2 Dead Botias

[**sarahp**]

I had 6 botia kubotai in a QT tank. I thought one looked thinner than the others and was definitley being ostracised by the other 5. He was breathing more rapidly and was 'flicking' himself against the sand and the plants.

I'm pretty sure he had internal parasites but could not source any Levisamole and when I read an old thread of Bloo's she mentioned Flubenol15 but I couldnt find that either. i posted for help in the loach section but got no replies, and now I have come home to find 2 dead loaches

I had to take the cat to the vet this morning so I asked if he would be able to prescribe anything for me and he said the best I could do would be to go to a LFS and get a protazoa (sp) med and give a very strong dose.

So now I'm at a loss. Firstly I'm not sure why I have 2 dead when only one was looking ill and what do I do about the others?? I want to treat them but dont know what with and I am concerned about when the time comes for them to go into the main tank that they make take a disease with them.

Any help much appreciated.

Tank stats

6 (now 4) 1.5 inch botia kubotia been in QT 7 days

38 litre QT tank
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm (did have some nitrite when they first went into the tank - never about 0.5ppm but solved this by buying another filter and adding more media from my main tank. Been zero since Sunday morning)
Nitrate - 40ppm (as from tap)
temp - 26 degrees c
not sure on ph - do yoou need me to test it??

 

[**sarahp**]

Update - just found another one dead

 

[WILDER]

Being thin can be internal parasites to external parasites.
What does it look like when the fish go to the toilet.
Is the anus of the fish enlarged or red and inflamed.
Any excess slime build up on the fish body or gills.
Are gills red and inflamed, or pale with excess mucas on them.

 

[**sarahp**]

Being thin can be internal parasites to external parasites.

oh right - didnt know that

What does it look like when the fish go to the toilet.

havent seen them go to the toilet - or eat for that matter

Is the anus of the fish enlarged or red and inflamed.

have just found another dead one and had a close look - no redness or inflammation around the anus

Any excess slime build up on the fish body or gills.

appears normal

Are gills red and inflamed, or pale with excess mucas on them.

again - just looked at the dead one and gills are very red and inflammed; thinking about it yesterday one of them had a very bright red patch on the underside of the mouth - as though he had cut himself on something - the red was very bright, like new blood not dark like old blood if you know what I mean? But the only 'sharp' thing in the tank are the snail shells - i wondered if he'd caught himself on one of those - but probably not


have woken up this morning to another dead one I dont think I'm destined to keep kubotai's

 

[**sarahp**]

One other thing that may be relevant - I bought a new bottle of stress coat (I was doing a few water changes when I first noticed the nitrIte) Anyway - this bottle of stress coat seems to be making the water frothy. I dont think I OD'ed it but it really is quite noticeable in the tank - especially were the air stone is

Do you think I should get another bottle from somewhere else and do a water change?

 

[**sarahp**]

another dead one

there's only one left now

 

[**sarahp**]

Last one now dead

I got this one out of the tank within minutes of him dying - he was bleeding from his gills. Also there was quite a lot of slime arouond the gills - one side was worse than the other for blood and slime. Body was quite slimy - although I've never touced a fish before so not sure if that is normal.

I feel such a failure what the hell did I do wrong for them all to die - its really negged me out

 

[The-Wolf]

I'm sorry for your loss, please don't let it get to you too much.

the rapid loss of so many fish in such a short period of time, and the condition of the gills leads me to believe that you
were unfortunate enough to have purchased fish that had a major bacteria infection, often referred to a a systemic bacterial infection
as it is so fast that it attacks pretty much all internal organs of the fish and happens so fast that by the time you realise this is the problem, there are no fish left to treat.

the only thing you can do now is to sterilise the Q/T and any equipment that was/is in it. any filter media should be discarded and not used again.
I would also, after sterilisation, leave the tank running for a week with a strong dose of an antibiotic (my choice would be acriflavin),
just to be certain there are no pathogens left anywhere.

take consolation that you had these fish in a Q/T and that your main stock has been saved from being wiped out.

 

[WILDER]

I agree wolf a bad batch.
Bleeding gills can be poor water quality so need to look at your water stats, gills flukes, to bacterial.
Gill flukes can cause bacterial infection as in the hooks or suckers of the fluke they carry a nasty bacteria, so when the parasite pierces the skin the bacteria enters the fish.

 

[**sarahp**]

Thanks for the kind words Wolf - this is the first real 'disaster' I've had (only being keeping fish since August) so its a bit of a bummer. I guess I was just unlucky - and like you say at least my main tank is ok.

the only thing you can do now is to sterilise the Q/T and any equipment that was/is in it. any filter media should be discarded and not used again.
I would also, after sterilisation, leave the tank running for a week with a strong dose of an antibiotic (my choice would be acriflavin),
just to be certain there are no pathogens left anywhere.

Whats the best way to sterilise everything - boiling water, bleach, OD of ammonia?? And where would i get acriflavin?? I want to make sure the QT is completely safe before I try again with more Kubotai (cos they are fab little fishes and I really want some )

Thanks again for the help Wolf and Wilder

 

[The-Wolf]

the best way to sterilise a tank is to strip it down.
any substrate (gravel, sand etc) should be cleaned with boiling water (although do not boil gravel)
and the tank should be cleaned with water that is as hot as your hands can stand.
leave everything to air dry and leave it dry for at least a week.

you can use a 10% bleach solution (10ml bleach to 100ml water) but that would require lots of rinsing and I'd only use the tank for fish once I was 100% certain there are no traces of bleach left (IE I could not smell bleach anymore). If going the bleach route I'd also add carbon when starting the cycle again just to be sure any residual bleach is absorbed before any livestock goes back into it.

Acriflavin is available from any good LFS that deals with pond fish. it is made by NTLabs sold under the trade name Koicare acriflavin and will cost around £12 for 250ml. for the strong solution I mentioned above I'd add 5ml per 30 ltr and let that run for the full week (once you have set the tank back up).


then you can do a full water change and start the cycle process off again.
good luck with starting up the Q/T again, and better luck for the future