Advice On Treatment

[flippajh]

Hope someone can offer some advice.

Water stats all ok, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20, Ph 7.6, temp 76.

No changes in last 2 weeks, when 2 Kribensis were added.

I've had 3 fish die in the last 3 days. Sunday found one of my queen loaches dead and floating in the plants, couldn't see anything wrong with it at all, so watched all the rest of my fish to see if any other fish looked unwell, but all ok.

Monday came home to find one of the swordtails on the bottom dead, again nothing on the body and no symptoms from any other fish, so spent 2 hours staring at them all to see if I could spot anything, but again, nothing, everything acting normally.

Tonight coming in, one of my Angels was having a real job swimming, and had wedged himself under the filter pipe, looking at him I could see what looks like fluff on his gills and side and unfortunately he has also now just died.

I have just done a 50% water change and had a really good gravel vac, I have an interpet No 9 Anti Bacterial med, should I dose the tank with this?

As you can imagine I've become a bit obsessed with watching the fish to see if there are any other fish suffering, and the only fish I can see who may be unwell is one of the red eye tetra which is normally a very quiet fish, it is swimming up and down from surface to bottom quite rapidly and looking at it, it does appear to have inflamed gills.

Is there anything else I can do to help them?

Thanks

Flippa

 

[WILDER]

When fish swim upside down the rarely make it.
R.I.P. Bless him.

Sounds like it could be columanris if the fish has white fluffy bits on his gills and body.
Columnaris can affects the gills.
Any fish flicking and rubbing.
Best to use pimafix as well with the anti internal bacteria med if you think it's columnaris.

Columnaris (a.k.a. Mouth Fungus)



Symptoms:

An infected fish will have off-white to gray cotton-like patches on the head, fins, gills, body and particularly the mouth. In time, these areas will develop into open sores. Gill swelling may occur, gill filaments may stick together and excessive mucus may develop in the gill area. Rapid breathing can be seen. Fins may deteriorate to the point of leaving the fin rays bare. Muscles may be inflamed and capillaries may rupture. Fish, particularly livebearers, may exhibit "shimmying". Infection may be acute (killing an infected fish within hours), or chronic (lingering for several days before eventually killing the fish). As with most diseases, not all symptoms need be present.



Cause:

The bacterium Flexibacter columnaris.



Treatment:

Ensure that your water conditions (e.g., Ammonia, Nitrite, pH, Nitrate levels, and water temp.) are within their proper ranges. If not, perform a water change and/or treat the water accordingly. Recommended medications include: Furanace, Fungus Eliminator, Fungus Cure, Furacyn, Furan-2, Triple Sulfa, E.M. Tablets, Tetracycline, or Potassium Permanganate. Medicated foods are also recommended. Columnaris can be highly infectious and may quickly kill all aquarium inhabitants; therefore, early treatment is essential. All fish, including those not yet showing visible symptoms, as well as the aquarium they inhabit should be treated.

 

[flippajh]

Wilder, thanks for the info, so far the only fish I've seen with the white fluff was the Angel that passed away yesterday.

The red eye tetra has no signs of any fluff, but does have very red sticking out, rapidly moving gills. He's gone back to normal behaviour but is very skittish when you go near the tank.

No fish are flicking or rubbing, and no other fish at the moment seem to have any other problems.

I've dosed this morning with the anti bacterial meds, I'll try and get some Pimafix this lunch time. With the fact the Angel definitely had fluff, I'd better treat the tank. I take it it's ok to dose with both at the same time? Also do I need to change the temperature of the water, its 76 deg at the moment.

Thanks

 

[WILDER]

Yes it's ok to use both meds, but need to increase aeration in the tank.


COLUMNARIS
The hospital tank should be heated to approx. 74 degrees. 76 and above is the ideal breeding temperature for columnaris. Though there is some dispute over lowering the temperature, my experience has been that 72 is too low for the medication to work rapidly, 76+ causes the disease to breed more rapidly than the anti-biotic can kill, and 74 is "just right." Remember to keep this temperature stable!

 

[Athena]

I was told by a fishkeeping expert that when a fish swims up and down constantly (not upside down), with rapid gill movement, its usually due to a bacterial problem causing pain. The pain makes them swim erratically like this.

I think you are doing right to treat with anti-bac meds.

Athena

 

[flippajh]

Again, thanks for the help.

Will pop the temp to 74 deg, I have a fairly large airstone in the tank so that should be ok.

Will just keep an eye and see how they get on.

Philippa

 

[WILDER]

Good Luck.

 

[flippajh]

Treatment started and temp lowered, so fingers crossed, have had no more deaths since Tuesday, realise it's early days, but lets hope the meds have already started doing the trick.

Wilder, thanks for all your help.