thought I would mention that they were a little higher than usual for my tanks.

I do not notice any red around the white spot on the lip. I guess I'll just keep my eye on that fish and see if anything changes in the next few days. In the meantime I'll get my Melafix (anti-bacterial med) bottle from work and bring it home in case I need it.

 

[WILDER]

Seen loads of times white spots on the lips and there always bacterial.
I would use something stronger than melafix.
Something like maracyn.

 

[zoekin8yg]

Is it me, or do they look a little 'dropsy' like? Maybe its the flash on the scales.

 

[smmetz]

I'll take a look at a local pet shop for a stronger anti-bacterial med then. I can also stick my UV filter back on the tank this evening til things clear up, in case that helps anything from spreading.

Do you recommend I medicate the whole tank, or take out the fish with symtoms and just medicate that one?

Oh, I looked at the fish this morning, and I do not notice any dropsy like "pine cone", raised scale affect. Like you suggested, it must have just been the flash on the scales.

 

[WILDER]

Pics can be deceiving sometimes.
It would be great if you could issolate the fish for treatment.

 

[smmetz]

I picked up some maracyn as suggested. I have a 10 gallon hospital tank, but it has 3 neon tetras that are not doing great in it. It started out with NTD. Now a couple of them have some white area on the leading edge of their bottom fin.

That is probably bacterial too. I suppose I can put the rainbow madagaxcar fish in their and just treat all the sick fish together in the 10 gallon tank. It might not be as good for the 1 sick fish (being mixed in with 3 other sick fish and possibly exposed to something else), but it would be cheaper and less stress to other fish in the 55 tank that might not need treatment.

However, I would hate to have an outbreak in my 55 gallon tank because I choose to not medicate the whole thing.

I do have a 10 gallon tank in the atic. I suppose I could rummage around and find it. I have spare heaters and filters, but no spare lid / light. It would be good enough for a temporary hospital tank though.

 

[WILDER]

If the fish have ntd in that tank don't add the sick fish, just medicate the whole tank.
If the neons were in that tank this could be the cause of why you have ill fish.

 

[smmetz]

Nope, the neons came from my 20 gallon tank, not the 55. I'll probably just medicate the whole 55, unless I can find my other 10 gallon that I put away a long time ago. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
When you maintain the neon tank sterlise the equipment.
Good luck.

 

[smmetz]

Hey, just thought I would post an update in my thread to seek further advice. I treated my whole 55 gallon tank with a 5 day regiment of maracyn. It cost me $16 for 24 tablets, and I used them all up. (I was actually 1 tablet short of a full 5 day treatment, close enough I figured)

Anyway, the fish in question still has the spot on its lip. The white spot looks a little bigger now. The medicine has be done for almost 2 weeks now. I did not have any carbon in the filter, and did not do any water changes from the start of the treatment until about 2-3 days after.

No other fish seem to be affected. I did put my UV sterilizer in the tank when this thread started, not sure if that has helped or not, but figured it couldn't hurt.

The spot is in the middle of the lower lip. It is only about 1 mm around on the skin, and is raised about 1mm or more. To me, there are 2 possibilities. Either it was bacterial but that medicine did not do the trick - so I should repeat a different anti-bacterial medication. OR, it was fungus after all, and I should treat the tank with fungus.

Any opinions on what I should try?

 

[WILDER]

Columnaris spots are very tough to get rid of.
Can you issolate the fish for treatment as I would try tetracycline.

 

[smmetz]

I guess I'll pull my spare 10 gallon from the atic. I have a spare heaters and filters, but no spare lights. The fish will just have to get by without a tank light for a while.

Anyway, I'll try to set up that tank tomorrow and get it running, the pick up the medicine and put the fish in on Monday. Thanks.

 

[WILDER]

Once I just got a little light and put it by the side of the tank that helped abit.